Midlands LGBT+ receives over €88,000 

THE Midlands LGBT+ Project has been granted more than €88,000 to run services in Laois and three other counties.

The project managed by Laois Youth Service CLG, trading as Youth Work Ireland Laois, has been awarded €88,452 in the latest round of funding announced by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

The funding will help the Midlands LGBT+ Project to run awareness and support services and events for people in Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Kildare.

The grant is part of a €1.39m national fund which will go to 24 LGBTI+ community projects around the country, under the 2024 LGBTI+ Community Services Funding Call and LGBTI+ Youth Fund.

Announcing the grants in late December, the department said that funding of up to €100,000 was awarded to successful organisations under the 2024 LGBTI+ Community Services Funding Call, to ‘assist the development of rural community infrastructure to be inclusive and welcoming of LGBTI+ persons, address gaps in LGBTI+ services and support existing LGBTI+ community organisations’.

Under the LGBTI+ Youth Fund, grants ranging from €20,000 to €75,000 were awarded to ‘projects that make a difference in ensuring LGBTI+ young people are visible, included, treated equally, healthy, and safe in their communities’.

The department said in a statement: ‘Through this funding, a total of €1,398,916 will be made available to support organisations across Ireland to assist the development of rural community infrastructure to be inclusive and welcoming of LGBTI+ persons, address gaps in LGBTI+ services, support existing LGBTI+ community organisations and initiatives supporting LGBTI+ young people.’ 

The funding is part of the government’s ‘National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy’ which was launched in November 2019. The strategy’s stated aim is to provide ‘a whole-of-Government framework’ for identifying and addressing issues that may prevent LGBTI+ people from enjoying full equality in Irish society.