Beneficiary Projects – Singapore

About The Ireland Funds Singapore

Singapore and Ireland have a long history of cultural ties and close relations since the early 1800s.The Ireland Funds Singapore is dedicated to facilitating and helping to fund projects that will further develop and deepen the Singapore Ireland relationship and deliver long-term benefits to the people of Singapore from their long established relationship with Ireland. The scope of these projects and development sectors include community relations, education, arts and culture, and sport.

As an Institution of Public Character, eligible donations to The Ireland Funds Singapore qualify for a 250% tax deductible receipt.

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Since our inception, The Ireland Funds Singapore has raised over $6.5 million and supported over 80 projects with worthy causes in Singapore.

Beneficiary Projects 2021

In 2021, donations and grant awards totaling $320,330 were disbursed facilitating and supporting the following projects and programmes:

Dover Park Hospice
Founded in 1992, is Singapore’s first purpose-built hospice, caring for those nearing the end of life’s journey. Our funding for the DOVE Programme, provided support for at home end-of-life care for disadvantaged patients at Dover Park Hospice who wish to spend their last days in their own home.

School of the Arts Singapore (SOTA) SOTA
Singapore’s first national pre-tertiary specialised arts school with a six-year integrated arts and academic curriculum, leading to the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma or Career-related Programme, for youths aged 13-18 years old. Our grant award provides for the ‘SOTA-The Ireland Funds (Singapore) Art Scholarship’ over three years supporting Singaporean students at SOTA to further their studies with BA Arts at LASALLE College of the Arts, and a donation to the SOTA Endowment Fund supporting less privileged students.

St Luke’s Hospital
A community hospital in Singapore that provides integrated and holistic healthcare services for the elderly and wider community. Our funding provided new and replacement hospital beds, wheelchairs, and rehabilitation equipment for elderly patients at St Luke’s Hospital.

Irish Graduates Association of Singapore
A non-profit, alumni organisation maintaining links with institutes in Ireland and Irish societies in Singapore. The Ireland Funds Singapore supported the Irish Graduates Association of Singapore: Oral History, Archive, Research and Book Project being undertaken by Singapore Literature Prize winner, Mrs Rosemary Lim.

LOVE, NILS
Provides support to children with cancer and their caregivers with much needed healthcare guidance, emotional care plus social and community support that will enable them to thrive. Our grant award provided for an Art Therapy Programme for children with cancer at National University Hospital (NUH) Singapore. The programme was adapted to reach the children safely at home and in the hospital during Covid restrictions.

Singapore Institute of Technology
A university of applied learning offering industry-focused degree programmes, integrating learning, industry and community targeted at growth industries. This year saw disbursement of the second instalment of a total endowed contribution of $200,000 for the establishment of the Tan Mui Eng Bursary, to support financially disadvantaged Singapore students in full-time Nursing or Allied Health undergraduate degree programmes.

Irish Inspirational Dance
Teaches traditional and modern Irish dance to multinational children of all ages and backgrounds and promotes and shares Irish culture in Singapore through community performances and workshops. Our small grant award provided dancewear and floor mats for hard shoe dance practice and performances for Irish traditional dance.

The Ireland Funds Singapore also has Committed Donations of $265,000 for the following Beneficiary Projects which were designated for funding in 2020 or 2021 but where funds had not been disbursed by end of the year, mainly due to projects being postponed due to COVID-19 limitations. This funding remains as committed donations and we expect to be able to disburse most in 2022:

Autism Association of Singapore
Establishment of an Urban Farm at Eden Senior School’s new campus. The Urban Farm will provide a myriad of customized learning experiences and vocational skills “from farm to table” for Eden Senior School students. To ensure sustainability of the project, grant award also includes maintenance for the Urban Farm for a further three years.

Boys’ Town
Supporting an advanced Adventure Therapy Leadership Programme for disadvantaged boys and girls at Boys’ Town including experiential learning, group work, adventure therapy expedition to Ireland and services learning. This project is now scheduled to start early 2023.

Singapore Irish Rugby Club
Balance of total donation for 2020 to SIRC for a community rugby tournament which had been planned for the Sense of Ireland Irish Festival in March 2020, but which was unable to proceed. The tournament will take place at an appropriate time.

St Patrick’s School
Funding for the final year of support for the Gaelic Football Programme in local Singapore schools and inter-school Gaelic Football Tournament.  The programme delivery in schools was limited in 2020 and 2021 due to the impact Covid restrictions and the President’s Cup Tournament was postponed both years. A further multi-year award was granted to support the continued and expanding Gaelic Football Programme in Singapore schools and inter-school Gaelic Football Tournament, which is now expected to commence in 2022.

