On 15th March 2024, Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys and Minister of State Joe O’Brien announced details of a €50 million Community Recognition Fund. The allocation for Waterford is €1,436,394, including €71,819 for administration.
This major initiative follows on from both the 2023 Community Recognition Fund and Window 1 of the 2024 Community Recognition Fund and aims to support the development of community infrastructure and facilities for the benefit of the entire community, in recognition of the contribution being made by communities across the country in welcoming and hosting significant numbers of arrivals from Ukraine and other countries. It is separate in its objectives and scope to any other public funding streams, aiming to support the development of public service needs arising from the significant number of arrivals from Ukraine and other countries.
The scheme outline directs that only areas with high levels of new arrivals will be deemed eligible for this scheme.
The minimum level of funding for a project is €50,000 and the maximum is €500,000, with those in excess of €200,000 requiring a specific business case. Projects must be capital in nature, address needs in their areas and deliver medium-long term benefits for the entire community.
It will be a competitive process, with specific evaluation criteria. Interested groups will be required to outline their capacity to deliver their projects, including details of the track record of project partners and experience of delivering similar projects.
Groups should consider their respective project requirements, clear projected costs, planning dependencies and demonstrate how their project will benefit the entire community. Projects must be achievable within the allowed timeframes. Favourable consideration will be given to groups who can provide match funding.
Smaller projects cannot be artificially combined to meet the minimum threshold of €50,000 – while the 2023 scheme provided funding for small scale investment in clubs and communities (e.g., for small scale equipment), the focus of the 2024 scheme is on projects of greater scale and impact.
The possible types of capital projects that can be funded under the scheme include:
- development, enhancement or refurbishment of community or cultural facilities including play areas, walkways, parks, community/sensory gardens including communication boards, allotments, and recreational areas;
- development, enhancement or refurbishment of local club and sports facilities including facilities such as community swimming pools, changing rooms, toilets, digital aids such as score / information boards etc.
- enhancement to school/parish facilities which are open to use by all of the community after school hours;
- purchase of larger scale equipment for local clubs, festivals, community events and organisations e.g., music, arts or sports equipment that benefit the full community;
- transport infrastructure such as the purchase of community vehicles, bus shelters and attendant information boards;
- projects that help address dereliction and/or wider local economic and community development objectives;
- purchase and refurbishment of vacant or derelict buildings for community use where a clear need is identified.
Unallocated funds from Window 1 will now transfer to Window 2. For the purpose of Window 2, applications will be only considered from the following areas: Dungarvan /Abbeyside/ Ballinroad and Waterford City Centre and the North West Suburbs, as these areas were identified as having significant numbers of arrivals from Ukraine and other countries and did not receive their total funding allocation in Window 1 earlier this year.
Window 3 of the Community Recognition Fund will launch on the 1st January 2025 and will be open to other priority areas outside of Tramore, Dungarvan, Lismore and Waterford City North West Suburbs/City Centre, where there are large numbers of new arrivals.
Deadline for Window 2 applications: Friday, September 6th, 2024 at 4:00pm
As the 2024 Lifesaving World Championships kick off on the Gold Coast of Australia, we’re delighted to see some familiar faces representing Ireland on the world stage.
The 
Met Éireann
