Ornua, one of Ireland’s leading dairy companies, is proud to announce its partnership with Ireland’s social innovation fund, Rethink Ireland. Ornua has pledged €100,000 to Rethink Ireland projects to drive innovative and ambitious thinking and solutions in the key areas of sustainability and rural development. The Irish Government will match the funding by Ornua via the Dormant Accounts Fund, equating to €200,000.

To celebrate the partnership, Ornua and Rethink Ireland have launched the Glas Communities Fund, which will award up to five of Rethink Ireland’s Awardees. The Glas Communities Fund calls for Rethink Ireland Awardees who work to build sustainable communities to apply to this fund. The Fund will award up to five organisations and help these organisations to expand with a clear focus on scale, growth and driving positive impact. As part of the initiative, Ornua employees will also have the opportunity to volunteer with the Awardees.

The Fund is open to previous and existing Rethink Ireland Awardees from today with a closing date of Tuesday, May 18th 2021. The successful projects will be announced later in the year where projects will be given a cash grant and will be supported in the areas of strategic planning, communications, leadership and social impact management, giving them the tools they need to scale their impact.

Speaking at the launch of the Ornua and Rethink Ireland partnership, Yvonne Cooney, Head of Sustainability, Ornua, said: “As one of Ireland’s leading dairy companies, climate action and sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. We are delighted to be partnering with Rethink Ireland and are committing €100,000 to sustainability and rural development projects. The Glas Communities Fund Awardees will benefit from a cash grant and non-cash support in the form of workshops, mentoring and volunteering. On behalf of everyone at Ornua we are extremely excited to partner with Rethink Ireland and look forward to working with the winning Awardees.”

Pádraic Vallely, Business Development & Political Engagement Manager at Rethink Ireland said:“We are delighted to partner with Ornua and the Irish Government to create the Glas Communities Fund. Building sustainable communities is critical to rural development as part of a just and green transition, and this is exactly what this fund sets out to do. We call on all Rethink Ireland Awardees working in this area to apply to this fund. We very much look forward to working with successful Awardees again to scale their impact across Ireland. ”

The Fund is open for applications until Tuesday the 25th May 2021 at 5 pm. For further information on the Glas Communities Fund and to apply, see HERE.