Newry transgender group pitches for funding for new Youth Officer
A transgender organisation based in Newry and South Belfast has received a cheque for £400 after taking part in ‘Pitching for Pounds’, a new pilot scheme run by the Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland.
GenderJam NI was one of eight organisations chosen out of 133 applicants to pitch for two top awards of £15,000.
The organisation was pitching for funding for a new part-time Youth Officer for its new Belfast Trans Resource Centre in University Street.
The charity was formed in 2013 and has an office in Rainbow House in Newry.
Ellen Murray, Laoise Fitzpatrick and Faolan Hook told the judging panel that the transgender community was one of the most disadvantaged in Northern Ireland with high rates of homelessness and the highest rate of suicide.
They currently help 400 people directly and 1,000 people indirectly through their services and wanted to employ a new Youth Officer to reach more of the estimated 18,000 transgender people in Northern Ireland.
They pitched their new ideas in front of a judging panel of Halifax Foundation trustees.
Imelda McMillan, chair of the judging panel, hoped the programme would be even bigger next year. “We were very impressed by the standard of pitching and the quality of the ideas put forward by all eight organisations, each of which was more than deserving of grants but we had to pick two winners. We would like to congratulate GenderJam NI on their excellent work.”
Before the pitching session took place, all eight charities were given some tips for their presentations by Matthew Teague of Entrepreneurial Spark, who said, “What an amazing programme and opportunity for Northern Ireland’s social entrepreneurs to put forward creative and innovative ways of delivering positive social impact in local communities.”
For more information about the work of the Foundation go to www.halifaxfoundationni.org
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