Mallusk enterprise park in the running for Skills & Opportunities Fund grant

Members of the public can support them by voting online at http://skillsandopportunitiesfund.ulsterbank.com/vote/ up until noon on Friday, April 20.

Newtownabbey based Mallusk Enterprise Park supports local business development initiatives and is seeking funding support to help start its ‘Shore to Shore’ creative.

This project aims to inspire potential entrepreneurs to convert a hobby into a business by teaching business skills and ideas, developing confidence and providing mentoring support.

Other groups shortlisted are West Belfast based primary school, St Joseph’s Slate Street; Youth Action NI; Larne social enterprise company, LEDCOM Ltd.; Flourish NI which provides support to survivors of human trafficking, Derry community empowerment project La Dolce Vita; and, Appleby Careers Project in Armagh.

Since the Fund first opened in 2015, 15 community organisations in Northern Ireland have received over £244k in grants from the Fund, leading to five new businesses, 13 jobs and 2,345 qualifications, and benefitting over 4,900 people in total.

Previous recipient Cinemagic, is a young people’s charity that maximises the impact and reach of film, television and digital technologies to educate, motivate and inspire young people, particularly from disadvantaged areas and backgrounds. They received funding for Grace and Goliath, their unique film-making project.

Richard Donnan, Head of Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland, said: “The projects funded by the Skills & Opportunities Fund are helping thousands of people across the UK & Ireland to develop money or business skills, gain qualifications, or start a new business.

“Voting takes just seconds but feedback tells us that the benefits can be sustained, making a real difference to the communities in which these organisations operate.”

Everyone can place one vote in each region.

A brief summary of the shortlisted projects is available and the public can vote at:http://skillsandopportunitiesfund.ulsterbank.com/vote/

Those who do vote are asked to share that they’ve voted and to encourage others to do the same, using #skillsandopportunities.

And, for organisations that are unsuccessful this time round, there will be another opportunity to apply when the Fund re-opens for applications later in this year.

The winners this time round will be announced on Friday, May 25.