Our Sustainable Future

This autumn saw the culmination of a project which started with a Cork Chamber fundraising drive, launched as part of the Chamber’s bicentenary celebrations.

Following a 12-month fundraising campaign, philanthropic donations totalling €100k were raised by Cork Chamber, its members and individuals in the business community. By partnering with Rethink Ireland on this initiative, the target amount of €100k was then matched by the Department of Rural and Community Development via the Dormant Accounts Fund, bringing the combined figure to €200,000 and creating what became known as the Sustainable Cork Fund.

The support and structure around the process that was offered by the Rethink Ireland team was fundamental to its success. A strong promotional campaign resulted in 66 applications being submitted by social entrepreneurs and not-forprofit organisations across the county and after an extensive review and interview process, three winners were selected from a shortlist of 12 finalists. The three winning projects (Nasc’s Gateway to Inclusion project, NCE Outreach and Refill.ie) ticked all the boxes for Cork Chamber, as they all demonstrated a clear commitment to promoting sustainability in Cork through environmental awareness, community inclusion and employment, and have demonstrated a good fit with the SDGs that are being backed by Cork Chamber.

The campaign was a classic example of what a strong business community can achieve together. A key motivation for Cork Chamber was to leave a legacy that would endure after the bicentenary celebrations were concluded. The winning projects, outlined on the following page, will have a lasting impact on our community and the supports offered through the Fund will be truly transformational for the awardees. Their work shows us all what fresh thinking, creativity, and resilience can achieve and what is being done to make Cork a better place to live and work.

Above: Claire Mackey, Gateway to Inclusion Project Coordinator at Nasc; Garry Fitzpatrick, Lead Project Coordinator for Refill Ireland; and Noreen Hegarty, General Manager of NCE Outreach pictured with Caroline O’Driscoll, Board Director at Rethink Ireland and Paula Cogan, President of Cork Chamber. Pictures: Darragh Kane

Darragh Kane

Our SuStainable Future

Nasc - Gateway to inclusion

Nasc is a non-governmental organisation and a registered charity based in Cork city, founded in 2000 with the goal of realising the rights of all migrants and refugees within Irish society. Nasc has a number of key services offering specialised supports to particularly vulnerable migrants.

Nasc’s Gateway to Inclusion project provides free, specially tailored English language classes in a women-only, supportive environment. The language component is a ‘gateway’ to ‘hard to reach’ refugee women at risk of geographical or social isolation. The project assists women to accomplish their education and employment goals and provides supports to overcome the barriers that can inhibit women from accessing formal education or employment. The project has been in place since 2018 and last year Nasc’s Gateway to Inclusion supported 36 women. Over the next three years they aim to support 70 women to achieve their education and employment goals from volunteering, to accessing formal third level education to becoming entrepreneurs.

Claire MaCKey Gateway to Inclusion Project Coordinator Nasc

Claire Mackey, Gateway to Inclusion Project Coordinator at Nasc said: “We are delighted to be awarded funding under the inaugural Sustainable Cork Fund. It is a huge honour, and it represents a vote of confidence in the contribution of migrant and refugee women in a diverse and multi-cultural Cork city. “Winning the Sustainable Cork Fund means that Gateway can continue to provide much needed supports to refugee and migrant women to help them to successfully and happily integrate into their new communities. It is an honour to be able to facilitate and empower our participants, who bring so much diversity, skill and ability, and help to enrich Cork’s multicultural community and workforce.”

refill.ie

Refill.ie is a social enterprise helping to eradicate a need for single use plastic water bottles by providing an alternative free-to-use refill network. In addition, they provide a zero-waste drinking water service for public events large and small allowing them to go plastic free and are a seller of sustainable bottle and dispenser products.

Refill.ie will use the Sustainable Cork Fund to hire a full-time employee for a new Cork base as well as advertising and promoting their work. With the help of the Fund, Refill.ie can now deliver a range of benefits to Cork and the South-West region including a zero waste mobile drinking water service at Cork events; an extended “Tap Map” service, showing people where to find free tap water nearby; installation of a Community Refill Hub; and advocacy, education, representation and community building. They have also established an online shop, with water bottles, dispensers and fountains for sale (see https://www.refill.ie/shop).

Garry Fitzpatrick Lead Project Coordinator, Refill Ireland

Garry Fitzpatrick, Lead Project Coordinator for Refill Ireland said: “We are delighted to win funding from the Sustainable Cork Fund. It will be a fantastic boost for us and will allow us to have personnel based in the region working and advocating for changes to improve the local environment through the easy access to zero waste choices for their daily hydration needs."

NCE Outreach - Sustainable Futures

NCE Outreach was set up in 1998 and works in partnership with the Department of Employment & Social Protection (DEASP), the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Tabor Group, Cuan Mhuire and the Probation services. NCE Outreach acts as an inclusive and unique training model that supports participants during different stages in their rehabilitation of all forms of addiction, by providing Individual Learning Plans (ILPs), specialised training programmes and work experience to build confidence, advance transferable skills and develop career pathways for each participant.

Its project, Sustainable Futures, provides training, personal development, and employment in the area of sustainability for participants of NCE Outreach and the local community . The project aims to create part-time employment opportunities at NCE while also feeding into the development of a community based, living lab for sustainability in Cork city based at Farranferris Education & Training Campus. NCE plans to establish the first Zero Waste Shop on the north side of Cork city as well as developing links and relationships with other local and national organisations and businesses.

Noreen Hegarty General Manager of NCE Outreach

Noreen Hegarty, General Manager of NCE Outreach said: “The Sustainable Cork Fund will give NCE the opportunity to grow and develop our services, and to link with other organisations to share resources and reach a wider demographic. It is also giving us the opportunity to become a positive demonstrator and educational campus for how organisations and communities can transition to more sustainable living and business practices while also creating employment opportunities.”