Older Persons Grants Boost

Older Persons Support

Older persons standing up to Covid-19 and its impacts are receiving a pre-Christmas boost with funding for a range of projects aimed at promoting their voices and encouraging active citizenship. 

Army vets as well as older members of the LGBTQ+ and Migrant Communities and those in rural areas as well as inner cities are being supported in 23-grants made possible by donors to The Community Foundation for Ireland. 

The grants are being issued under two strands, Advocacy and Active Citizenship. They follow research in July when the Telling It Like It is report found that many older people felt cancelled during the Pandemic. 

Advocacy Strand   

This strand uses some ground-breaking projects to ensure that the voices of Older People are heard. Projects being supported include: 

• A new Forum for Older People in Donegal. Providing representation at local, regional and national level the forum will not only lobby so that the older voices in the North West are heard but will also provide training on Human Rights, Advocacy, Negotiation Skills and Leadership. 
• Advocacy through the Arts by the Waterford Older Persons Council will use the spoken word and music to combat self-ageism. Training workshops will be followed by concerts and the development of awareness raising around the benefits of advocacy through the arts. 
• The Irish Military Heritage Foundation aims to engage veterans in a project to capture and record a part of history which is in danger of disappearing. The aim is to promote positive wellbeing amongst veterans by providing an opportunity for those who have not spoken before to come forward and share their experiences. 
• Gay Community News is going to capture, articulate and communicate the needs of the older members of the LGBTQ+ community. Views will be captured through a survey, workshop and interviews, and publishing of editorial content on a national media platform. 

In addition media, social media and digital training will be provided to older people through a range of projects aimed at giving strenth to their voice so they can highlight areas of need including policy change. 

 Active Citizenship Strand

• A Stay Active Stay Well Toolkit will be delivered as an on-line programme & resource after the COVID-19 restrictions period and will be distributed to all 550 Active Retirement Associations Nationwide. The work of ARI provides a broad-based, flexible health promotion with education and training to local organisations and to older people within community settings. This project will build on the work in this area of health promotion and will empower older people to be active agents in their own better health.
• Sligo Children’s Community Garden is to become the setting for Monthly intergenerational story sharing with a focus on plants and nature. Story workshops including older persons and children which will take place around changing of the seasons and will be used to extend reach through a special podcast.  
• Navan Traveller Workshop limited: This project will build capacity within the older Traveller community by providing upskilling and leadership opportunities,  enable older adults to voice concerns and facilitate local action,  contribute to local Covid Recovery by providing opportunities for Travellers to connect,socialise and learn.

Announcing the grants Denise Charlton, Chief Executive of The Community Foundation for Ireland said: 

“These exciting and innovative projects are bringing us towards the end of a year of unprecedented grant-making by The Community Foundation for Ireland. Preliminary figures are showing we will surpass the 2020 combined grant-making total of €15-Million.  

Our donors share our mission of Empowering Generations which sees us work with all age groups. There is no doubt that the past two-years have been hugely challenging for every part of society, but one of the most sobering pieces of research was a reported funded by The Foundation and conducted by leading advocates which showed older persons ‘felt cancelled’. 

This type of research informs our grant-making and gives us the unique ability to identify and respond to emerging challenges which impact on people on the ground in communities. Today we are doing that with funding of €145,000. It will see fantastic work being carried out across Ireland will improve the lives of many older people in 2022.” 

ENDS 

NOTE TO EDITORS

Total amount awarded for The Older Persons Fund Open Grant Round 2021  =  €144,999.57 

Advocacy

Active Citizenship

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