Applications open for the final round of the BAM Ireland new children’s hospital Community Grants Scheme

Funds available for community groups, local projects and social enterprises, as part of BAM Ireland’s new children’s hospital Community Benefit Programme

Applications are now invited for what will be the final round of the BAM Ireland new children’s hospital Community Grant Scheme as part of its Community Benefit Programme. Funds are available for groups, projects and social enterprises based in Dublin 8 and Dublin 12; the areas neighbouring the new children’s hospital.

The BAM Ireland new children’s hospital Community Benefit Fund is a €500,000 voluntary corporate social responsibility contribution made as part of BAM’s tender for the construction of the new children’s hospital and developed in tandem with the project’s Community Benefit Oversight Group, which is made up of statutory, local development and community representatives and who were responsible for the establishment of the Community Benefit Programme.  The purpose of the Community Benefit Programme is to ensure that people living close to the hospital benefit from its development in their locality.

Since the inception of the BAM Community Grants Scheme for the new children’s hospital €150,000 has been awarded to 68 community groups, voluntary and resident associations, schools and sports clubs in the area from the 163 applications received. Some of the community groups which have previously received funding through the BAM Ireland new children’s hospital Community Benefit Fund include:

• Recovery through Art, Drama and Education (RADE), in Dublin 8. RADE supports people struggling with substance dependency and help them to improve their quality of life and address their sense of isolation through the use of cultural activities. The group received €3,000 in funding, which helped in purchasing materials for RADE’s garden project, Ó Liath go Glas, which over the course of spring and early summer 2023, transformed RADE’s courtyard into an urban oasis.
• Mother Tongues, a social enterprise working to promote multilingualism and intercultural dialogue in Ireland in Dublin 8, received €7,000 which was used to support the group’s Language Explorers programme, a multilingual programme that places a strong emphasis on art and creativity to promote language development, parent-child communication and literacy. Language Explorers welcomes multilingual children, including migrants and Irish bilinguals, to share their experiences and work creatively with their parents or guardians and other children, fostering an inclusive and supportive environment for all languages.

Educational Bursary Scheme

An educational bursary scheme was also established for students hoping to pursue a career in either healthcare or construction.  Following the final round of funding in the academic year 2023/24, a total of 13 students have been awarded bursaries of €2,000 per year for undergraduate degree courses another 13 young people were awarded bursaries of €2,000 for their one-year post-leaving certified studies.   A further seven students were awarded one-off grants to support initial educational costs.

The deadline for application is Friday 19^th April 2024 – links below for the application form and guidance note