Youth programme provides £1 million in grants
Howard Lake | 30 May 2017 | News
The International Fund for Ireland (IFI) has announced grants of nearly £1 million (€1.2 million) to a range of voluntary organisations under its Personal Youth Development Programme (PYDP).
PYDP was launched in late 2015 within the Fund’s Community Consolidation-Peace Consolidation 2016-2020 strategy. The Programme aims to help at risk young people build and develop life skills that foster good relations, build confidence and resilience and make them more employable.
PYDP seeks to connect young people aged 16-25 to personalised learning, skills and employment opportunities with a central focus on good relations and preparing young people for the world of work. It is interested in engaging young people that are vulnerable to polarisation/recruitment to organisations opposed to the peace process and face barriers to participation in mainstream provision.
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The programme engages with young people who face a range of issues including; leaving the education system early; substance abuse; affected by homelessness; difficult family backgrounds; been in or close to criminal justice system; suffer from poor health or mental health issues; mistrust of statutory institutions; not participated in civic society in a positive manner; and come from communities with a negative view of their future.
11 organisations recently received support in this round of funding including £76,000 for a 18th month project which will engage young people in west Donegal, £68,000 for skills training for 10 young people in Drogheda and £106,000 for Shankill Women’s Centre in Belfast.
The International Fund for Ireland was established in 1986 by the US government, EU, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to support the peace process and funds work in Northern Ireland and the border counties of the Republic of Ireland. To date, it has distributed over £700 million (€904 million) with its current strategy running to 2020.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.