What is this Fund?
The What Works Training Fund is designed to support nonprofit community and voluntary organisations, providing services to children, young people and families, and particularly networks of organisations including networks of statutory and non-government organisations, to meet training needs. It will fund organisations to engage in accredited evidence-informed or evidence-based training programmes to train staff to improve their services for children, young people and their families. Specifically, it will fund the thematic areas of parenting, non-violent resistance, and trauma-informed practice, as well as inclusiveness, diversity, and addressing the specific needs of parents with disabilities. All applications should relate to recognised training in at least one of these areas. The training must be in respect of the organisation’s workforce or shared among the workforce of a number of nonprofit and statutory organisations. Funding will not be provided directly to training providers but must be requested by the organisation/s with training needs.
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) has a particular mandate to support children and young people suffering disadvantage. As such, applications will only be accepted from organisations serving or having an impact in a disadvantaged area as set out in the Pobal Deprivation Indices. The service does not need to be situated in, or wholly serving, and area of disadvantage but must serve at least one area of disadvantage.
This fund has a maximum value of €100,000 and grant allocations will be minimum of €1,500 and maximum of €10,000 per applicant. Applicants should note that funding is on a once off basis and on-going funding will not be available. Furthermore, any funding awarded must be spent by 31 December 2021. In the following section, the application form for this fund is broken down, question by question, setting out what DCEDIY expects from applicants. However, to ensure you are eligible to apply, note that your application must meet all of the following criteria:
- The application must be made by an organisation which is:
- nonprofit and non-statutory,
- registered, based, and having its main impact in Ireland,
- a member of a Child and Family Support Network (CFSN),
- serving the needs of children, young people and their families in an area of disadvantage as per the Pobal Deprivation Index.
- The application must be for staff training and development only, and this training must be:
- Accredited, evidence-based or evidence-informed training, as demonstrated by external evaluation, academic inquiry, or rating by a recognised programme guidebook (such as the UK Early Intervention Foundation’s Guidebook)[1], and,
- of ultimate benefit to children, young people, and families,
- and, importantly, addressing at least one of the following themes only: parenting, non-violent resistance, trauma-informed practice, inclusiveness and diversity.
How Can I Apply?
The application form for this funding measure can be found on the What Works website. Applicants should download the funding application form and carefully complete all fields, in line with the guidance below.
Applications should be submitted to whatworks@equality.gov.ie.
Please note that a key criteria for success in this funding will be good evidence for the effectiveness of the programme you have chosen. A specific training programme must be named and the evidence cited must relate to the effectiveness of that specific programme. For example, you may wish to apply for funding to provide a parenting training programme to staff. The programme must be named and the evidence (in the form of independent evaluation, accreditation or evidence rating) must relate to that programme, not the general effectiveness of parenting supports.
Question |
Guidance |
| Is your organisation registered in Ireland, and will the training have its main impact in the Republic of Ireland? | Please confirm that your organisation is based in the Ireland and the training will have its main impact in the Republic of Ireland. |
| Is your organisation a nonprofit legal entity? | Please confirm that your organisation is not-for-profit and has legal standing. |
| Organisation Name | Input your organisation’s name, and legal title, if different. |
| Are you a member of a Child and Family Support Network (CFSN)? | Applicants must be a member of a CFSN. |
| Please state the area. | The applicant should state the area in which their CFSN operates. |
| Does your organisation serve an area of disadvantage, as per the Pobal Deprivation Index? | Applicants are required to serve an area of disadvantage. Applicants are not required to serve only this area. |
| Please state the area. | Please state the area. |
| Name of Training Programme | Input the name of the training programme/activity you are seeking to pursue. |
| Amount of Funding Sought (€) | Input the total numerical amount of funding your organisation is seeking for this project. |
| What purpose does your training serve? | Applicants are required to address at least one of these themes in their application: parenting, non-violent resistance, trauma-informed practice, diversity, inclusiveness, or supporting parents with disabilities. Tick all that apply. |
| Training Provider | Applicants should enter the name of the training provider. |
| How many people will undertake this training? | State the number of participants who will undertake this training. |
| What is the actual cost per participant (€)? | State the cost per participant. |
| What is the evidence of effectiveness for this training? Please provide an independent, external report of the impact of this training on service users. | Applicants should scrutinise the existing, published evidence for the training they are proposing to undertake, and link to an external source, such as the Early Intervention Foundation Guidebook or attach an independent report. |
| Data Management |
Applicants should indicate that they agree to the data management terms for their application, if they wish to proceed. |
What is the Deadline for Applications?
This fund is open for two weeks, which means the deadline for applications is 1 October at 12:00 noon. All applications should be submitted before this date, and late applications will not be accepted.
How does the assessment process work?
Applications will be assessed by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in two stages. In stage one, applications will be assessed to ensure they meet all the eligibility criteria set out in ‘1. What is this Fund?’ If an application does not meet these criteria, it will be disqualified.
We will endeavour to provide funding to all eligible applicants. There is limited funding available, so if the total amount applied for under the fund exceeds the available funding, DCEDIY will decide the value of individual awards with a view to supporting the greatest range and number of organisations. If it is not possible to fund all eligible applications, even at a reduced amount, awards will be provided to those who show the strongest evidence base for their chosen training programme.
[1] Applicants should note that DCEDIY will be the final arbiter of what constitutes eligible training. Individual feedback will not be provided. Incomplete applications cannot be accepted.