Tipperary ETB Further Education and Training service, under a funding scheme introduced by SOLAS in 2020 during the COVID Pandemic, has awarded €424,672 to 66 community groups to support educational disadvantage. This fund, formerly known as the Migrating Against Educational Disadvantage Fund (MAEDF) was used to increase ETB capacity and the capacity of community education providers to address, enhance and engage the participation of disadvantaged learners. The Fund has been renamed nationally and is now called the REACH Fund.

The REACH Fund to date has supported various projects throughout the county from assisting the set-up community digital hubs in rural settings with IT hardware (e.g., laptop devices), social and therapeutic gardening projects, outreach efforts to increase access to learning opportunities for adults who are disproportionately impacted by socio economic factors, as well as a range of unique social and inclusive learning projects.

While early iterations of the REACH Fund had a strong focus on enabling the investment in building the digital infrastructure of community education providers it now has expanded and Tipperary ETB is inviting applications across a range of different thematic areas in 2023.

Some of these thematic areas include;

· Learner assistance fund, inclusive of education outreach/mentoring projects/transport costs for learners/urgent educational response,
· Innovative green projects,
· Projects focused on increasing participation in learning with target cohorts,
· Events/awareness campaigns that contribute to equality policy and legislation,
· In line with the ALL strategy, specific actions that:
– directly address those experiencing unmet literacy needs,
– target funding on access to technology and devices,
– expand community access to Wi-Fi and broadband resources,
· Community groups in pre-development phase to support the most marginalized and disadvantaged groups,
· Support for refugee groups to support education and training delivery and promote/ support cultural and social inclusion, including research and/or needs

Application Process 2023

Please read the guidelines before submitting your application.

Applications to the fund must be returned to reachfund@tipperaryetb.ie no later than close of business on April 28, 2023.

Applications will be reviewed by an internal ETB Review Panel before being recommended for approval. Late applications cannot be considered.

Please note the following;

• Funding must be expended in full by the end of 2023 and there will be no carry over of funding into 2024,
• General governance and procurement procedures and responsibilities will apply,
• Applications must ensure there is a focus on mitigating educational disadvantage and must ensure an impact at community level,
• Ideally proposals/applications will target learners at levels 1-3 but may target learners at level 4, 5 and 6 where the fund is used to target learners who are likely to experience educational disadvantage that impacts their participation in learning,
• Reporting requirements will be significant and will require financial, quantitative and qualitative information (in the form of a project narrative) and applicants must maintain all appropriate records required to report on spending under the fund,
• Grants directly to learners are not being considered under this fund currently as the appropriate governance structures and payment mechanisms are not in place,
• The fund cannot be used for pay costs or for recurring costs (e.g. employee costs),
• Partnership companies (LCDC and Local Development Companies) can only apply to the fund where they are applying for funding on behalf of a specific community partner and must report on the funding and its use for the community organisation that benefitted,
• Currently the fund is not open to Specialist Training Providers e.g., NLN where they have access to similar funding. Applications will be considered only in cases where the provider can demonstrate the application does not overlap with funding from a core funder or similar scheme,
• Applicant organisation will need to submit a Hard copy of the Paypath Bank Mandate Form to facilitate the payment of the funding grant together with a signed copy of the company/organisation bank statement. The statement only needs to provide confirmation of the Company Name, Address and Bank Account details. Payments cannot be made to personal accounts Details provided will only be sued for the purpose of facilitating the administration of the grant. Data provided will be stored and managed in line with TETB Data Protection Policy and in line with GDPR,
• Funding is subject to SOLAS approval in 2023

If you have queries on the application process or the terms and conditions of the fund, please feel free to contact Mary Stapleton (0504 20383) or email reachfund@tipperaryetb.ie

Tipperary ETB REACH Guidelines 2023 (PDF) (Updated March 2023)

Paypath Form for Tipperary ETB (Word)

REACH Application Form 2023 (Word) (Updated March 2023)

Colin Cummins

FET Director

Tipperary ETB

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