2021 COVID-19 Stability Fund for Community and Voluntary, Charity and Social Enterprises
- Foilsithe: 7 Bealtaine 2021
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 11 Aibreán 2025
The COVID-19 Stability Fund for Community and Voluntary Organisations, Charities and Social Enterprises was developed to provide support to qualifying organisations who find themselves in particular difficulty and have seen their trading and/or fundraising income drop significantly during the crisis.
The 2021 iteration of the Stability Fund builds on the 2020 scheme, which saw €42m of Dormant Accounts Funding provided to qualifying organisations to support them in dealing with the challenges in income generation brought by social restrictions to counter the spread of COVID-19.
The Fund focused on organisations providing supports and services to not-for-profit organisations in a broad range of sectors, including:
• Health and Social Care (including addiction, disability and mental health)
• Child and Family Services (including counselling/therapies)
• Domestic/Sexual/Gender based violence
• Housing/Homelessness
• Community Services (e.g. meals on wheels/befriending services/old age supports/vulnerable people’s support groups etc.)
• Community Education Sector
Organisations were required to demonstrate the impact that the crisis has had on their services, significant financial losses and delivery of vital supports to vulnerable communities. This scheme was open for application in May 2021, it has now closed. Applications are being assessed and announced in tranches to facilitate timely drawdowns by successful groups and to allow for engagement with any organisations where further information may be required.
Pobal, which works on behalf of Government to support communities and local agencies towards achieving social inclusion and development, administer the Stability Fund on behalf of the Department of Rural and Community Development. This funding is being provided through €10m in Exchequer funding, and €3m Dormant Accounts Funding from a small underspend of the €45m available under the 2020 scheme.