€1 million fund launched for employment projects for ex-offenders in Ireland

Howard Lake | 22 January 2020 | News

• Tagged with:
• employment
• funding
• Ireland
• justice

The Probation Service in Ireland and Pobal have announced the launch of the Dormant Accounts Funded (DAF) ‘KickStart’ programme, which aims to enhance the development and creation of employment opportunities for people with criminal convictions.

A budget of €1 million has been approved for the Probation Service measure to research or enhance greater employment opportunities in the social enterprise sector for those with a criminal conviction who find it difficult to access the labour market.

The KickStart Fund has two strands:

• Strand 1: Feasibility Study/Market Research – grants of €5,000 up to €15,000 to carry out a feasibility study or market research to develop or expand a social enterprise.
  
• Strand 2: Start-up, Development and Job Creation Fund – grants of €20,000 up to €50,000 to implement actions that will create or maintain employment opportunities.

Social enterprises may submit only one application and cannot apply under both strands.

The deadline for submission of online applications is 3pm on 20th February 2020.

The KickStart Fund was developed jointly by the Probation Service and the Irish Prison Service, and forms a key part of the Department of Justice and Equality’s Social Enterprise Strategy.

DAF is managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development and enables unclaimed funds from accounts in credit institutions in Ireland to be used to support:

• the personal and social development of persons who are economically or socially disadvantaged
  
• the educational development of persons who are educationally disadvantaged
  
• persons with a disability (within the meaning of the Equal Status Act 2000)

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.