Digital Transformation

Rethink Ireland announces awardees of Children and Youth Digital Solutions Fund

Objective of the fund is to support services who work with children and young people through the use of technology
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14 September 2021

A helpline service for unmarried parents; a project using technology to address inequalities faced by asylum seekers; and an initiative helping young people succeed in the changing world of work. These are among the Rethink Ireland projects that will receive funding as part of their Children and Youth Digital Solutions Fund 2021-2022.

The Children and Youth Digital Solutions Fund is a €600,000 one-year fund created by Rethink Ireland in partnership with The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth via the Dormant Accounts Fund. The objective of the fund is to support services who work with children and young people through the use of technology. The fund was interested in finding innovative collaborative projects using digital solutions to solve a problem, collect relevant data or scale resources for children and young people.

The fund will support nine projects that are all focused on supporting children and young people through the use of technology. Each awardee will receive a cash grant (of up to a maximum of €50,000) and a place on a comprehensive six-month accelerator programme, which will focus on equipping the projects to scale, so they can reach more people in need of their work.

Three of the nine projects who will receive funding include the Building Connections project, that addresses educational inequality and improves access to services for asylum seeking and refugee children and young people in Cork; Let’s Work it, which addresses parenting issues that emerge for many parents who do not live together; and the JA Finance Park Virtual project, a project that uses technology-enabled learning to enable students to build a foundation on which they can make intelligent financial decisions.

CEO of Rethink Ireland, Deirdre Mortell, added: “Rethink Ireland would like to congratulate the Awardees of the Children and Youth Digital Solutions Fund. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated  adoption of technology by everybody from grandparents to children to workers. It is now essential for work, accessing public services, and connecting with friends and families. But we didn’t all start from the same place, so it is critical that we address the barriers that prevent people and organisations from using it. The Children and Youth Digital Solutions Fund will play a key role in providing support to not-for-profit groups that are working to support children through the use of technology.”

The Children and Youth Digital Solutions Fund 2021-2022 is being funded under the What Works Initiative, through Dormant Accounts Fund, an initiative of the DCEDIY to maximise the impact of prevention and early intervention to improve outcomes for children and young people.

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