basis.point commits a further €500,000 plus to educational projects

Enjoying some playtime with home visitors from the ParentChild+ programme.

In our latest round of funding, basis.point commits a further €500,000+ to educational projects. This is made up of two significant grants for programmes to be delivered in conjunction with the Early Learning Initiative (ELI) and Foróige, with the balance arising from two co-funding grants (see additional feature) and with one smaller supplementary grant to Archways.

This brings the total currently committed by €1.9million, benefiting children across the complete educational cycle from 18 months to 18 years of age.

Edel O’Malley, basis.point commented “It is a privilege to deepen our existing relationships, with such inspirational educators. ELI and Foróige provide an extraordinary resource for our communities and through our programmes, each year we will positively influence the lives of over 70 families and educational aspirations of over 3000+ young people.”

Girls benefiting from the After School Programme at St Lawrence O’Toole National School

A significant grant of €225,000 has been approved for our charity partner ELI at the National College of Ireland. basis.point first engaged with the ELI in 2015. Following positive feedback on the ParentChild+ (formerly Parent Child Home Programme) we increased our funding in 2017, allowing ELI to train additional home visitors in order to increase the capacity of families that could be accommodated in the programme.

The latest grant of €225,000 will allow them to continue to run the ParentChild+ programme in Dublin and Limerick and additionally, expand the programme to include Ballinasloe in County Galway.

ELI currently have 33 home visitors linked to basis.point across the different programmes. It is not possible to overstate the impact of the ParentChild+ programme, which as one parent stated is life changing.

“My child has been part of ELI programmes since he was a few weeks old. The support I received has been amazing and to be honest my journey as a mother would not have been the same.”

As a result of this funding 72 families, 24 in each of Dublin, Limerick and Galway, will be able to participate in the ParentChild+ programme bringing the total number of participating families since our involvement to 144.

The ELI will also benefit from a co-funding agreement where €25,000 from basis.point will be matched by Kennedy Wilson over a five year period, to support the Home from Home programme, aimed at vulnerable families living in temporary accommodation.

(L-R) Finnian Daly, Minister Michael D’Arcy, Billy Fitzpatrick, Chairperson Clive Bellows, participants in the Foróige NFTE programme in Cork showing off their business idea.

The second tranche of major funding has been approved for our charity partner Foróige. A grant of €203,000 will support the running and further rollout of the successful NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) programme. The credentials of the NFTE programme are well established and many of you will have been inspired by the achievements of these young entrepreneurs. The grant will enable them to continue their good work in Cork and to extend both the duration and geographic reach of the programme.

A supplementary grant of €30,000 has been allocated to our partner charity Archways to facilitate some refinements that will enhance the effectiveness of their programmes in Wexford and Kilkenny and due to higher than anticipated demand, run an additional Mentoring for Achievement Programme (MAP) training course in Cork.

Archways will also benefit from a €25,000 co-funding agreement with Kennedy Wilson, allowing them to pilot an after school programme in Dublin North Inner City aimed at encouraging 5th and 6th class children, living in an area of extreme disadvantage, to pursue their talents, develop life skills and withstand peer pressure.

Aidan Tiernan, Chairman of the Disbursements Committee commented “These latest grants further ensure that we are supporting educationally disadvantaged children through-out the whole of Ireland, with over 60% of our investment now allocated for children living outside of the Dublin area.”

This latest round of funding brings the total amount committed by basis.point to support educationally disadvantaged children, to over €1.9 million.