51 COVID-19 projects to receive €3 million Innovate Together Fund from Rethink Ireland

€3 million in awards has been announced for 51 projects in the first phase of Rethink Ireland’s Innovate Together Fund, after 481 projects applied for grants from the €5.6 million Fund.

Following a competitive selection process which saw 481 projects apply, the 51 best projects have been chosen to receive cash grants of between €20,000 and €200,000 to support their innovative responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. These projects will also receive a non-financial business support package.

The Government of Ireland, through the Department of Rural and Community Development (via the Dormant Accounts Fund), committed €5M to the Innovate Together Fund as part of a €40M support package to the community and voluntary sector in May. Rethink Ireland have since received additional donations from the Z Zurich Foundation, Medtronic, Twitter and Oakfield Trust. The Fund supports charities’ innovative responses to the COVID-19 crisis that will also provide lasting change.

Deirdre Mortell CEO of Rethink Ireland said:

“We are delighted to announce these 51 Awardees today under the first phase of the Innovate Together Fund. In these times of extraordinary crisis, the invention and imagination shown by the 481 applicants and 51 Awardees is remarkable. The projects cover the spectrum from physical and mental health supports to online education, community outreach, sustainability, food security and reskilling our workforce. It is phenomenal to see the depth and breadth of innovation in Ireland at the moment. Our Fund remains open for philanthropic donations to increase the funds available in Round 2.”

Minister Heather Humphreys TD, Minister for Social Protection and Community and Rural Development said;

“I would like to extend my congratulations to the first 51 Awardees of the Innovate Together Fund announced today by Rethink Ireland.  This fund is supported by my Department via the Dormant Accounts Fund. The successful projects announced today really showcase the amazing ways that all communities across Ireland are innovating in response to the social challenges presented by COVID-19.”

The Z Zurich Foundation, a charitable foundation established by Zurich Insurance Company Ltd and Zurich Life Insurance Company Ltd, has committed €500,000 to the Innovate Together Fund as part of its global COVID-19 response.

Anthony Brennan, CEO, Zurich Ireland said:

“Backed by the Z Zurich Foundation, Zurich in Ireland is very proud to work together with Rethink Ireland to implement innovative social projects that help build resilience in communities, as they adapt to the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis.”

Innovate Together €3 million Fund Awardees include the following:

Safetynet Primary Care Mobile COVID-19 Testing Unit

People living in congregated settings such as Direct Provision sites and the homeless population have a higher incidence rate of COVID-19, posing a risk to a population already more susceptible to illnesses.

Safetynet, a medical charity working with homeless and marginalised people in Ireland, aims to scale their reconfigured COVID-19 services in the form of a mobile consultation bus or unit where on-site testing will be possible.

Patients will also be triaged remotely providing additional support to Public Health requests related to COVID-19 outbreaks. Safetynet is also the only community service that will employ the rapid-testing device GeneXpert to immediately identify positive cases with the ability to then transport the patient off-site for treatment.

Safety Net is currently daily engaged in mobile COVID-19 testing all over Ireland.  

IIMRO–Abalobi Fisheries App

Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation Cooperative Society Limited (IIMRO)

Markets which usually take fish and shellfish from offshore island fisheries have collapsed over the last number of years and worsened dramatically due to COVID-19.

As a result, most island based fishers cannot sell their catch and are completely dependent on emergency COVID payments. The lack of income or alternative support for fishers will have a disproportionate impact on fishery-dependent island communities.

The project consists of the development of an innovative and integrated online and phone app system that will facilitate small scale fishers to log their catch and direct sales to consumers, of traceable fish and shellfish from the islands.

The programme aims to promote traceable, storied seafood by empowering small-scale fishers from catch to customer, in a manner that is not only ecologically responsible but also socially fair. This will ensure access to market and income generation for fishers in the area. The IIMRO-Abalobi app partnership will see the first rollout of the system in Europe and promises to make major changes to the way catches are documented and sold.

The app was first developed in South Africa and this will be the first time it is partnered within Europe.

The funding will be used to adapt the app suite to the Irish requirements for species, sales notes and reporting. The investment will also cover costs associated with marketing, recruiting and enrolling fishers and customers onto the system.

SpunOut Dynamic Mental Health Signposting Tool:

Demand from young people for SpunOut.ie information resources have increased by 60% and anxiety-related conversations with Crisis Text Line have increased by 100%. Young people are struggling to stay hopeful, to engage in protective behaviours and to have their basic needs met. Over a quarter have lost work and 20% report using alcohol to cope. From research conducted with 1,300 young people in Ireland aged 16-25 at the end of April (2020), a third reported they will need some form of mental health support as we emerge from this crisis.

The Dynamic Mental Health Signposting tool will help SpunOut.ie’s 150,000 monthly readers to explain what they are feeling or the situation they are in, and quickly refine a list of signposts and results personal to them. This will include signposting to a specific service, instant connection on Live Chat to a youth worker, instantly starting a conversation with a Crisis Volunteer, or providing a self-help factsheet or app referral.

This investment will primarily fund database curation and technical development, hosting and software costs as well as project management and digital marketing costs.

Neonatal Virtual Classroom – National Maternity Hospital

COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the access parents have to their premature babies. The premi ward has had to limit parental access to babies to 2 in every 24 hours. NMH usually trains and coaches parents in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) procedures as parental care is a vital part of premature survival. This has not been possible with the restrictions of COVID-19.

Their solution is to develop an online resource/portal to deliver a virtual tour of the neonatal unit to a mum who is about to deliver prematurely so that she does not have to physically visit the unit. It will cover information such as what an incubator/heart monitor looks like, provide interviews with a nurse/doctor and provide stories from other parents who went through the same experience. This project is informed by the success of the virtual classroom that has been set up on the NMH website for ‘normal’ pregnancies. NMH is the centre for maternal health for patients across Ireland and when there is a complication, mothers are referred to NMH. It is, therefore, a national service and up to 20% of all pregnancies will require specialist care. The virtual classroom has been piloted (since COVID-19) for normal pregnancies, this project will apply to similar platforms, but needs specialist content.

In 2018, a booklet was developed to provide guidance on caring for premature babies. The funding would be used to adopt this content and utilise the learning from the previous version of the virtual classroom. It will enable the NMH to provide support to the 12,000 women annually who experience complications during pregnancy.

For more information on the 51 projects please go here.

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