€84,884 awarded to Kilkenny Accessoloo and Woodstock accessible playground

Two accessibility projects in Kilkenny have been awarded grants totalling €84,884.

The Kilkenny AccessoLoo Service and Woodstock House and Gardens are the beneficiaries under the 2021 Disability Participation and Awareness Fund.

A grant of €28,771 has been awarded to the Kilkenny AccessoLoo Service.

Woodstock House and Gardens has been awarded €56,113 for two projects - a mobility vehicle and an accessibility playground.

Minister of State with Special Responsibility for Disability, Anne Rabbitte, T.D., today announced the grants, part of a list of 39 projects across all 31 Local Authorities will be offered a total of €2.5 million under the Disability Participation and Awareness Fund (DPAF) 2021.

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The purpose of the Disability Participation and Awareness Fund, which was established by Minister Rabbitte under Budget 2021, is to provide funding to support the participation of people with disabilities in local activities, to help remove barriers to community involvement and to support the promotion and implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in communities. In 2021, this funding is being provided through Local Authorities.

Projects approved this year will:

• promote the rights of people with disabilities
• assist in removing barriers to participation in local and community life
• raise awareness of the UNCRPD within communities and local authority staff and elected members

Further funding calls will issue in 2022, and the scheme parameters will be adjusted based on the learning arising from the initial call this year. Targeting community groups directly next year, the Minister hopes to build on the momentum established in 2021 and seeks to focus on further supports for community participation and integration.

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