Irish Association of Youth Orchestras

The Artist in the Community scheme provides funding to enable artists and communities to work together on projects of interest to the local area.

The scheme is open to artists from any of the following artform disciplines: architecture, circus, street art and spectacle, dance, film, literature (Irish and English language), music, opera, theatre, visual arts and traditional arts. The projects can take place in a diverse range of social and community contexts and would be suitable to working with youth orchestras.

The aim of the scheme is to encourage meaningful collaboration between communities of place and/or interest and artists. It is essential that consultation take place between the artist and the community group, so that both parties are involved in deciding on the nature of the project realisation. Group ownership of the art should be maintained at every stage. The Project Realisation may result in a variety of outcomes.

The Artist in the Community Scheme is managed by Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts. There are two phases to the Scheme: Research and Development, and Project Realisation.

Project Realisation, is open to communities of interest or place (or their representative organisations), planning a project with an artist of between 6 weeks and 5 months duration with a maximum award of €5000, or between 6 months and 9 months with a maximum award of €10,000.

More info on the scheme and how to apply for it can be found here.

As the largest public transport provider in The Greater Dublin Area, Dublin Bus plays an integral part in the various communities that make up its customer base. Over the years the company has implemented various corporate social responsibility programmes as a way of building links with different communities. Chief amongst these initiatives is The Dublin Bus Community Spirit Awards (previously the Community Support Programme).

Through the Community Spirit Awards, Dublin Bus provides these groups with support to develop new projects, grow services and help raise community spirit in their local community. To date, over 1,300 voluntary groups have benefited from funding from Dublin Bus.

Any group that is located where Dublin Bus operates its services is eligible to apply. Each application is judged independently and successful groups will be awarded grants of €5,000, €2,000 or €1,000.

Voluntary groups who work in the following areas can apply to the Community Spirit Awards:

Children and Youth
Sport
People with Disabilities
Older People
Environment and Local Community
Education e.g. alcohol, drugs, literacy or health.

Any group that is located within the Dublin Bus service network- including Greystones, Kilcock and Clonee can apply for funding.

For more information, visit the website.

The Causeway Youth Exchange Programme aims to strengthen and improve relationships between young British and Irish people. Partners from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland can be involved. Causeway projects promote working in a team and provide a valuable avenue for young people to explore their perceptions of identity and to deal with issues of tolerance and diversity.

The next deadline for applying for funding from leargas.ie is on May 1st. The hosting group is the group that applies for funding and more information can be found at the Causeway website and the Leargas website.

2013 is the final year of the Youth in Action programme as we know it and there are only two funding application deadlines remaining: May 1st and October 1st. An exciting year lies ahead as Ireland hosts the EU Presidency from January to June, 2013 declared as the EU Year of the Citizen and the Youth in Action programme, in addition to its permanent priorities identifies the annual priorities as:

• projects proposing awareness-raising activities about EU Citizenship and the rights that go with it, in the context of the European Year of Citizens
• projects aimed at encouraging participation in the 2014 European elections enabling young people to behave as active, informed citizens
• projects tackling the issue of youth unemployment as well as projects aimed at stimulating unemployed young people’s mobility and active participation in society
• projects addressing the issue of poverty and marginalisation, in particular on the inclusion of young migrants, disabled young people, and where relevant Roma youth
• projects stimulating young people’s spirit of initiative, creativity and entrepreneurship, employability, in particular through youth initiatives
• projects promoting healthy behaviours, in particular through the promotion of the practice of outdoor activities and grassroots sport

Fundraising Ireland is delighted to present Ireland’s flagship National Fundraising Conference.
This unique conference has been designed for fundraisers, by fundraisers who understand the challenges facing their peers in today’s challenging environment. They have hand-picked a line-up of leading fundraising and charity experts from Ireland and overseas who will provide practical advice, tips and essential know-how to help you navigate through these difficult times.

Masterclasses: Tuesday 26th March, 2013
Following the success of the Masterclass programme in previous years, we have extended the programme to a full-day’s intensive learning on the eve of the conference, Tuesday, 26th March, from 9.00am – 5.30pm.

These sessions have been developed for fundraisers who want to take part in an in-depth, challenging work-out with three of our prominent international speakers: Guy Mallabone, Lucy Gower and Bernard Ross. Each masterclass is restricted to a maximum of 30 participants – early booking is essential.

For more information on the conference and how to book, visit the website.

In 2012, Minister Deenihan launched a Philanthropy Initiative to provide an incentive to arts organisations to proactively seek new and multi-annual relationships with sponsors which would deliver more private sector funding for the arts. Taxpayer funding was made available for organisations that could match this with funding from the private sector.

