£85k funding boost to help support Ukrainian refugees
The Church of Ireland has received £85,000 to run a grant scheme on behalf of the UK Benefact Trust to support people from Ukraine arriving on the island of Ireland.
The grants will be provided through the Church of Ireland representative church body and will assist CoI dioceses and parishes who are helping to integrate Ukrainians.
Church primate Archbishop John McDowell said: “I would thank the Benefact Trust for the generous financial support they have provided to help Ukrainian refugees who have arrived here in Ireland.
“Our partnership is also a recognition that, with parishes which together cover the whole of the island, the Church of Ireland is well placed to identify local needs.
“The trust is one of the largest grant–making charities in the UK and Ireland with the charitable objectives of promoting the Christian faith and other charitable causes.”
Archbishop McDowell added: “The trust has, to date, provided £1m to help with the response to the humanitarian crisis in eastern Europe and with resettlement in the UK and Ireland.”
The latest round of funding will also fund a grants scheme from the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference for similar projects and help the Irish Red Cross replicate its warehouse model, based on its Dublin project.