Northern Ireland organisations running projects in disadvantaged communities have been shortlisted for share of the new Ulster Bank Skills & Opportunities fund, and the public have been urged to support them.
Part of a £2.5m RBS Fund, it is dedicated to supporting projects that help people develop new skills, find employment or set up their own business.
Hundreds of not for profit organisations across the island of Ireland have already applied through the Fund to avail of grants of up to £35,000 to support their projects. Ulster Bank earlier this year committed to provide an overall fund of £220,000 per year to support community organisations for each of the next three years.
The 11 organisations from across the island of Ireland shortlisted are: Young Enterprise NI, Business in the Community, Lisburn Enterprise Organisation, Dungannon Enterprise Centre, Sligo Volunteer Centre, Culture Connect, U-Casadh Ltd, Co-operation Ireland, Galway Simon Community, Irish Youth Foundation, Suas Educational Development.
Now that the shortlist has been published, the public have one week to vote for their favourite project. The results of the public vote will count as one vote alongside those from a panel of judges, deciding who receives funding in November this year.
“Opening the vote to the public gives the organisations who’ve applied the chance to mobilise support from their local community and stakeholders” says Andy Mills Regional Director, Business Banking NI at Ulster Bank. “It also helps us to gauge which projects resonate with the public. Essentially, if it matters to you, then it matters to us.”
The most recent release of the Skills & Opportunities fund launched at the end of August and closed on 11 September, attracting hundreds of applications for funding.
Andy Mills continues: “We’re delighted with the response to this Fund, and with the quality of applications we received. Pulling together a shortlist from so many fantastic projects has been a real challenge. We expect people will have a hard time selecting their favourites from such a strong line-up, but we’re asking the public to get behind the good causes that matter most to them. “
Projects seeking funding include enhanced career planning for young people, advanced learning and development support for educationally disadvantaged children, development of a youth leadership programme for 17-20 year olds, upskilling programmes for the homeless, increasing numeracy levels in school, encouraging young peopleto set up and run mini enterprises and providing disadvantaged women with the skills to start their own business.
To find out more about the shortlisted projects, the organisations behind them, and to have your say on which you think should receive funding from the Skills & Opportunities fund, visit skillsandopportunitiesfund.ulsterbank.com. Voting runs from Friday 30 October to Friday 6 November and the successful projects will be announced week commencing 6 December.
A Third round of funding will open for applications in January 2016 (details available on the same website).
