Deadline: 22-Nov-2024

Rethink Ireland, Deloitte Ireland and the Department of Rural and Community Development are partnering to create one-year People’s Impact Fund to support projects that aim to promote equity of opportunity and access to employment, by developing the employability skills of young adults at a disadvantage and/or facilitating their employment.

Aims

• The fund will focus on projects/organisations tailored towards the multiple challenges and barriers facing young adults in Ireland, which include:
  • Limited awareness of career options and opportunities for employment
  • Lack of general or technical skills or qualifications desired by employers
  • Insufficient support/social networks to access and thrive in employment

What they provide?

• The People’s Impact Fund will provide up to four organisations with:
  • Cash grants up to €85,000 each
  • A place on Rethink Ireland’s Accelerator Programme
  • A bespoke package of business and capacity-building supports designed in consultation with the successful projects on topics such as strategic planning, maximising your impact, communications, storytelling and fundraising
  • Access to Rethink Ireland’s networks.

Eligible Projects

• The project must address a critical social or environmental issue.
• The project must be innovative in an Irish context.
• The project must be based on the island of Ireland and must make its main impact in the Republic of Ireland.
• The project must have potential and a desire to scale or replicate in Ireland (it may also have potential internationally, but this is not a requirement).
• The project must provide evidence that it is up and running, or has been tested at least in a minimal way.

Eligibility Criteria

• This fund is open to organisations that have a not-for-profit legal form, e.g. a company limited by guarantee, a co-operative, trust, charity, and other voluntary organisations that meet the following criteria:
• Successful projects must:
  • Focus on young people aged 15-30 who are disadvantaged in the labour market
  • Take a holistic approach based on the range of barriers to employment for young people
  • Actively engage with young adults experiencing disadvantage in the design of their programmes
  • Build the knowledge, skills and overall capacity of young people for employment
  • Support young people aged 15-30 into quality employment and/or apprenticeship programmes and/or full-time & paid work placements
• Advantageous criteria 
  • Develop skills of the future to support young innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders e.g., digital literacy (including data literacy), sustainable working, critical thinking and analysis, creative and design thinking
  • Involve collaboration among education/training providers and employers
  • Support women and girls experiencing disadvantage in gaining access to education and employment

Ineligibility Criteria

• Applicants that are not eligible to apply are:
  • Applicants under 18 years of age
  • Commercial companies, sole traders and individuals
  • Any staff member from Rethink Ireland and their family members. Family members include siblings, parents, spouses or civil partners or children.
  • Individuals
  • Statutory or public bodies, companies limited by shares and organisations that are state bodies or agencies that are not registered charities
  • Any consultant currently working with Rethink Ireland

For more information, visit Rethink Ireland.