From Department of Rural and Community Development
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Mr Michael Ring TD, the Minister for Rural and Community Development , has today (Friday 3rd January) confirmed that 2,106 community initiatives around the country have been allocated a total of €4,524,124 under his Department’s Community Enhancement Programme.
The Community Enhancement Programme provides capital grants to community groups to help them to enhance facilities in disadvantaged communities. It supports a range of activities in all areas of communities, such as childcare groups, playgrounds, recreational groups, sports grounds, landscaping, and supporting the elderly.
Having announced an open application process for the €4.5 million programme in 2019, Minister Ring is now in a position to confirm the details of the projects which have been allocated funding.
Some examples of the over 2,000 projects supported include:
The full list of projects supported is available here
Speaking today, Minister Ring said:
“Having allocated over €4.5 million under the Community Enhancement Programme in 2019, I am delighted to confirm that more than 2,000 projects are set to benefit from it.
“A relatively small amount of money can go a long way and this investment will greatly benefit local community projects throughout the country.”
Today’s announcement follows an open application process which was administered by Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) in each Local Authority area. It is intended to run the programme again in 2020.
Minister Ring continued:
“Typical enhancements under the Programme include the renovation of community centres and community amenities, improvements to town parks and common areas and spaces and the purchase of equipment which is used to benefit the community. The programme has also supported energy efficient upgrades, developing community gardens, provision of defibrillators, CCTV, and sports and IT equipment.”
• The Community Enhancement Programme (CEP) is targeted towards enhancing facilities in disadvantaged communities. It provides capital grants to community groups.
• The CEP was first launched in 2018 when it replaced the re-cast RAPID programme and Communities Facilities Scheme (CFS).
• The CEP was the result of the first significant exercise in the streamlining of schemes and programmes carried out by the Department of Rural and Community Development. Its development follows recommendations arising on foot of an assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of existing funding schemes (the CFS and re-cast RAPID), which included consultation with the 33 Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) across the country.