Empowering Generations - Big Steps Forward!

By Denise Charlton?

Equality for All in Thriving Communities is our mission. It is one we share with our community partners and donors. Together we believe that if true equality is to be achieved then it must apply to all people of all ages.?

For the past 22-years The Community Foundation for Ireland has been Empowering Generations through almost €100 Million in grant-making to 5,000 voluntary, community and charitable partners.?

It has seen us deliver vital supports, not least during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our donors were among the first to step forward to ensure lifelines like meals and wheels as well as health and well-being services were there for older people.?

For children and young people it saw us undertake new areas of work, not least the RTé Toy Show Appeal, which has to date raised almost €13 Million.?

This together with many other acts of generosity helped bridge the digital divide to bring classes to children who were otherwise cut off because they did not have access to computers or the internet.??

Together with our donors we are also providing safety to child victims of abuse, combatting food poverty in the family home and bringing arts, colour and joy into the young lives of children who are themselves carers, suffering bereavement or living with serious illness.?

Lasting Impact?

As well as responding to immediate need we strive for solutions to challenges facing people and communities. It is this strategic and informed giving which makes us different. Using our connectivity to communities as well as best in class research we can have a lasting impact.?

Important developments in recent days highlight this. With our support the leading child advocates in the country have been involved in a lengthy campaign to keep our children safe online.?

A coalition of groups led by The Children’s Rights Alliance through the?123 Online Safety Campaign?has been seeking measures with some real teeth. Our combined efforts are paying off. In a debate in the Seanad this week the Government announced it would make provision for an Online Safety Commissioner – a key demand of the campaign.?

Just days later and work supported by our donors?was again shaping the national narrative.?

Ireland’s first ever?Child Poverty Monitor?makes for stark reading. Not only are 63,000 of our children living in consistent poverty – they are at risk of long-term impacts on?physical and mental health, educational attainment and socio-emotional well-being.?The monitor now gives us an annual mechanism to measure Government progress to bring this figure to zero.?

Strengthen Voices?

‘Empowering Generations’ means supporting people in all stages of life, whenever they need it. When we see need, we act. Research supported by our donors shows that many Older Persons ‘felt cancelled’ during the pandemic. The?Telling It Like It Is?Report makes for an uncomfortable read.?

The side-lining or isolation of people because of age is unacceptable. No-one should feel cancelled in a truly equal society.?

Research like this informs our grant-making. It tells us how we should use our donors support to best effect. Since that report from an alliance of leading campaigning groups for Older People, we have taken action and we continue to do so.?

Our Older Persons Fund is now?open for grant applications. Informed by the research our focus is on strengthening the voice of people right across the country. We want to hear from groups with proposals on Advocacy and Active Citizenship. This is one way to ensure the experience that many had during the pandemic is not allowed happen again.?

Are You a Change-maker??

None of this work would be happening without our donors. Those who have supported the work in communities and the ground-breaking research are not only there for the difficult times, they also get to share in the celebration when victories are achieved.?

Their role is crucial.?

If you would like to Empower Generations and be part of the journey to equality then please do drop us a line?[email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.?

Denise Charlton is Chief Executive of The Community Foundation for Ireland.?