Over €593,000 in funding has been announced to support community and voluntary groups with their energy bills across Galway city and county.
The €10 million Community Support Fund will provide small grants to a wide and diverse range of local community groups across the country to help with their running costs.
Funding will be available to support parish halls, community centres, local development associations, social clubs, ICA groups, senior citizen groups, men’s sheds, women’s sheds and more.
The new scheme will support groups which may not have been deemed eligible for funding under previous Government schemes.
These include groups that operate from parish halls and who need support with running costs such as energy or insurance bills.
Groups can also use the funding to carry out small upgrade works and to purchase equipment to support their activities such as laptops and printers, lawnmowers, training equipment, etc.
Announcing the funding today, Minister Heather Humphreys said that community groups are not immune from rising prices.
She said the new scheme is about supporting these groups with their costs whether it’s electricity bills, insurance costs or other overheads.