Community Innovators announces second burst of funding!

16 Oct 2019

Have you got an idea to overcome a challenge in your community?

Our Community Innovators is a programme which supports you to find lasting solutions to challenges within your community and we’re delighted to announce a second burst of funding has created up to 10 additional places on our unique Community Innovators Programme.

To apply for a place on the programme, complete our Expression of Interest form, here. Deadline – 4pm on Friday 29th November 2019.

The programme, delivered in partnership with WorkWest, is free to access and is for voluntary, community, or social enterprise organisations who would like support to explore and develop new solutions to a real world social, economic or environmental challenges.

All organisations who complete Community Innovators will be eligible to apply for a grant from the Foundation’s Social Innovation Seed Fund to help them deliver the idea or ideas they develop through participation in the programme. A total funding pot of up to £100,000 has been generously made available by the Department for Communities and the Hospital Saturday Fund for the next Seed Fund round. These funds will be disbursed in March 2020 and all groups completing the programme this Autumn and early 2020 will be eligible to apply.

Thanks to generous funding from the Hospital Saturday Fund, the previous round supported the following groups.

South Eastern Regional College (SERC) provided a recovery room for students facing a mental health crisis which impacts their overall wellbeing. IncredABLE is working to transform a double decker bus to provide new opportunities for people with learning disabilities by transforming an old double decker bus into a friendly safe space. Mid and East Antrim Agewell Partnership are working to improve the lives of older people through the use of technology; and Women’s Aid Armagh Down tackles domestic/sexual abuse and through its work seeks to promote healthy and non-abusive relationships.

Catherine Shipman, Student Engagement Manager at SERC said “The Community Innovators provided an opportunity to push the boundaries of our thinking and creativity to develop a new and exciting project around mental health. Learning new skills along the way increased our awareness of our thinking and work, and how to get the best out of a team.”

Paul Braithwaith, Head of Community Innovators at the Foundation commented “It is amazing to see the transformation of ideas as groups progress through the innovation workshops. The groups always create unique projects which attract attention, raise awareness and snowball into an even greater initiative. Sign up and see what you can achieve!”

To apply for a place on the programme you will need to complete our Expression of Interest form, here. You simply need to identify a clear, concise community challenge you would like to address and recruit a team of 3 to 4 people to participate in the programme workshops. The deadline for Expressions of Interest is 4pm on Friday 29th November 2019.

See how our previous participants got on….