Amazon Web Services (AWS) says it has increased funding provided by its the AWS InCommunities Fund to support  50% more projects in Drogheda than initially planned.

According to the company, AWS has awarded funding to 38 projects in Drogheda and the surrounding areas to date with the aim of making a lasting and positive impact in the community.

Applicants bid for funding for projects that support an area of science, technology, engineering, arts and maths, sustainability, or health and wellbeing. AWS estimates that c.3,500 people have benefited in some way from the local projects that received funding.

The AWS InCommunities Fund is managed and administered by ChangeX, a non-profit organisation headquartered in Dublin with a community engagement platform designed to get funding and resources directly into citizens’ hands so they can lead impactful projects in their neighbourhoods.

Among the Drogheda projects that AWS has supported are:

In Association with

• The Red Door Project, an addiction support service in Drogheda that received funding for refurbishments and upgrades to its facilities. AWS funding will transform a disused school woodwork room into a space for music, drama, training, upskilling and recreation.

• St Oliver’s Community College is a multi-denominational school in Drogheda with over 1,400 students that has been awarded funding for three sustainability projects. The school’s Grow at School project has benefited from more raised beds.

• The Basement Sounds music and arts initiative at the Boomerang Youth Café now has a soundproofed recording booth, as well as new music equipment and software.

• The Junk Percussion Sensory Garden Orchestra is a joint project between Autism Support Louth&Meath youth clubs and Drogheda ABACAS Special School for Children with Autism. The project received funding to develop a sensory garden to host music-based workshops for autistic children, teenagers and adults in the area. Once launched, the workshops will combine music, storytelling and play, as well as featuring a combination of percussion and samba drumming.

• Funding will help newly established Boyne Netball Club, to buy team kits, equipment and cover match costs.

• Culture Connect is a Social Enterprise that aims to empower ethnic groups and communities by offering information and support on housing, social welfare entitlement, immigration and legal services, and also provides a range of training such as conversational English classes, intercultural Mediation and Cultural Awareness. 

AWS finance will fund mentoring for Cultural Ambassadors who will be facilitating communication and engagement between people from minority ethnic, refugee and migrant backgrounds and service providers.