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Mason Hayse & Curran
MASON HAYES CURRAN
Engage & Educate
Mason Hayes Curran has partnered with Rethink Ireland and Department of Rural and Community Development to back innovative projects that empower young people and adults through education
The Engage & Educate Fund 2022 is a €1.2m fund, created by Rethink Ireland, Mason Hayes Curran (MHC) and the Department of Rural and Community Development via the Dormant Accounts Fund, to back innovative projects that empower young people and adults through education, enabling marginalised communities to access game-changing education programmes.
The Fund, established in 2017, aims to work with organisations that break
the negative cycle of poverty through education, opening up opportunities to people and assisting them to achieve their full potential and contribute to their communities.
The 2021-2024 Fund, supported by MHC, will see the largest ever amounts awarded since the project began, with five organisations receiving grants and non-financial supports packages. Among the successful projects this year are organisations that provide education opportunities to people experiencing marginalisation, young people from the Traveller community, young people with disabilities, and people with migrant status.
“As a firm, we are very pleased to be shortlisted in this category,” says Declan Black, Managing Partner, Mason Hayes Curran. “The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gap in educational opportunities between different socioeconomic groups. As a result, the negative impact on young people and adults who left the education system early, or are now at risk of doing so, is growing. “We have significantly increased our program of charitable donations in recent years. This included doubling our investment in the Engage & Educate Fund. The 2021-2024 Fund will see the largest ever amounts awarded this year since the project began.”
The 2022 Fund beneficiaries are: • Galway Traveller Movement: an ‘Educate to Empower’ project comprising a peer-led education programme • Cultúr Migrant Centre: a Midlandsbased community organisation working with migrants, asylum seekers and refugees • Blossom Ireland: provides skills-based training for young people, aged 14 and above, with an intellectual disability, preparing them for and supporting them during the transition from school to the next stage in their lives • Care After Prison: provides support and pathways to education, training, and employment for those with lived experience of incarceration • Youth Horizons: responding to the needs of the disadvantaged West Tallaght community Declan Black, Managing Partner, Mason Hayes Curran
“Corporate social responsibility is a natural fit with the way we do business. We invest in our society and communities through a range of focused programmes, including the Engage & Educate Programme,” Black notes. “We have long held the belief that education is one of the most powerful tools in tackling disadvantage in Ireland. Our lawyers have developed their careers and lives as a result of opportunities available to them to access education. If members of our community experience barriers and restrictions to accessing education, they won’t reach their full potential or contribute fully to society. To this end, our CSR Committee focuses the firm’s related activities on education and access projects, working with schools and community groups in our local area and beyond to reduce barriers and disadvantage.”
