Call for Applications to the Equality Fund 2009-10 Now Open

Posted on: 04 November 2009

The Equality Committee has launched a call for submissions to the Equality Fund 2009-10.  The fund will be awarded to projects, events, workshops and other initiatives that aim to raise awareness on equality issues and promote diversity in College.  All submissions should be made using the application form and forwarded to the Equality Officer no later than Thursday, November 12th next.

Proposals from academic, administrative, support staff and student groups that are deemed beneficial to the College community will be accepted and all submissions will be reviewed on a competitive basis.  Each year the Equality Committee proposes a number of equality themes for applications which focus on celebrating diversity relating to all 9 grounds of discrimination (age, gender, marital status, family status, race and ethnicity, membership of the traveller community, disability, sexual orientation and religious belief).

During the last academic year the Equality Fund sponsored 14 staff and student projects ranging from a staff family fun day in the Sports Centre to Rainbow Week activities; from practical support for student parents to anti-racism workplace training.  Assistant Director of Sport, Michelle Tanner, commented on the funding the Sports Centre received: “The staff family fun day was a huge success and over 400 people attended and participated in a range of free activities.  It was great to bring staff members and their families together and it promoted a sense of collegiality amongst the College community”.

Dr Roja Fazaeli from the School of Religion and Theology received funding to host a workshop series on Islam and Gender under the theme of ‘Challenging stereotypes’.  Speaking about the funding Dr Fazaeli said: “The Equality Fund allowed me to invite a number of scholars to TCD who could speak on issues regarding Islam and Gender.  These workshops were not only informative but also helped towards eliminating some stereotypes pertaining to Islam and women in Muslim majority countries”.

For 2009-10 it is hoped the funding will aim to further enrich the inclusive College community and further details on the themes are available on the Equality Office website.  A total of€?16,000 is available for funding for projects during 2009-10.