Waterford community education providers are being encouraged by SOLAS to apply for funding under the €5.5 million Reach Fund.
Applications for funding for eligible projects are now open through the Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board. (WWETB)
The aim of the Reach Fund is to support community education for adult learners who have the highest level of need.
Nationally, the Reach Fund helped to support online learning, connect communities, and provide social supports to the most vulnerable groups. Included in those groups are people who are long-term unemployed, young people, people with disabilities, members of the Traveller and Roma communities, migrants and refugees, women wishing to return to the labour market, and lone parents.
Andrew Brownlee, CEO of SOLAS, said:
Through the Reach Fund, we are supporting those in society who are furthest removed from education through social disadvantage.
The Reach Fund builds on the digital infrastructure of community education providers in Waterford and Wexford to increase their ability to provide online learning. Funding is available to improve access to technology and devices.
The Fund was first introduced in 2020 by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation, and Science, Simon Harris TD.
"It’s critical, now that we are past the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, that we reconnect with the most disadvantaged learners around the country... These learners simply cannot be left behind," he said.
The Reach Fund is administered to local community education projects by the 16 local Education and Training Boards (ETBs) around the country.
It was previously known as the Mitigating Against Educational Disadvantage Fund.
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