Ten projects, including one aimed at creating job opportunities for people with disabilities, have been awarded a total of €650,000 from a philanthropic fund.
The 10 so-called “social entrepreneurs” have also created projects such as one designed to help adults to improve their maths skills, and one aimed at helping unemployed men can meet each other and retrain.
Each of the projects supported by the 2011 Arthur Guinness Fund will receive financial support and business mentoring over the next two years.
The winning projects include Jamie Regan’s Hand on Heart Enterprises. Mr Regan set up the business to provide “meaningful employment opportunities to people with disabilities”.
Mr Regan said he believed that by looking at the employment of people with disabilities from a new perspective, opportunities can be provided for them to work “at an equal level”.
His initial businesses are focused on the hospitality, event management and catering sectors.
Last October, Mr Regan set up the ‘Inclusion Bar’ in the Helix in Dublin. The bar is physically tailored to the needs of those with disabilities to enable them work to their full potential.
The latest funding will enable him to set up a catering service and open new premises in Ballymun.
John McEvoy of Irish Men’s Sheds Association, established in 2009, is also a recipient of funding.
It provides a “safe, friendly and inclusive environment” for unemployed men where they can gather and work on meaningful projects at their own pace, in the company of other men.
The projects range from doing up old cars to building wooden artefacts. Mr McEvoy hopes to use the funding to establish the organisation in more villages and towns around Ireland.
Other winners include Robin Blandford’s ‘Decisions for Heroes’ project.
Mr Blandford has a background in digital media engineering , as a volunteer sea-cliff rescue climber and a training officer with the Irish Coast Guard. His web application enables rescue workers to record and analyse data on their operations throughout the country so they can spot patterns and trends.
The Fumbally Exchange founded by George Boyle also secured funding. The other winners are:
* H2 Learning 'AdultMaths' - Michael Hallissy and John Hurley. The project is aimed at !re-imagining maths education for a generation of adults who failed at their first attempt".
* Turn2Me - Oisin Scollard. Mr Scollard's project is an online support community to support people with mental health issues.
* U-Casadh - Stephen Plunkett. The project engages with ex-prisoners to help engage them in learning, work and enterprise.
* Business to Arts (Fundit.ie) - Stuart McLaughlin.
* West Cork Rapid Response - John Kearney. The service uses local, voluntary resources to help support the work of the emergency service.
* Open Window (Denis Roche Vivartes). The project is a web platform to enable people in long-term care to keep in touch with their families.
The fund was established in 2009 with a €2.5 million investment. A total of €1.65 million has since been invested in projects.
Some 450 applications were received from all over Ireland for this year’s funding.
They were assessed by Diageo employees, a representative of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland and a panel of external judges from the Irish social enterprise and business sectors.
Sean Coughlan chief executive of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland said: “The quality and diversity of applicants is a testament to the value of the initiative and also an indication of the strong will that is out there to come up with innovative, impactful and sustainable initiatives that the benefit communities right across Ireland.”
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