Minister Humphreys announces funding to improve employment opportunities for disabled people

/ General News / By BCIL

The Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys, announced that the government would allocate more funds to help disabled individuals find employment opportunities.

Grants for 52 organisations to improve employment prospects and provide educational opportunities for disabled people
Focus on building the capacity of employers to recruit, retain and help disabled people progress within their workforce
‘Workability Programme’ a key part of Government’s ‘Pathways to Work’ Strategy

The WorkAbility: Inclusive Pathways to Employment Programme is a new employment focused programme which aims to support disabled people to enter education and employment.

The programme will begin in January 2024, with grants available of up to €200,000 per year.

In the coming days Pobal, on behalf of the Department of Social Protection, will contact the 52 applicants who reached the qualifying threshold to confirm their successful funding.

The programme is co-financed by the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) under Employment, Inclusion, Skills and Training Programme (EIST) 2021-2027 and the Department of Social Protection, and will be administered by Pobal.

The primary purpose of the funding is to provide disabled people with the opportunity to gain and sustain employment/self-employment or to access education and training to improve their employment prospects.

Click here to check the list of successful organisations.

Barbara Brennan - Programme Coordinator for See Change, the National Stigma Reduction Partnership, where she has been promoting mental health awareness and stigma reduction for a decade. 28.06.23.-1
Stephen Hodnett - Occupational Therapist with the organisation and developing telehealth services for DCD with the University of Limerick. Dyspraxia Ireland. 28.06.23.-2
Roseanne Joyce - has been doing some work experience with the Home Help section of BCIL. 22.06.2023.-1
Karen Smith of BCIL - discussing the ongoing issue of Changing Places. 22.06.2023.-2
Michael White - discussing his late wife Kay O’Shea who was a longstanding Disability Rights activist and the issue of access at Spike Island in Cork. 22.06.2023.-3
Shelly Gaynor - Peer Mentor of ILMI. Shelly directs a Personal Assistants Service through her own company shellyonwheels. Giving disabled people complete control over their own lives. 04.07.2023.-1
Wunmi Excel Ategie- social care practitioner and a humanitarian actor. She has over 20 years experience of working with the deprived and under-represented groups. 04.07.2023.-2
Laura - OPhilbin- Interim Research & Policy Manager at The Alzheimer Society of Ireland. Management and activities of the Research & Policy Team.Laura holds a PhD from the Dementia Services Development Centre at Bangor University in Wales in addition to a BA in Psychology from University College Dublin. 28. 07. 2023. https://www.carealliance.ie info@carealliance.ie Ph. 01 874 7776
Helen Baxter - Play volunteer in Children In Hospital Ireland At the heart of Children in Hospital Ireland’s work is its play service which is now available to children in hospitals throughout Ireland. Charity managing a voluntary service in Irish hospitals. By providing engaging and supportive play in wards, playrooms, emergency departments and outpatient departments, Children in Hospital Ireland play volunteers nurture curiosity and creativity and provide distraction from the stress of being in hospital. Sandyford, Dublin 18. 28. 07. 23. Ph: 01 290 3510 https://childreninhospital.ie info@childreninhospital.ie
Amy Kelly - Head of Communications and Fundraising at Crohn's & Colitis Ireland CCI Director, who lives with Crohn’s disease. Crohn's and Colitis Ireland is a support organisation in Ireland for people who are living with, or impacted by, Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis (collectively known as Inflammatory Bowel Disease or IBD). Some of the negative impacts of living with IBD may include social exclusion, unemployment/under-employment,etc. 28. 07. 23. Ph.: +353 1 531 2983 https://crohnscolitis.ie info@crohnscolitis.ie
Clodagh- Hogan-The Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation was set up in 1997 by Jonathan Irwin and his wife Mary Ann O’Brien (founder Lily O’Brien’s chocolates), in memory of their son Jack who suffered a brain trauma shortly after birth that left him developmentally delayed and shattered the dreams and hopes of his parents. 04. 08. 2023.
Fleachta Phelan - DFI organisation working with people with disabilities to implement the UN CRPD and ensure their equal participation in society. 10. 08. 2023.
Joyce Ogunyemi is an International Development and Education expert and a British qualified teacher (PGCE Maths Specialist). Before her teaching career, Joyce devoted over 20 years in the international development sector to environmental conservation and sustainable development causes, justice sector reform and policy development, human rights advocacy, fundraising/donor relation and implementation of intervention programmes. As an education consultant, Joyce worked in Rwanda where she assessed the quality of an educational programme and delivery method to ensure the quality of provision. She was also a researcher with the National Universities Commission Abuja where she assessed the quality of tools used in the accreditation of programmes in Nigerian universities. 06.09.2023
Make Way Day 2023 - Interview with Geraldine Rooney and Karen Smith. Seeks to bring the disabled and the wider community together to consider how people with disabilities use the various public spaces we share. It is a chance for the disabled community to come together and find solutions to improve the lives of those with different abilities. The campaign is led by the Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI), and it is a collaboration between the different government and voluntary sectors. #MakeWayDay23 on Friday 22nd September, will help bring about this change, by creating awareness of the access issues faced by the people, as they go about their daily business.
Paula Harris - Crosscare services Manager, Community Food Services I have worked in three different Crosscare services – Portland Row, Holles Row and Dun Laoghaire since 1992. I have seen all sides of poverty in my time with Crosscare. The one thing that doesn’t change is how we treat people – with love, respect and dignity. That is what has kept me with Crosscare – how we treat the clients – how we treat each other. Tel: 01 836 0011 Email: info@crosscare.ie https://crosscare.ie/
Emilie Conway - jazz singer, composer and lyricist. DADA: Disabled Artists & Disabled Academics Campaign for Human & Cultural Rights Emilie is a founding artist of a new movement, the DADA Campaign for Human and Cultural Rights. Emilie was prompted to become more vocal on the rights of people with disabilities from her own experiences, heightened by the relative absence of disabled peoples’ voice throughout the pandemic, compounded yet again, as the society opens up. DADA stands for Disabled Artists & Disabled Academics attesting to the coterie Emilie’s “speaking up” attracted to her over the past year. DADA’s mission is to achieve greater equity for disabled people by pointing out and challenging barriers to full participate and contribution to the arts, culture, economy and whole of society. DADA aims to achieve this through creation of art that builds public awareness, engaging with media, and building transformative relationships with Arts and Cultural Institutions and Government, see media, for more equitable policy and practice in line with UNCRPD. If you would like to get involved please email dadacampaign@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter: @DADACampaign https://www.emilieconway.ie
Peter Kearns Cross Border Social Inclusion Project Manager and Co-ordinator for Independent Living Movement Ireland. (ILMI)
Sarah Keogh - Coeliac Disease, Gluten intolerance Sarah Keogh, a dietician who works actively with The Coealic Society of Ireland, explained that the disease remains undetected amongst thousands of Irish people Coeliac Disease (pronounced see-lee-yak) is an autoimmune disease which causes some adults and children to react adversely to gluten in food. Gluten is the protein in wheat, barley and rye. These grains are common ingredients in foods such as bread, cakes, pasta, beer, pizza and other manufactured foods.