President McAleese celebrates rainbow projects at Institute of Technology Blanchardstown

Life

30 March 2011

President McAleese recently celebrated the success of the Dormant Account Projects with over 240 primary and secondary school students in the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB). ITB managed to secure funding of €162,191 from cycle 1 of “Dormant Accounts: Funding to Develop Access Services in the Institute of Technology sector” and a further €75,000 from cycle 2.

This funding has enabled ITB to fund projects such as The New Adult learner: Information, Guidance & Support, Project Orange, School Leavers Mentoring Scheme and the Yellow Brick Project for primary schools. Particularly focused at primary school aged children are the rainbow projects, designed for children who might have difficulty accessing third level education. These include the Yellow Brick – Gardening Club, Photography/Digital Media Workshop, Paperclip Challenge and Are you Pink or Purple? – Young Women and Technology. Over the past two years in excess of 1,603 children aged 10 to 12 from 5 different schools have participated in these projects.

Mary Meaney, President of ITB remarked that “the funding from the Dormant Account Fund has enabled staff from ITB to work with local schools and community groups to run innovative and exciting projects that open up the possibilities of third level education in an exciting way.”

Under the Dormant Accounts Act 2001, money is seized from bank accounts that lie idle or have not been active since 1987. Funds have been used to support community projects and are focused towards aiding disadvantaged communities, people with disabilities and the educationally disadvantaged.

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