The Reach Fund, originally named the Mitigating Against Educational Disadvantage Fund, was introduced in 2020 to support the most disadvantaged learners throughout the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fund has continued to focus on the participation of disadvantaged learners in education, particularly those who are undertaking literacy and skills programmes and on building the digital infrastructure of community education providers to increase the capacity to deliver online learning. Each year the Education and Training Boards (ETBs) invite Community Education providers to apply for funding across several categories including learner assistance, green projects, support for refugee groups and digital supports. SOLAS has allocated over €17m to the ETBs under the REACH fund during 2020-2022. The 2023 Reach Funding guidelines have been issued to the ETBs and calls for applications for support have commenced. SOLAS will advise the ETBs of their 2023 REACH allocations shortly. The ETBs will award funding based on the scheme criteria and the level of demand for support in each ETB area.
