20 innovative organisations across the country providing vital community initiatives for people with disabilities will be awarded under a €3 million Rethink Ireland fund.
The Disability Participation and Awareness Fund will support twenty projects across four key strands: enabling participation of people with Down Syndrome in their communities; supporting social enterprise driven employment for people with disabilities; increasing access to arts and culture; and fostering participation in sports and outdoor recreation as well as the promotion of accessible shared spaces.
Wexford initiatives including Teens Project from The Down Syndrome Centre; Embers Project from Active Connections are among awardee organisations to receive funding.
The Rethink Ireland Fund, in partnership with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, will address the urgent needs of people with disabilities, breaking down barriers that they face across a multitude of areas, supporting tangible additions to existing community organisations. Among the 20 non-profit organisations that will receive funding are Together Academy, which supports young adults with Down Syndrome with certified training, work experience and employment opportunities; the Notes & Signs project by Music & Health Ireland, for equity of access to live music performances and learning opportunities in the d/Deaf community; and the Embers project by Active Connections, engaging people living with a disability or neurodiverse diagnoses, safely in the outdoors.
