IRISH HOSPICE FOUNDATION (IHF), WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE CREATIVE IRELAND PROGRAMME, OFFERS GRANTS FOR LOCAL PROGRAMMES
15 Seed Grants to support communities’ creative exploration of grief or memorialisation are now available.
IHF are inviting applications from groups and / or individuals nationwide before the closing date of Friday 28th October at 5.00pm. This IHF programme offers communities across Ireland multiple ways to process the impact of death, dying, grief, and more general losses.
IHF Seeds programme piloted in early 2021 and was extended through to 2022. To date, 39 projects have been supported with micro grants, expertise, and resources enabling communities of place or interest to develop their own tools or articulate their needs.
Previous awardees include individual artists, writers, nursing homes, secondary schools, community groups, disability support centres, local choirs, and hospitals. This year IHF are encouraging as wide a group of people as possible to apply with a simple application process and lots of support.
As part of previous Seeds Grants programmes, a number of awardees included several from the Connaught region. Examples include:
Kevin Toolis from Achill Island explored in his poem ‘Gone’ how a multi-voiced bardic epic poem, with different artists, could capture the universality of our collective loss during the Covid-19 pandemic.
https://hospicefoundation.ie/gone
Leitrim based Artist Maria Noonan-McDermott completed her ‘Time-Lapse’ exhibition of paintings, poetry, and installations, inspired by caring for her mother who was living with Alzheimer’s.
https://hospicefoundation.ie/timelapse
Jacqui Lynskey and her team at COPE Galway used their Seed Grant to host a series of workshops to allow senior citizens time to reflect upon and discuss how they managed bereavement.
https://hospicefoundation.ie/creativereflections
Noel Lyons and the LatWEST Association collated and published ‘Voices on the Bridge’ a collection of English, Latvian, and Irish poetry and lyrics, with themes of loss of home through immigration, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
https://hospicefoundation.ie/voices-on-the-bridge
Grants of up to €2,000 are available with up to 15 awards on offer. Full details are on the IHF website: https://hospicefoundation.ie/seeds