The Community Foundation for Ireland (CFI), in partnership with the Medtronic Foundation, have released a new step-by-step guide for community-based organisations to use philanthropic funding to build better health outcomes across Ireland.
The new framework, “Building Healthy Communities: Strategic Partnership from Concept to Delivery”, has been created following the successful conclusion of the third phase of the €1 million Medtronic Healthy Communities Fund which awarded grants to support vital projects undertaken by its four national partners, the Irish Cancer Society, the Irish Heart Foundation, Siel Bleu and the Marie Keating Foundation, over the last four years.
The €1 million Fund’s projects have had a nationwide impact since 2015, helping 12,600 end-users, 146 upskilled trainers and 134 local partner organisations, as well as supporting healthier lifestyles, expanding access to healthcare for the underserved and tackling health inequalities.
Collectively, the four national partners are working to reduce and manage non-communicable diseases in communities from pre-school age through to older people. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which are diseases that are not passed on from person to person, are estimated to account for 91% of all deaths in Ireland. The partners were funded to address health challenges in respect of such diseases, including cancers (the Irish Cancer Society and the Marie Keating Foundation), cardiovascular diseases (Irish Heart Foundation) and chronic respiratory disease (Siel Bleu).
