Manx firms offered £30k grant to raise awareness of global issues

A £30,000 grant has been made available to raise awareness of global issues locally

A £30,000 grant is being made available to create an education programme to increase awareness among Manx people of issues faced by developing nations.

The government is calling for Isle of Man groups to come up with ways to highlight the issues on a local level.

The International Development Education and Awareness Raising (IDEAR) grant will be awarded to a single organisation for its campaign.

That firm will then have to work with third sector groups on the programme.

The Isle of Man government allocates an annual budget of £2.5m for international development projects, and has recently made contributions to humanitarian appeals in Ukraine and East Africa.

A spokeswoman for the Cabinet Office said the IDEAR grant had been refocused in 2023 to emphasise the education element of the programme.

The scheme was designed to "increase understanding among residents of global issues, international development and the work that takes place around the world and locally", she said.

The campaign should "raise awareness of how the island can help tackle the issues faced by those in developing nations", she added.

Organisations have until 24 May to apply for the grant.