A new €3 million Equality Fund which has just been launched with the aim of helping groups that support marginalised communities is welcoming applications from those who could benefit.

The fund will support groups working with marginalised women, ethnic minority and migrant people, Traveller and Roma communities, people with disabilities and LGBT+ folk.

The people behind the fund, Rethink Ireland, recently carried out a survey which revealed that 94% of those polled believe Ireland has a responsibility to treat its people equally. On the flip side, only 22% believe that there is enough financial support in place to help the community organisations working on equality issues. This is where the Equality Fund comes in.

Supported by the Peter Kinney and Lisa Sandquist Foundation and the Government of Ireland, the Fund will support organisations and groups that empower marginalised communities and tackle systemic inequality.

https://twitter.com/Rethink_Ireland/status/1277872691631083520?s=20

Michael Barron, Manager of the Equality Fund, shared, “The Equality Fund wants to support civil society organisations, including LGBTI+ organisations, in their work on the major underlying causes of inequality. This can be seen in its focus on work to empower women, to empower community development and to support organisations to work collaboratively to build Ireland’s equality landscape.

“It will support organisations for three years each, and as such allows some space and time for organisations to tackle the big issues. The fund will also provide grantees with wraparound strategic development supports so that they can plan and grow.”

We're absolutely thrilled with the response to today's #equalityfund launch! If you're interested in applying or finding out more, visit: https://t.co/KB6VvAM1eR. With thanks to @DeptRCD and @DeptJusticeIRL for their support. pic.twitter.com/aiGDKD1t8a

— Rethink Ireland (@Rethink_Ireland) July 13, 2020

The Fund was launched with a powerful billboard campaign featuring the title of Imelda’s May’s essential poem ‘You Don’t Get ToBe Racist And Irish’. May shared, “The Equality Fund is extremely important to us all right now. We are human and therefore must show our humanity to each other otherwise what are we?”

“Now it’s time to hear not my voice but the voices of those that need to be heard!”

So who can apply? The Equality Fund is divided into three open calls for applications. Each strand has a different focus but together they are aimed at strengthening the Equality landscape. Those strands are:

Empowering Women:
Projects aimed at strengthening equality through supporting greater participation of marginalised and minority women, including trans women and female identifying folk, who are distant from the workplace or who are informally employed, underemployed, in low paying jobs and who find it difficult to assert their rights.

Strengthening Community:
Projects aimed at strengthening equality by supporting some of the most marginalised communities in the country through community work approaches, empowerment and collaborations.

Building Equality Together:
Projects aimed at enhancing the equality landscape in Ireland through innovative and collaborative approaches to sector-wide capacity building.

If your group or organisation is interested in making an application, the window is now open and the deadline is September 14, 2020.

For more information on the Equality Fund including details on how to apply, visit their website here.