Beneficiary Projects 2020

In 2020, The Ireland Funds Singapore had disbursements and committed donation totaling $350,000. Of this $225,00 was disbursed for the following projects:

Autism Resource Centre (Singapore)
The Autism Resource Centre’s Employability & Employment Centre (E2C) was established to equip people with autism employability skills through training and place them in suitable jobs with appropriate job support. Our funding in 2020 supported the final year of a 3-year vocational sewing skills training programme for young adults with autism. This year the clients worked on improving their sewing and embroidery skills in preparation for a new project collaboration with The Art Faculty to produce the lunch bags for sale in year 2020.

EQUAL-ARK SINGAPORE
An award-winning animal assisted intervention centre that develops life skills in youth, people with special needs, families, and elderly with dementia. We have previously funded skills-exchange programmes for EQUAL staff with Festina Lente in Ireland. This year our funding is supporting a ground-breaking animal-assisted intervention programme using rescued therapy horses at Rainbow Centre, Singapore a school for children with autism. This is the first time animal-assisted intervention is integrated into a special needs curriculum in Singapore.

Filos Community Services
A social service organisation focusing on building the strengths of community and working towards empowering individuals and families to live more fulfilling, meaningful and happier lives. Filos Community Services staff travelled to Ireland for training in the evidence-based Parent Plus Adolescent Programme and share experience on the Early Year programmes with Barnardos in Dublin. Filos are now facilitating the full suite of Parent Plus programme in Singapore from the early years right through to adolescence.

LASALLE College of the Arts
Founded by the late Brother Joseph McNally – a visionary artist, educator and humanitarian – LASALLE College of the Arts is Asia’s leading tertiary institution in contemporary arts and design education and practice, and a soon-to-be University of the Arts by 2023 in alliance with Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore. In 2020 The Ireland Funds Singapore provided further funding to The Ireland Funds Scholarship and Bursary which was established in 2017 to facilitate exemplary but financially disadvantaged Singapore students to study the arts at LASALLE, alongside the McNally Legacy consisting of various initiatives ranging from multidisciplinary and theatre performances to visual art exhibitions and academic fellowships.

Singapore Irish Rugby Club
Targeting gender balance in their playing and coaching groups, Singapore Irish Rugby Club is an integrated Rugby Club for children aged 4 – 11, with coaching team including Neil Best, Irish Rugby International and female coaches including Singapore Rugby internationals Li Yan Lim and Mery Ong. The Ireland Funds Singapore supported membership of SIRC for up to 30 disadvantaged boys and girls from Jamiyah Children’s Home, to learn ball skills and play rugby with the club, and provision of culturally appropriate rugby kit. A community rugby tournament is planned when restrictions allow.

Singapore Institute of Technology
SIT is a university of applied learning offering industry-focused degree programmes, integrating learning, industry and community targeted at growth industries. The Tan Mui Eng Bursary was established to support financially disadvantaged Singapore students in full-time Nursing or Allied Health undergraduate degree programmes at SIT and supported by The Ireland Funds Singapore and Dr Stanley Quek.

Community Chest
The Ireland Funds Singapore joined other Irish organisations, businesses and community in Singapore to support the Irish Embassy’s ‘Ireland United with SG’ Campaign raising awareness and funds for the Singapore Courage Fund to provide support to Singaporeans affected by COVID-19.

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We also had committed donations of $125,000 in 2020 for the following projects that were mainly unable to take place due to COVID-19. These funds remain committed and will be disbursed at the appropriate time when the projects can proceed.

Boys’ Town
Supporting an advanced Adventure Therapy Leadership Programme for disadvantaged boys and girls at Boys’ Town including experiential learning, group work, adventure therapy expedition to Ireland and services learning. The project will be rescheduled at an appropriate time

Irish Graduates Association of Singapore
Funding for the Irish Graduates Association of Singapore: Oral History, Archive, Research and Book Project being undertaken by Singapore Literature Prize winner, Mrs Rosemary Lim. Book launch expected to be scheduled in March 2022.

Singapore Irish Rugby Club
Balance of total donation for 2020 to SIRC for a community rugby tournament which had been planned for the Sense of Ireland Irish Festival in March 2020, but which was unable to proceed. The tournament will take place at an appropriate time.

St Patrick’s School
Funding for the third year of support for the Gaelic Football Programme in local Singapore schools and inter-school Gaelic Football Tournament – the programme was limited in 2020 and the President’s Cup Tournament was postponed, but it is hoped to be rescheduled in 2021.

