By Neil Irwin from NICVA
Published on 01 Oct 2007
Thanks to a £430,000 donation from NICVA and financial support from the Atlantic Philanthropies the new Turkington Fund will encourage active participation in society by older people.
At the launch from left, Cormac McAleer, Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, Mary Black, Chair of the Board of Trustees, Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, Baroness May Blood, and Seamus McAleavey, Chief Executive, NICVA
Speaking at the launch of the fund at the Belfast offices of the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, Baroness May Blood said,
"I am delighted to formally launch this fund. It is an innovative scheme to encourage active participation by older people in society and in decision-making.”
Mary Black, Chair of the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland Board of Trustees, said “We are delighted to add the Turkington Fund to our family of grant programmes. The Turkington Fund has been established in recognition and celebration of the contribution of older people to our society, and aims to offer funding for locally-based community projects that are run by, and for, older people.”
The Turkington Fund was made possible by a donation of £430,000 from the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action, including the Turkington Bequest, and with financial support from the Atlantic Philanthropies over its initial years.
NICVA was happy to transfer the substantial amount of money it had in its possession to the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland to create a fund for the betterment of older people,” said Seamus McAleavey of NICVA. “We welcome that the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland could match this initial donation pound-for-pound.”
Established in 1979 as the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust, the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland is an independent grant-making organisation. It manages a broad portfolio of funds and programmes that address social exclusion, poverty and social injustice. The aim of the Foundation is to drive social change by tackling social exclusion, poverty, and social injustice through funding and supporting community-based action and influencing policy development.
Groups wishing to make an application to the fund can download an application and fund guidelines from the Community Foundation website at www.communityfoundationni.org or contact Sharon Killen at the Community Foundation on (028) 9024 5927.
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