Paul Mooney has been nominated as a finalist in the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland 2010 Awards Programme

Paul Mooney has been nominated as a finalist in the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland 2010 Awards Programme. Three Awards will be made in October 2010 from the shortlist of six. The shortlisted projects undergo a four month Finalists Programme with SEI providing resources to work on a critical business issue. The outcome of this process will determine the 2010 Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Award Winners of the Social Impact Programme. 
SEI’s new Award will provide targeted, in-depth support to the three overall winners. Each Award winner will receive an award to the value of €165,000 over a two-three year period, which will enable them to maximise their impact in addressing social issues across Ireland through directed support, developing their networks and communicating their achievements.

I am delighted to be one of the finalists in this innovative Award Programme.    Social Entrepreneurs Ireland have been tremendous supporters of Jobcare over the past three years, and this is another demonstration of their commitment to ensure that their support makes a deep impact in the lives of individuals.  This echoes the values we uphold in Jobcare, and I look forward to seeing how this latest initiative helps to transform the situations of the people we seek to serve.” – Paul Mooney

UNICREDIT BANK COMMITS €90,000 TO JOBCARE

UniCredit Bank Ireland today announced that it is contributing a sum of €90,000 to support the work of Jobcare. Funding will be applied towards a variety of initiatives, in particular the Trasna Programme.

Finance Minister, Mr Brian Lenihan TD described the cooperative approach between UniCredit and Jobcare as a template for commercial and community partnership at a time when innovative thinking is more critical than ever.

Commenting, Mr Stefano Vaiani, Managing Director, UniCredit Bank Ireland said:  “As a financial services employer located in the heart of the IFSC, we are very keen to support Dublin’s inner city community of which we are part.  The IFSC is a tremendous success, but not everyone has benefitted, often because they are ill equipped or poorly resourced to do so.

“We know from our prior involvement with Jobcare that it is one of the most effective and innovative supports to disadvantaged job seekers in the area. Given it costs more than €90,000 to keep one person in prison for one year, the merits of assisting rehabilitation and integration of ex-offenders to society is compelling.  That is we why decided to support this and Jobcare’s other employment initiatives at this time.  We wish Jobcare, its staff and the very many people it serves each year, continued success in the future.”

Commenting, Paul Mooney, Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Jobcare, said: “This injection of funding will significantly enhance Jobcare’s capacity to help men and women in this community escape the cycle of re-offending.  UniCredit Bank has been a faithful supporter of Jobcare over the past few years.  Putting money into a venture like this isn’t always the most attractive to donors, but UniCredit Bank recognize that when you give a man back his self-respect through work and help him stop criminal behaviour, this brings stability to his whole family and enables his children to have a different kind of future.  This kind of social investment is immeasurably valuable.”

About UniCredit Bank Ireland p.l.c.: Licensed in Ireland by the Central Bank of Ireland in December 2007, UniCredit Bank Ireland p.l.c. provides banking and financial services. Its main business area is international lending and its loan portfolio comprises credit institutions, multinational companies and sovereigns.  The bank now has 30 employees and total assets in excess of Euro 27 billion (as at 31 December 2008).  It is a wholly owned subsidiary of UniCredit S.p.A.

23 November 2009

NEWS

Jobcare’s Trasna programme receives recognition at award ceremony Jobcare was in the spotlight at the SEI Award Ceremony 2009 yesterday evening at The Exchange, Gardiner Street - held to award 31 social entrepreneurs a total of €750,000.

As a SEI Award Two winner in 2007, Paul Mooney was profiled in a short film commissioned by Social Entrepreneurs Ireland as an example of the heart and motivation behind social entrepreneurship. Warren and Jonathan, participants on Trasna, were also featured in the film and spoke of how work and the Jobcare programme has assisted them to make significant changes for the better.

President Mary McAleese, guest speaker at the ceremony, paid tribute to the vision and initiative of Paul Mooney (Co-Founder and CEO of Jobcare) in setting up the Trasna Programme for ex-offenders. She also praised the personal commitment of the Trasna participants who, she said, had to daily make a choice to act so that change would become a reality for them. The event was attended by over 350 people who were invited from business, government, media and community sectors. The upper hall in The Exchange was an ideal venue for such a gathering and the President spoke of how she was astonished at the transformation that has been brought about in that building. Trasna work teams have played an integral role in the restoration of the old labour exchange – a change that mirrors the transformation made in their own lives.

Warren and Jonathan presented President McAleese with flowers at the conclusion of the ceremony. It was a proud and moving moment for Jobcare when the twelve Trasna participants were received on the podium by the President who spoke to them and was photographed with them. The audience stood to applaud them.

Jobcare’s Trasna programme has been in operation since January 2008, receiving a two year grant from Social Entrepreneurs Ireland as well as FÁS funding.

View some photographs of the Award Ceremony taken by Jobcare’s in-house photographer Jonny Pardoe:

20 October 2009

Related articles:

socialentrepreneurs.ie
irishtimes.com
TRINITY.IE

FAS SCHEME PARTICIPANT ANNOUNCED AS WINNER OF NCI/METRO CHANGE YOUR LIFE FUND

The National College of Ireland (NCI) and Metro have announced that Karl Kilmartin is the winner of the Change Your Life Education Fund.  Karl has been a participant on Jobcare’s FAS-sponsored Trasna Programme since January 2008 – a project designed for ex-offenders.

Entrants were asked to submit their personal stories and answer the question: Why do you want to change your life, and how could education help?  Karl submitted his story which told of how after years of heroin addiction, crime and prison sentences he enrolled on Jobcare’s Trasna Programme and began to turn his life around.  Karl was on a Jobcare work team assisting in the renovation of the old labour exchange on Gardiner Street.
Karl was chosen from seven finalists and will receive a prize that comprises an educational fund worth €20,000 and €15,000 in other supports, such as mentoring and computer equipment.  Over the past 18 months the Jobcare team have worked with Karl to identify a career path for when he rolled-off the Trasna programme.  He applied to NCI to enroll in the Higher Certificate in Science and Computing in Applications and Support and in order to finance this he entered the Change Your Life Fund competition.

Jobcare are delighted to see such a successful result for Karl and the Trasna Programme.  “It shows that, given opportunity, support and development, ex-offenders like Karl have the capacity to change their situations and provide a future for themselves and their family”, says Paul Mooney, Founder of Jobcare.  “Trasna provides a good balance of work, training, and mentoring and has arrested the cycle of re-offending for many of the 30 participants who have been enrolled on the programme, helping them achieve a stable personal and social balance”.

27 August 2009