Beneficiary Projects 2019

In 2019, The Ireland Funds Singapore disbursed $455,616 for projects with our beneficiaries, including:


Alzheimer’s Disease Association The Ireland Funds Singapore supported a renovation project at the ADA café at Agape Village, under the ADA’s ‘Living Well with Dementia’ programme. The café provides for persons with dementia, their families and carers, as well as providing some vocational opportunities for persons with dementia.

CATCH+ (Children and Teens Community Hub Plus) where The Ireland Funds Singapore has been supporting the third year of their Hero’s Program to develop leadership skills in 7-to-12 year-olds.

Boys’ Town A three-phase, journey-based adventure therapy programme, Project X, including adventure, leadership and service learning for ten male and female disadvantaged and at-risk youths from Boy’s Town youth outreach programme, YouthReach. The personal development project included a residential outdoor adventure therapy programme in Ireland.

Cerebral Palsy Alliance Singapore Supporting the CPAS Home Management Programme, our donation was used for the purchase of Assistive Therapy Equipment including specialized wheelchairs, air mattresses, bath chairs, portable heists and hospital beds for over 40 CPAS clients

EQUAL ARK Singapore Three staff members of EQUAL-ARK Singapore participated in equestrian therapy training with Festina Lente, an internationally renowned equestrian therapeutic centre in Ireland. The project involved knowledge share and skills transfer under the Equitation Science and CASEL model pedagogy, enhancing EQUAL’s equine therapeutic programme offering to the elderly and children with special needs in Singapore, including the introduction of miniature horses.

Nanyang Technological University A series of Singapore-Ireland medical research symposiums organised by NTU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and including attendees from LKCMedicine and three Irish medical universities – Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, and University College Cork.

Singapore Institute of Technology The KM Quek Applied Research grant, which is the second instalment of a total endowed contribution of $200,000 to enable SIT to further develop innovations in health sciences under the Centre of Health Sciences Research and Innovation (CHeSRI).

St. Patrick’s School The second year of a three-year Gaelic Football Immersion Programme in local schools, Project Harmony, in collaboration with the Singapore Gaelic Lions. The funds donated by The Ireland Funds this year contributed to coaching and lesson support in local schools, the President’s Cup Tournament and participation in the Asian Youth Championships.

Cassandra Chui Donation to Fundraising for Furry Eyes (aka Guide Dog) Campaign for training of replacement guide dog for Ms Cassandra Chui who is an ambassador for Disabled People’s Association of Singapore and advocate for people with disabilities in Singapore.

Arts and Cultural Events
In addition to the projects noted above, The Ireland Funds Singapore also supported Arts and Cultural events in Singapore during 2019 including:

St Patrick’s Day events in March 2019 including the St Patrick’s Day Parade, the cultural programmes at the St Patrick’s Society Ball and the Irish Chamber of Commerce Gala Ball, and the Embassy of Ireland’s Cultural Festival at their annual St. Patrick’s Day Event at the Conrad Hotel, Singapore.   

Red Dot Green Dot  Our third collaboration with LASALLE College of the Arts for a cultural evening of music, poetry and prose celebrating the cultures of Singapore and Ireland with performances from the Irish community and LASALLE students, alumni and educators.

The Irish Film Festival The Ireland Funds Singapore supported the inaugural Irish Film Festival in October 2019, which screened six Irish films in Singapore including Float Like a Butterfly and Song of the Sea. In additional, critically acclaimed Irish film director, Carmel Winters and Production Designer, Toma McCullin held film workshops with students from LASALLE College of the Arts and Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

Beneficiary Projects 2018

In 2019, The Ireland Funds Singapore disbursed $459,220 for projects with our beneficiaries, including:

Autism Resource Centre (Singapore) supporting Year 2 of a 3-year training program for youths and young adults with autism, a vocational sewing skills programme to provide them with a valuable skill set and ability to earn income.

Catch + (Children and Teens Community Hub Plus) where The Ireland Funds Singapore has been supporting the second year of their Hero’s Program to develop leadership skills in 7-to-12 year-olds.

                                

Filos Community Services towards funding the building of a multi-purpose hall at Filos’ new offices and Community Centre in Kembangan Chai Chee. The Emerald Hall will facilitate increased staffing, presence and outreach in the local community.

Boys Town for Year 3 of a 3-year journey-based therapy programme including adventure and leadership learning for personal development for at-risk youth. The programme includes facilitating a select group of disadvantaged and at-risk Singaporean boys travelling to Ireland for a residential outdoor programme and other leadership and life skills development.

