Social Enterprise Grant Awardees Announced by Oakfield Trust

Pictured at The Monks Kitchen café in Clondalkin Village are: 
Change Clothes Crumlin, Founder and CEO, Mary Fleming; Richie Keane, Community Development Worker and Aisteach Queer Housing Co-operative Management Team; Fiona O’Loghlin, Administrator and Volunteer, Connections Arts Centre CLG; Oakfield Trust, Social Impact Manager, Gareth Ebbs; Helplink, Founder and CEO, Lochlann Scott; Pocket Forests, Co-ordinator, Amy Van Den Broek; PsyCare Ireland: Welfare and Harm Reduction CLG, Chairperson and Director, Michael Leddan; CyberSafeKids, Marketing and Development Manager, Aoife Keogh

PHOTO CAPTION (Photos from Alan Dunne)

In March 2023, Oakfield Trust launched a new grant funding scheme for social enterprises and social entrepreneurs, focused on making a social impact in the community.

It received a huge response to the call for applications, a testimony to the large and diverse array of work being carried out in the social enterprise and community sector. 

In August 2023, they announced eleven grant awardees from a diverse range of activities within the social enterprise sector including Mental Health, The Arts, Gambling Addiction Recovery, Disability Support, Online Child Protection, the Circular Economy and Sustainability, and a Queer Housing Co-operative.

The grant awardees were Aisteach Queer Housing Co-operative, Camden Palace Hotels, Change Clothes Crumlin, Connections Arts Centre CLG, CyberSafeKids, Flip the Script, Helplink Mental Health, Pocket Forests, PsyCare Ireland: Welfare and Harm Reduction CLG, ReCreate Ireland (Arts and Education Supply Store Limited), THRIVE Recovery CLG.

Gareth Ebbs, Social Impact Manager at Oakfield Trust, commented: 

“This an exciting day for Oakfield Trust and a significant milestone for us. We look forward to seeing the impact it makes for these very worthy organisations. Running a programme like this allows you the privilege of a deep insight into what is an incredibly diverse, committed, and talented sector of individuals and organisations. 

There were also many other worthy organisations doing great work, who we were not able to support this time around. We aspire to be able to assist more and more social enterprises in the future, as we build our momentum in supporting the development of social enterprise in South Dublin and beyond.”

Oakfield Trust is a Clondalkin-based social enterprise and registered charity which has been successfully supporting community organisations and social enterprises in the locality for over 26 years. During that time, it has provided a range of property-based supports to a number of projects in the Clondalkin area including feasibility studies, start-up grants, business development supports, project loans, project management and capacity development. It also made over €130,000 in donations during the COVID pandemic.

The new social enterprise fund is Oakfield Trust’s first ‘open fund’ which any interested and relevant party can apply for. Applications will particularly be encouraged from the Clondalkin and South Dublin County areas, but projects nationwide are also considered.

It expects to announce its next application window in Spring 2024. More information on how to apply, and Oakfield Trust in general, is available at www.oakfieldtrust.ie.