Chamber donations to fund sustainable actions in Cork

Nasc's Gateway to Inclusion project, NCE Outreach and Refill.ie to benefit 

Claire Mackey, Gateway to Inclusion Project Coordinator at Nasc; Noreen Hegarty, General Manager of NCE Outreach; and Garry Fitzpatrick, Lead Project Coordinator for Refill Ireland. Picture: Darragh Kane

Three projects promoting sustainability in Cork have been awarded supports to the value of €200,000 from a fund created by Rethink Ireland in partnership with Cork Chamber of Commerce and the Department of Rural and Community Development.

The Sustainable Cork Fund recipients include Nasc's Gateway to Inclusion project, NCE Outreach and Refill.ie.

The not-for-profit organisations were among 66 who applied for the Sustainable Cork Fund and provide supports for female migrants and refugees to pursue education and employment opportunities, offers further education, training and employment for people engaged in post-addiction treatment programmes and probation services , and provide innovative initiatives to help eradicate single-use plastic water bottles in Cork City and County respectively.

The fund was created to commemorate Cork Chamber of Commerce's 200-year anniversary, with philanthropic donations from Cork Chamber and its members matched by the Department of Rural and Community Development via the Dormant Accounts Fund.

Conor Healy, CEO and Paula Cogan, President of Cork Chamber with Deirdre Mortell, CEO of Social Innovation Fund.

Commending Chamber members for their donations to the Fund, Paula Cogan, President of Cork Chamber, said: “When we initiated the call-to-action across the business community as part of the Chamber 200 celebrations in 2019 we never expected such a response." 

“This fund was the cornerstone of our anniversary programme, as we were determined to create a legacy for Cork. We believe it will have a lasting impact on our community and it 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," she finished.