€125,000 Funding Available To Non-profits With Innovative Ideas To Promote Movement In Communities #MovementIsHappiness

Voluntary and non-profit organisations which want to kick-start new programmes encouraging people to become more active could win  €25,000 to get them up and running, it was announced today.

 

Five grants totalling €125,000 are up for grabs for new sport and physical activity initiatives under the Coca-Cola Thank You Fund (the Fund), which was launched today by Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar TD and Irish athlete Derval O’Rourke. Derval is this year’s ambassador for the Coca-Cola Thank You Fund.

 

Applications for the Fund are being accepted online from today until 6pm on the 16th of June at www.coca-cola.ie/thankyou.

“This is a great initiative which aims to get people moving and help non-profit groups to stage physical activities. I got first-hand experience of this scheme by taking part in the Swim for a Mile challenge. Swim Ireland trained more than 1,000 people to swim for a mile and then hosted a series of nationwide events for them to put their training into practice. This year, five organisations will each receive €25,000 for their projects, and I encourage other groups to think about how they can promote active living through this fund,” said Leo Varadkar TD, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

Fund ambassador Derval O’Rourke urged her followers on Twitter to start thinking of bright ideas that could use funding. She wrote: “Because #MovementIsHappiness we’re looking for inspiring projects that will get people moving! Enter atwww.coca-cola.ie/thankyou.”

The Fund’s judging panel will include Lorraine Ho, Managing Director of Bootcamp Ireland, Tina Murphy, founder of Run with Tina, Denis Toomey, President, Cycling Ireland and ‎Deirdre Garvey, CEO at The Wheel. Representatives from both of the Fund’s partner organisations Federation of Irish Sport, and the Northern Ireland Sports Forum, will also join the panel along with Erica Roseingrave of Coca-Cola Hellenic Ireland.

 

“We are delighted to announce the availability of €125,000 in funding for 2014, and welcome voluntary and non-profit organisations to apply online at www.coca-cola.ie/thankyou. The Fund is looking for creative and engaging approaches to getting people moving through sport and activity based programmes. We want to capture the imagination of those who may not incorporate a great deal of physical exercise into their routines at the moment by providing them with new ways of getting active. Now is the time to start thinking about what your organisation could do with our support to mobilise the people of Ireland and Northern Ireland towards greater levels of movement. In addition to submitting an entry via our website, we invite you to join the conversation on Twitter at #MovementIsHappiness,” said Ailish Forde, Director, Public Affairs and Communications, Coca-Cola HBC Ireland.

The Coca-Cola Thank You Fund was launched in 2011 and has so far distributed €375,000 in grants. This year’s funding total of €125,000 will bring the amount donated through the Fund to half a million Euro. More information about the Fund is available at www.coca-cola.ie/thankyou. Entries will be accepted online from today until 16th June 2014.

Comments are closed.