This year, €210,000 will be available to arts organisations under the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht’s Philanthropy Initiative. Under the terms of the scheme, arts and culture organisations can apply to the Philanthropy Initiative for funding if they can augment the amount with private fundraising in the following ratios:

· Up to €5,000 of funds can be accessed through the scheme if the organisation can match each €1 from the taxpayer with €2 from private sector funding

· Up to €10,000 if each €1 from the taxpayer can be matched by €3 from private sector funding

· Up to €15,000 if each €1 from the taxpayer can be matched by €4 from private sector funding

Read more »

The music project award supports specific projects in the field of music commencing in 2013. It applies to individual artists or artistic organisations throughout Ireland and the maximum award is €35,000.

The deadline for application is the 21st of March, 2013.

Applicants must register through The Arts Council online application site, and you can find the information on how and where to apply here.

The arts participation project award supports initiatives in the field of arts participation commencing in 2013. It has a maximum funding level of €40,000 and is available to a group (community group), individual artist, or organisation.

The deadline is the 21st of March, 2013.

Applicants must register through The Arts Council online application site, and you can find the information on how and where to apply here.

Twice yearly, the Arts Council offers grants to enable artists and communities of place and/or interest to work together on projects. The scheme covers all artforms: architecture, circus, street art and spectacle, dance, film, literature (Irish and English language), music, opera, theatre, visual arts and traditional arts.The projects can take place in a diverse range of social and community contexts eg arts and health; arts in prisons; arts and older people; arts and cultural diversity.

The aim of the scheme is to encourage meaningful collaboration between communities of place and/or interest and artists. It is essential that consultation take place between the artist and the community group, so that both parties are involved in deciding on the nature of the project realisation. Group ownership of the art should be maintained at every stage. The project realisation may result in a variety of outcomes.

Deadlines in 2013:  Thursday 14 March, 5pm & Monday 24 June, 5pm.

Applicants must register through The Arts Council online application site, and you can view the application form here.

An announcement was made last month that a $1m grant from Bank of America Merrill Lynch had been given to Music Generation, in partnership with The Ireland Funds. This grant is additional to the €7m philanthropic donation from U2 and The Ireland Funds, and allows Music Generation to provide access to subsidised high-quality music education for children and young people.

Music Generation has announced recently that it is expanding into four new areas of the country: Offaly, Westmeath, Carlow and Limerick City. These additions will join Cork City, Laois, Louth, Mayo, Sligo and Wicklow. To date over 5,000 children have received tuition through the programme that provides employment opportunities for some 120 music tutors across the six counties.

The Minister for Education and Skills, Rúirí Quinn TD announced to Music Generation on January 21st that the Government is committed to continuing to develop and sustain Music Education Partnerships with Exchequer funding in future years, when the Music Generation donations cease.

The EMI Music Sound Foundation provides two types of awards: firstly, the Instrument and/or Equipment awards and secondly, the Bursary awards.

The grant range is from €1,000 to €5,000
The application excludes:

• Applications from applicants based outside the United Kingdom & Ireland
• Non-school based community groups
• Bursary applications other than as described overleaf
• Applications over £2000
• Independent music teachers
• Payment of staffing costs to cover the teaching of the national curriculum

EMI Music Sound Foundation is an independent music education charity, established in 1997 to celebrate the centenary of EMI Records and to improve young peoples’ access to music education in the UK & Ireland.

The Foundation is dedicated to the improvement of music education with a focus on youth.

Instrument & Equipment Award
The Foundation has helped over two thousand schools, individual students and teachers improve their access to music through the purchase or upgrade of musical instruments and equipment

The Foundation provides grants up to a total of £2,000 towards the purchase of musical instruments and/or equipment for individuals who are in full time education and Schools who require the equipment to fund music education. We also fund courses and training opportunities for music teachers who work within schools.

In order to apply for financial support you must complete our application form in full, providing the relevant evidence required.

Bursary Award
The Foundation has created vital bursaries at eight music colleges and conservatoires to assist music students in need of financial support. The organisations represent a high standard of traditional, classic and modern music study across the UK/Ireland.

The bursaries are distributed at each college’s discretion based on criteria provided by The Foundation. Please contact the colleges direct if you wish to enquire about the bursary.

The chosen Irish college is: Irish World Music Centre, Limerick – 00 35 361 202 590.

How to Apply
Download the Award application form from the Foundation website.

For more information please visit the EMI website.