LASALLE College of the Arts for the McNally Legacy in memory of Brother Joseph McNally including The Ireland Funds Scholarship and Bursary, LASALLE SOCIAL (Societal Outreach & Community Integration through Arts and Learning), LASALLE Sculpture Week with Irish sculptor James Hayes, and Dance Project by School of Dance and Theatre with Irish choreographer.

St. Patrick’s School Funding for the first year of a 3 year Gaelic Football Programme in local schools, starts including an Gaelic Football Immersion Programme in Ireland for six Singapore PE teachers to develop the necessary skills necessary for coaching Singaporean secondary school pupils in Gaelic Football. In addition, facilitation of an inter-school GAA Tournament at St. Patrick’s School, including provision of equipment and kit.

Irish Graduates Association Singapore, Funding for the Irish Graduates Association of Singapore: Oral History, Archive, Research and Book Project being undertaken by Singapore Literature Prize winner, Mrs Rosemary Lim, documenting the history and people of The Irish Graduates Association.

Singapore Institute of Technology for KM Quek Applied Research grant, the first instalment of a total endowed contribution of $200,000 to enable SIT to further develop innovations in health sciences under the Centre of Health Sciences Research and Innovation (CHeSRI).

Arts and Cultural Events

In addition to the projects noted above, The Ireland Funds Singapore also supported Arts and Cultural events in Singapore during 2018 including:

St Patrick’s Day events in March 2018 including the St Patrick’s Day Parade, the cultural programme at the St Patrick’s Society Ball and the Embassy of Ireland’s Cultural Festival at their annual St. Patrick’s Day Event at the Conrad Hotel, Singapore.   

Red Dot Green Dot. The Ireland Funds Singapore collaborated with LASALLE College of the Arts for a cultural evening of music, poetry and prose celebrating the cultures of Singapore and Ireland with performances from the Irish community and LASALLE students, alumni and educators.

God Has No Country by Donal Courtney. The Ireland Funds Singapore brought renowned Irish writer, teacher and actor Donal Courtney’s one-man show “God Has No Country” to Singapore for three nights in September 2018. In addition, through collaboration with LASALLE College of the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Intercultural Theatre Institute, Donal delivered workshops for their students in writing, acting and the Irish story telling tradition.

How we help

Some examples of other practical, results-oriented projects which The Ireland Funds Singapore has funded since 2009 are listed below:

Education – Helping young people with special needs to become independent members of society

  • The Eden School. TIFS paid for a vocational training kitchen for baking, teaching young people with autism a skill for the workplace.
  • The VIVA Foundation. TIFS paid for the establishment of a school at VIVA Hub forchildren suffering from cancer.
  • Delta Senior School. TIFS funded work-based training facilities in a special needsschool that helps one of the neglected communities in Singapore – young adults with mild intellectual disability.
  • Down Syndrome Association (Singapore) (DSA). TIFS has funded the construction of a new facility for the DSA, a voluntary group which is established to help children born with Down Syndrome and their families.
  • CARE Singapore (Children-at-risk Empowerment Association) will be allocated funding for programs that will create a community of young people who are passionate about helping youths succeed and who can serve as role models for youths with disadvantaged backgrounds or personal difficulties.

Community Relations – Developing the Community

Following on from the highly successful collaboration with the Down Syndrome Association to stage the St Patrick’s Day Parade in 2012, TSIF sponsored The Singapore Irish Festival in 2013. In addition to the Buddy Walk, which in turn raised $125,000 for DSA. TIFS’s sponsorship facilitated a 3-day festival (the first of its kind) at Boat Quay, showcasing Irish Arts & Culture, and attracting more than 20,000 visitors.

  • Alzheimer’s Disease Association. TIFS paid for the building of a resource centre.
  • Alzheimer’s Disease Association- Family of Wisdom Centre. TIFS paid for the fitting out of a Day Care Centre for persons with dementia and their care givers.
  • Hua Mei Centre for Successful Ageing. TIFS funded the door to door care for the elderly.
  • HCA Hospice Care. TIFS funded HCA in creating its first of a kind day centre, Kang Le Centre, for terminally ill patients, in the heart of the community it serves. It is hoped that this model could be replicated across other communities across Singapore.
  • Metta Hospice Care – TIFS funded Metta’s “Fulfill a Wish” project in the delivery of much needed happiness into the lives of many house bound dying patients, by making something as simple as a day out, something they can look forward to.
  • Equal-Ark Singapore helps vulnerable youth remain engaged in the community through education and employment through the use of equine therapy. The contribution from TIFS assists disadvantaged youths including juvenile offenders, youth with disabilities, mental health issues, as well as youth not in education, employment or training.
  • Catch+ (Children and Teens Community Hub Plus) targets students living in rental homes in the rental estate of Jalan Kukoh – 1 or 2 bedroom units. The contribution enables them to conduct character development programs as well as to develop leadership skills for the youths in the area.
  • Singapore Association for Mental Health (SAMH) – TIFS is supporting SAMH with funds for the building of a Centre @ Marsiling where programs will be conducted for youth-at-risk as well as young adults suffering from psychological or emotional issues.
  • FILOS Community Services will receive a contribution for the FILOS team to learn from Ireland on evidence based programs (allowing them to gain more government funding eventually) as well as assist youths from poor and needy homes in Kembangan and Chai Chee.

