Tallaght West Small Grants Programme (TWSGP)
This small grants programme (SGP), to support the development of early years, in and out-of-school education/care and related family support in Tallaght West, began in June 2004 and continued until mid 2006, and operated alongside the Tallaght West Childhood Development Initiative (TWCDI). The grants programme was implemented by the Katharine Howard Foundation in partnership with Atlantic Philanthropies. An Advisory Group was established to assess grant applications and to advise on the overall delivery of the SGP. Members of this group included the funders, the CDI project leader and independent experts in the area of early intervention and family support.
The programme was designed to complement the CDI planning process through the provision of resources to meet some of the initial needs of service providers in Tallaght West. An emphasis was placed on developing new ways of funding community-based services for children and families that encourages greater co-operation between service providers and an integrated approach to this work.
Applications were accepted from groups individually and collaboratively. After much consideration and discussion, the SGP Advisory Group approved the allocation of grants to all 31 local groups and organisations that had applied. Just under €300,000 was allocated and the amount given to each funded group ranged from €2,000 to €24,000.
Following the allocation of the grants, KHF held a meeting jointly with all the funded groups and followed this by a visit to each of them individually. Information was compiled on each theme that had emerged through the grants programme - early years work, family support, in-school and out-of-school programmes and activities.
The details gathered from these visits, together with both observations and an overall assessment of the visits, was then written up as a summary document for the advisory group. Alongside the operation of the grant programme was the ongoing contact and liaison with the CDI process and in particular linking the issues and learning from SGP into the planning of the CDI 10 year strategy and also linking funded groups into CDI structures.
Information on the progress of the funded projects was gathered in September 2005 through a brief written report from each of the groups. A final contact with the groups took place in February 2006 and this was then followed by a report outlining in detail the approach adopted through the SGP to area based, focused grant making.
KHF, in its approach to the SGP, was keen to maintain its direct support role with groups and invested a great deal of time in engaging with each of the funded groups individually. Although this approach was time consuming, it was invaluable in gaining a better understanding of some of the local concerns and issues that need to be addressed in any future planning or development in Tallaght West. KHF found the direct interaction with the groups very positive and an effective approach to supporting community based provision of services for young children and their families. The Foundation was impressed by the engagement of the funded groups with this programme and in particular their openness and willingness to share information about their work. The groups operated in difficult circumstances as a result of the uncertainty of long-term funding and the lack of a clear framework to guide and support their work. In spite of this there is a real effort to provide much needed services locally.
A summary report on the TWSGP was prepared by KHF and Atlantic Philanthropies and is now available to download. Alternatively, a hardcopy of the report can be posted to you if requested.
The CDI Strategy Report is available to download from the Tallaght West CDI website, www.twcdi.ie.