€7,440 allocated to tackle literacy challenges in adults
Funding has been allocated to three projects across Kilkenny and Carlow
MINISTERS James Lawless and Marian Harkin have announced that a total of €7,440 in government funding has been allocated to three projects across Kilkenny and Carlow aimed at addressing literacy, numeracy, digital and financial literacy needs among adults.
The funding comes through SOLAS’s Collaboration and Innovation Fund, part of the ‘Adult Literacy for Life’ strategy, and will support innovative community-based approaches to helping adults improve their essential skills.
One of the projects, ‘From Seed to Feed’, offers a 12-week course combining gardening, nature journaling and cooking to develop literacy, numeracy and digital literacy skills in an innovative, hands-on environment. Another, the ‘Leap into Literacy’ initiative, will train volunteer tutors to work one-on-one with adults in Kilkenny’s Mayfair and Loughboy libraries. The project aims to provide a welcoming first point of contact for adults with literacy needs before encouraging them to access local literacy services.
Minister of state Marian Harkin highlighted the scale of the literacy challenge, noting that one in five adults in Ireland aged 16-65 are at or below level 1 in literacy, meaning they struggle with reading and understanding everyday text.
“Initiatives such as the Collaboration and Innovation Fund provide critical investment to communities across Ireland, supporting projects and activities that enable adults to gain the necessary literacy, numeracy, digital skills and financial literacy they need to fully engage in society and realise their potential,” minister Harkin said.
Minister for further and higher education James Lawless emphasised the importance of literacy for both personal empowerment and economic participation, describing the funded projects as “innovative, people-centred solutions to literacy challenges”.
Helen Walsh, regional literacy co-ordinator at Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board, welcomed the funding allocation.
“The fund helps community partners across Kilkenny and Carlow to come together and deliver innovative solutions to drive positive literacy outcomes for people in our local area,” Helen said. “I am sure we will see positive outcomes to help adults build confidence with literacy and participate more fully in our community.”
The €7,440 allocation to Carlow and Kilkenny is part of a broader national funding distribution that saw over €1 million awarded to projects across Ireland, with additional support from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission for financial literacy initiatives.
Yvonne McKenna, director of adult literacy for life at SOLAS, noted that the fund, now in its third year, “is having a real impact at local level and making a difference in the lives of many people”.
