Obair in Newmarket-on-Fergus is set to receive almost €92,000 under Tranche One of the Covid-19 Stability Fund for community and voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises.
Of the almost 180 successful applicants, Obair is the only Clare organisation listed while 60 groups in Dublin will receive funding. It’s not known however how many applications from Clare were submitted.
Obair has been one of the most active voluntary organisations in the county particularly since the beginning of the current health crisis providing an invaluable meals-on-wheels service.
While the service began over two decades ago, it was never more important than it has been during the Covid-19 pandemic. Vulnerable elderly people, living on their own or who have been forced to cocoon during the health restrictions, have benefitted from the service which covers a wide area including Clarecastle, Quin/Clooney, Doora, Kilkishen Village, Sixmilebridge, Kilmurry and Bunratty.
Last month, the Department of Rural and Community Development announced is was funding the COVID-19 Stability Fund for Community and Voluntary, Charity and Social Enterprises.
Anyone who operated a community and voluntary organisation, social enterprise or charity and who required urgent funding to help your organisation through COVID-19, was invited to apply for the funding after €35m had been made available through the Dormant Accounts Fund.
The €91,800 which Obair will receive is part of over €10.5 million approved for organisations across the country under Tranche One of the scheme. A total of 179 organisations are now set to benefit from this funding in the form of once-off cash injections of between €2,000 and €200,000.
The funding will allow Obair and other community and voluntary organisations to provide critical services to those most vulnerable in society to help with short term cash flow issues as a result of the pandemic.
Welcoming the allocation to Obair, Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey said: “Obair has been at the heart of our county’s response to the challenges brought by Covid-19. In every corner of the country people have got behind their community and dug deep to help each other. But they needed help and extra resources to ensure they could continue to deliver the critical services and cope with the inability to generate traded or fundraised income due to social restrictions. In many cases, while the rest of the world shut down, these organisations kept going and I and my colleagues in Government and communities all over the country are extremely grateful for that.”
The Covid-19 Stability Fund for Community and Voluntary Organisations, Charities and Social Enterprises is intended to be a targeted once-off cash injection for organisations and groups delivering critical front-line services to those most at need in our society and in danger of imminent closure as a direct result of restrictions to combat the spread of the virus.
Pobal, the not-for-profit company that manages programmes on behalf of the Government, will contact successful applicants in the coming days to finalise contracts and facilities for payment of funding. Additional checks are ongoing on remaining applicants to determine suitability for funding. Further funding announcements are expected over the coming weeks.