The Irish Youth Foundation (IYF) has granted £200,000 this year to welfare, educational and cultural groups working in the North and in Britain.At its annual presentation ceremony in the Irish Embassy in London last night, it was also announced that the foundation has now donated more than £2 million in grants since 1989.
The Irish Ambassador, Mr Daithí Ó Ceallaigh, hosted the reception at which the IYF Innovation Award was presented to Mr Brian Roberts on behalf of the West Midlands Schools GAA for a project involving 4,000 children in 81 primary schools.
Hammersmith and Fulham Irish Centre received the Quality Award for excellence and consistency over a period of nine years "enriching the lives of a large number of children and young people" through an Irish arts and education Saturday and summer school programme.
Now extending throughout the UK, the foundation is supporting the Irish Community Care Youth Project in Merseyside; Ardoyne Youth Club in Belfast; and the Artswave cultural exchange programme in Wales. Other welfare groups in London, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Leeds and Newcastle-upon-Tyne are also getting help.
Last May, after 13 years in existence, the board of trustees carried out a review to establish if IYF was still needed and to ensure it was meeting the needs of young Irish people in Britain.
Ms Cecilia Gallagher, fundraising and events manager, said the needs now "were more complex, including drug and alcohol abuse and mental health issues, frequently the result of homelessness and difficult family and social circumstances".