Kids’ Own has received a €18k Movement for Good Award from Benefact Group.

We are delighted to announce that Kid’s Own has been chosen to receive a share of £500,000 as part of Benefact Group’s Movement for Good Awards, which is giving over £1million to good causes this year.

The awards are designed to help charities make a real difference in their communities. More than 900 charities applied for the funding which is being put towards the advancement of education and skills, rural and community development, heritage, arts and culture, and climate change and environment. The winning projects were selected against four criteria: impact and effectiveness, sustainability, innovation, and care and compassion.

This grant will empower Kids’ Own to embark on a transformative project that fosters intercultural exchange among Ukrainian and local Irish children, culminating in a unique book publication.

The project will span over 8 weeks and bring together families from both Ukrainian and Irish communities in Co Donegal. Children, alongside Kids’ Own artists and writers, will participate in a creative journey, jointly crafting artwork and text. Kids’ Own will then meticulously curate and design the content into a child-led book that authentically represents their lives and the experience of living together in increasingly multicultural communities. The resulting multilingual book will be widely distributed to schools across Ireland, thereby touching the lives of thousands of Ukrainian and Irish children.

The Movement for Good Awards large grants provide charities with flexible funding that can be used within three years and for a blend of capital and running costs for their projects.

Commenting on this transformative project,  our CEO and Creative Director Ciara Gallagher stated, “Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership believes that every child has the right to meaningful engagement with the arts and a right to express themselves fully and creatively. Kids’ Own creates opportunities for children to work collaboratively with professional artists and writers, and to experience an in-depth creative process. As a result of this process, we create books that are completely child-led, with text and artwork by children for children, all about children’s lives and experiences. We strongly believe that society as a whole can benefit from listening and responding to children, through these books they create with Kids’ Own.

Kids’ Own is honoured to have received funding from Movement for Good for a new creative project, which will result in a new book publication created with Ukrainian and Irish communities, providing children with the opportunity to share their stories and creative voices. This book will have relevance for many children and different communities all over Ireland, and we look forward to sharing this work widely.” 

Mark Hews, Group Chief Executive of Benefact Group, emphasised the importance of long-term funding for charities, saying, “We understand the importance of longer-term funding for charities, especially when trying to bring ambitious new ideas to life and get larger transformative projects off the ground. Through our large grants, we are actively championing innovation, giving charities the backing they need to propel their plans forward and turn creative ideas into practical solutions that benefit society. Benefact Group is the third largest corporate donor in the UK and has an ambition to be the biggest. Owned by a charity ourselves, charitable giving is at the heart of what we do and all of our available profits go to good causes.”

Movement for Good is funded by EIO plc, part of the Benefact Group.

We previously received an award from Movement for Good for our That’s Me project, read more about that here:  https://kidsown.ie/thats-me-book-launch-at-st-cecilias-school-celebrates-creative-expression-of-children-with-learning-disabilities/