Training Programme for Palliative Nursing Care

  • Assisi Hospice Care – TIFS funded healthcare professionals to train in palliative care in Ireland and at the same time enhance palliative care provision in Singapore’s Hospice sector.

Needy Students

  • Singapore Institute of Technology – TIFS’s Overseas Immersion Programme Grant benefits needy Singaporean students enrolled at the Institute to enable them to enhance their learning experience through overseas immersion in Ireland. This is matched by the Ministry of Education’s endowment of 3:1 towards this grant.
  • Brother Joseph McNally Book Prize in Aesthetics – TIFS funded this sponsorship for St Patrick’s School to recognize financially needy students who are able to excel in the area of aesthetics either through their CCA or in curriculum.
  • LASALLE College of the Arts – The McNally Legacy Project is a 3 year multi-disciplinary project, dedicated to and celebrating the life of Brother Joseph. The project is designed to strengthen the links between Singapore and Ireland. It will encompass the development of a short film, music concerts, an art exhibition, artist residencies, student exchanges and the McNally Scholarship and Bursary for needy and talented students. TIFS will contribute S$300,000 towards the project. This amount will be matched 1:1 by the Singapore Government’s Cultural Matching Fund.

Culture – Using music as an instrument of Social Change

  • The Ireland Funds Singapore supported the Irish Chamber Orchestra’s trip to Singapore in June 2010 where they worked with MCYS to promote music as a tool for community engagement.
    As part of The Singapore Irish Festival, members of the Irish Chamber Orchestra were sponsored by The Ireland Funds Singapore in March 2013 to perform and teach at schools throughout Singapore for a week.

2017 BENEFICIARIES

Our Causes Committee have focused this year on identifying projects in Organisations which have previously been supported by TIFS and which offer an Irish connection to strengthen our connections within Singapore. Once again disadvantaged youth, education and elder care are represented in the choice of projects which are currently being finalized with our Causes Committee. After some research into the causes that focus these areas, we at TIFS realized that there is a need for funds for quite a few organizations. As such, this year have selected the following Organizations for support:

  • FILOS Community Services
  • LASALLE College of the Arts
  • St. Patrick’s School
  • The 2017 Gaelic Football Carnival (At St. Patrick’s School from 30 Oct – 2 Nov 2017)
    Five teams participated in the event. They were from Ping Yi Secondary School, Anderson Secondary School, Spectra Secondary School and St. Patrick’s School. Irish Ambassador Geoffrey Keating was the Guest-of-Honour for the event and the President of The Ireland Funds Singapore, Mr Colin MacDonald was the special guest for the event. The Gaelic Football Carnival was made possible through the generous sponsorship of The Ireland Funds Singapore. St. Patrick’s School emerged as the Champions for this year. This is the third year the Gaelic Football Carnival has been held in St. Patrick’s School.

  • Boys Town (ongoing project from 2016)
  • Autism Resource Centre (ongoing project from 2016)
  • Fusion Fighters Create Not Hate (December 2017)
    Fusion Fighters is a progressive performance company and online community which started in 2013 with a dance crew of over 30 professional dancers and over 100 students based all over the world. Branching away from what is seen as the typical Irish dancing scene, they have rapidly grown to become one of the largest and most influential dance communities in the world, with over 70,000 followers and achieving over 30 million views online. Using this viral success, they are committed to using this platform to endorse and create campaigns to benefit others. In May 2017 Fusion Fighters launched their brand-new campaign ‘Create Not Hate’ to work alongside dance schools worldwide and integrate themselves into their local community and become involved in the important causes or charitable work happening in the area. Using their online community, and in order to raise as much awareness of these causes as possible, these campaigns are filmed professionally to create online episodes with projects taking place over all 6 continents with 2 episodes from each region. The Fusion Fighters have undertaken projects to support a children’s cancer charity, worked with a dance company for children and adults with special needs and also a campaign to promote safer driving. 

 

Thank you for your continued support of The Ireland Funds Singapore.