The Department of Rural and Community Development (DRCD) has launched a ‘COVID-19 Stability Fund 2021’ which is open to community and voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises. The press release announcing the launch of this Fund is available here for further information.
The primary aim of the COVID-19 Stability Fund 2021 is to help organisations suffering financially due to a reduction in their fundraising and/or traded income to continue to deliver eligible critical services over this difficult period
Priority will be given to:
Organisations who have not received previous support from the DRCD COVID-19 Stability Scheme 2020 or other Government supports
Community Centres that are delivering services to the wider community that are not registered with the Companies Registration Office or the Registrar of Friendly Societies or the Charities Regulator in the Republic of Ireland
Organisations that are experiencing severe financial difficulties and are at risk of severely reducing their eligible critical services and supports and/or in danger of not continuing and/or reopening
Organisations that are not in receipt of public funding or where public funding represents a relatively small percentage of your overall income
The eligibility criteria and guidance for applicants have been updated for 2021 and are available on the Pobal website.
Each organisation must determine their eligibility for the Fund prior to applying. Pobal are anticipating high demand for this funding and therefore, meeting the eligibility criteria and/or submitting an application do not guarantee funding.
The key timelines are as follows:
| Key Timelines | Dates |
| Register on the application portal
|
Thursday, 6 May, 2021 to Tuesday, 25 May, 2021 |
| Help and support available
|
Thursday, 6 May, 2021 to Thursday, 27 May, 2021
|
| Online application form opens
|
Thursday, 20 May, 2021 to Thursday, 27 May, 2021
|
| Online application form closes
|
Thursday, 27 May, 2021 at 3.00pm (15:00 hrs)
|
If you choose to apply for the COVID-19 Stability Fund 2021 you can register for the COVID-19 Stability Fund 2021 portal in one of the following ways:
- If you have a C&V Stability Scheme 2020 portal account, you can use your existing username and password to access the COVID-19 Stability Fund 2021 portal. You do not need to register your organisation’s details again.
or
- If you or your organisation has another Pobal portal account, you must activate your COVID-19 Stability Fund 2021 portal account by emailing stabilityscheme@pobal.ie quoting your Pobal Unique Reference Number (URN) referenced at the start of this email. You do not need to create a new portal account. If you do so, you will receive an error message and will be unable to proceed any further. To ensure that there are no delays in setting up your account, please contact stabilityscheme@pobal.ie as early in May 2021 as possible.
All details on the COVID-19 Stability Fund 2021 can be found on the Pobal website. If you have any further queries on the Fund, please email stabilityscheme@pobal.ie.
