Adult Literacy for Life (ALL) is a 10-year strategy that aims to:

• ensure that every adult has the necessary literacy, numeracy and digital literacy to fully engage in society and realise their potential; and
• support organisations and services to be literacy friendly and fully accessible to adults with unmet needs.

The Collaboration and Innovation Fund is a great opportunity to fund projects and activities that support adults with unmet literacy, numeracy, digital and financial literacy needs. The Fund is managed by the Adult Literacy for Life Programme Office in SOLAS.

Who can apply?

Organisations that work in the public, not-for-profit, community and voluntary sector can apply for the Collaboration and Innovation Fund. Individuals and private sector organisations cannot apply for the Fund.

You need a minimum of two organisations working in partnership to apply for the Fund. One organisation is the lead applicant, and the other organisation or organisations are the partner applicants.

The lead organisation will need a tax clearance access number, tax reference number, and charity number, if applicable.

Ireland’s first National Financial Literacy Strategy will be published in 2025. To support this, the Consumer and Competition Protection Commission (CCPC) has given €250,000 for projects on financial literacy.

How much funding is available?

In 2025, the total funding available in the Collaboration and Innovation Fund is €1 million.

The funding will be divided into two strands as follows:

€750,000 for local and national projects that provide innovative and collaborative ways to:

• support adults with unmet literacy, numeracy and digital literacy needs, and
• create a more literacy friendly and equal society.

€250,000 for local and national projects that support innovative and collaborative ways to:

• improve financial literacy skills for adults with unmet literacy, numeracy and digital literacy needs, and
• create a more literacy friendly approach to accessing financial services.

The minimum amount of funding available for a local project is €1,000 and the maximum amount is €25,000. A local or regional project has an impact in one area, county or Education and Training Board catchment area.

The maximum amount of funding available for a national project is €50,000. A national project has an impact in more than one county or happens in more than one Education and Training Board region.

Next steps

If you are interested in applying, please read the 2025 Collaboration and Innovation Fund Guidelines carefully before completing and submitting your application.

Then fill in the online application form which is available from Tuesday 17 December 2024.

The closing date is 5pm Friday 7 February 2025.

If you have any questions, please contact the Regional Literacy Coordinator for your area or the Adult Literacy for Life Programme Office by email at cif@solas.ie