HFA awards €250,000 in funding to projects around the country
The Housing Finance Agency awards funding for community initiatives through its Social Investment Fund.
The Housing Finance Agency (HFA) has announced funding of €250,000 to support Approved Housing Bodies and Local Authorities in the delivery of community-enhancing initiatives and facilities.
Funded projects include play spaces and community gardens, wellbeing and biodiversity programmes and the refurbishment of community hubs. Thirteen initiatives across 11 different counties were chosen.
The HFA, which provides financing to support the delivery of social and affordable housing, awards community project funding to customers each year through its Social Investment Fund.
The aim of the fund is to support initiatives that will complement the communities in which HFA-financed homes are built.
Announcing the funding awards, Housing Finance Agency CEO, Barry O’Leary, said:
“We had great interest in our Social Investment Fund this year, with a range of creative and well-thought-out applications coming from customers across the country.
I had the pleasure of joining Tuath Housing in August at the close of their HFA-funded youth camp in The Meadows, Co Cork, and it was clear that it added great fun to the summer for all the young people in the community who were involved.
The HFA is committed to supporting customers, not just in the delivery of housing, but also in the enhancement of communities around those homes with this fund. I look forward to seeing positive impacts these latest projects delivery for local residents.”
At four Oaklee housing schemes in Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly and Westmeath residents will benefit from environmental and biodiversity initiatives such as wildflower meadows, tree planting, bug hotels, hedgehog sanctuaries and fruit and vegetable growing schemes.
Sharon Cosgrove, CEO, Oaklee Housing welcomed the HFA funding for these projects:
“Oaklee is delighted to receive this funding award of €24,000 from the Social Investment Fund. This investment will enable underused waste ground at our developments across four counties to be transformed into flourishing, biodiverse communal space, designed and developed by the community in those neighbourhoods”.
ENDS
For further information contact press@hfa.ie
Notes to Editors:
A full list of funded projects can be found here
The Housing Finance Agency is a State-owned body that provides financing to Local Authorities, Approved Housing Bodies and Higher Education Institutions for housing-related purposes.
