Charities that promote access to justice, or which support and develop education or employment projects in Northern Ireland are being encouraged to apply for a share of £40,000 funding.
The funding has been made available from the Allen & Overy Foundation, which is funded by contributions from A&O partners worldwide. Funding for projects in Northern Ireland is administered by the Belfast Grants Committee and in the last two years it has provided over £100,000 to charitable organisations.
Simon Wagstaff, Global Head of Tech Services at A&O Belfast and Chair of the Belfast Grants Committee explained: “As one of the world’s largest and most connected law firms, we are committed to making a difference. Supporting our local community is at the heart of our business and we are keen to hear from charities that address our core themes of increasing access to justice, and the advancement of education or employment across Northern Ireland. To benefit from support, charities should be based locally or have at least one project or area of focus in Northern Ireland. We recognise that the last year has been particularly difficult for many charities so our focus will be on providing longer-term support and we welcome applications from charities seeking up to three years’ funding support for projects.”
He added: In addition to offering financial support, this year we are also keen to share the skills of our people so we will be giving priority to charities that can offer reciprocal volunteering or pro bono opportunities. We have over 600 people working in the Belfast office across our legal team and professional support staff, all of whom have a significant contribution to make, either through offering their time or expertise. This new area of focus will be mutually beneficial as we work towards our target of achieving 4000 hours of volunteering or pro bono work this year.”
Career Ready, which has operated across Northern Ireland since 2012, received funding from Belfast Grants Committee in 2020. The charity works with 17-18 year olds from non-selective schools and FE Colleges to provide key employability skills, mentoring, workplace visits and internships.
Speaking about the impact that the funding has had on their work, Tony Madden, Regional Manager, Career Ready said: “The support from Belfast Grants Committee has been instrumental in helping us develop new virtual resources so that we can deliver our schools programme online. We have worked with 11 schools providing a range of virtual employability masterclasses on topics such as communication, preparing for interviews and assessment centres, which students have been able to access in the classroom or at home. In addition, 60 students across five schools and FE Colleges have benefitted from virtual mentoring and we have secured paid internships for 35 students over the last year. Thanks to A&O, students have enhanced their employability skills and the creation of our virtual resources will enable us to reach an even greater audience in subsequent years.”
Charities interested in applying for funding should email belfastgrants@allenovery.com requesting an application form and outlining how their work meets the criteria of increasing access to justice or the advancement of education or employment. Completed application forms should be returned by 5pm on Friday May 21. Successful charities will be notified by the end of June 2021.
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