Opportunity
The Irish Hospice Foundation’s Seed Grants scheme offers communities across Ireland multiple ways to process the impact of death, dying, grief, and more general losses. The Seed Grants support groups, organisations and individuals looking for creative ways to do this.
IHF, with the support of the Creative Ireland Programme, is offering 15 Seed Grants in 2022/23 to support communities’ creative exploration of grief or memorialisation. Priority will be given to creative initiatives that take innovative approaches to reflection and remembrance.
Background
The Seed Grants programme piloted in early 2021, during the second wave of the pandemic and a full lockdown across Ireland, when all around us were facing great uncertainty and multiple challenges. The programme was extended through to 2022. To date 39 projects have been supported with micro grants, expertise, and resources enabling communities of place or interest to develop their own tools or articulate their needs. View Seed Grant 2022 projects here.
Previous awardees include individual artists, writers, nursing homes, secondary schools, community groups, disability support centres, local choirs, and hospitals. This year IHF are encouraging as wide a group of people as possible to apply with a simple application process and lots of support.
What can Seed Grants be used for?
Seed Grants aim to help start new local art projects, or to support existing projects gain momentum – these may involve artists, crafts people, or digital-coders. It may be a group or individual who has a good idea. It might be something you’ve been planning for ages or a new notion.
You may want to mark the loss of a colleague, or the impact on your Care Team. You could be healthcare workers, youth workers, creative artists, civil servants, filmmakers, poets, school groups or anyone impacted by loss and grief.
Awards are in the region of €2,000 per project. Seed Grants are intended to support the work of those involved in the community, therefore a key requirement for the receipt of a grant is that the level of funding must be matched by the community group, organisation or individual either in cash or in kind.
How to apply
Further information and the online application form: https://hospicefoundation.ie/our-supports-services/ihf-in-the-community/arts-and-creativity/seeds-grants-application/
IHF will hold an online briefing session for potential applicants (including a Q&A) on Monday 17 October at 1pm. There is no need to register in advance. The link can be found at the URL above.
Key Dates
Application Deadline: Friday 28 October at 5pm
Announcement of successful applicants: Tuesday 8 November
(All applicants will be notified this week)
Project completion: Projects must be completed by 28 April 2023.
