24 April 2018
By Mary Bermingham
mary@TheCork.ie
Social Innovation Fund Ireland announces a new partnership with Cork City Council as Pádraic Vallely, the former CEO of Cork Foundation, joins Social Innovation Fund Ireland as Business Development Manager. Pádraic will be based in the co-working space in the Local Enterprise Office in Cork City Council.
This partnership builds on Social Innovation Fund Ireland’s recent collaboration with Cork City Council on the €1.6m Social Enterprise Development Fund, which is funded by IPB Insurance and the Department of Rural and Community Development via the Dormant Accounts Fund.
Deirdre Mortell, CEO of Social Innovation Fund Ireland, originally from Cork, said, ‘We are delighted to partner with Cork City Council and Cork City Local Enterprise Office. This collaboration, along with the appointment of Pádraic Vallely represents our ambition to strengthen our presence in Cork. We were thrilled to partner with Cork-based Tomar Trust to create a €400,000 Resilient Communities Fund and we look forward to building further relationships with Corporate, SME’s and Trusts based in Cork.’
Deirdre Mortell, CEO of Social Innovation Fund Ireland; Padraic Vallely, Business Development Manager, Social Innovation Fund Ireland, and Adrienne Rodgers, Head of Enterprise, Local Enterprise Office, Cork City, pictured at the launch of a strategic partnership between Cork City Council, LEO Cork City & Social Innovation Fund Ireland at Cork City Hall, Cork
Picture: Michael O’Sullivan/OSM Photo
Ann Doherty, Chief Executive, Cork City Council, welcoming Social Innovation Fund Ireland to Cork said “We are delighted to partner with Social innovation Fund Ireland as they expand their team and launch in Cork. It is only fitting that this new extension of Social Innovation Fund Ireland is accommodated in our new co-working initiative in City Hall in order to stimulate synergies between social and enterprise driven projects. It provides an opportunity for those working in this entrepreneurial space to learn, collaborate and grow their businesses.”
Social Innovation Fund Ireland is calling for applications from organisations in Cork to apply for three funds which are open until the 18th May 2018.
The Youth Mental Health Fund is open for applications from innovative mental health projects or programmes that reach out to young people before and during the societal, academic, physical, and emotional pressures of early adolescence and early adulthood.
The Youth Education Fund is open for applications from innovative education projects or programmes in Ireland that improve access to higher and further education for students (up to age 25) affected by disability or disadvantage.
The Equality Fund is open for applications from innovative projects that focus on supporting and strengthening equality for LGBTI persons, migrants, prisoners and former offenders, and persons affected by gender-based violence.
Organisations which Social Innovation Fund Ireland already support include Cork Life Centre, a voluntary organization offering an alternative learning environment to young people who find themselves outside the mainstream education system, Churchfield Community Trust, an organisation that uses education and work experience as a means of alcohol and drug deterrence and Cork Arc’s Secondary Cancer Support Programme which provides an adapted Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Programme for people living with a metastatic (stage 4) diagnosis, dealing with anxiety, stress and feelings of isolation.
For more information please visit www.socialinnovation.ie.
