Hope & Ambition
End-of-Year Narratives
April 2024
Hope & Ambition End-of-Year Narratives 2022-2023
We are very pleased to share the End-of-Year Narratives for Hope & Ambition June 2022-December 2023 in which our partner organisations, Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, Intercultural Language Service, Irish Refugee Council and Rua Red, reflect on the work undertaken during that period. The report also includes reflections on the narratives from the Trustees and advisor Dr Liz Hayes who guides Hope & Ambition.
The full report can be read by clicking the button below.
The four narratives invite us into a world where the challenges of inclusion work are sharply felt and provoke the need for further system-wide thinking and engagement. The extent of the work that has been delivered is impressive in such volatile work and funding environments and with relatively small resources in face of the vast scale of need.
Read together, the narratives and reflections offer a view of trust-based philanthropy as practiced by the Trust and experienced by the partner organisations, and set the scene for the new phase of Hope & Ambition, running from this year through to the end of 2027.
People
Thomas McCann
March 2024
Trustee spotlight
We are delighted to welcome Thomas McCann as a Trustee. Thomas is a member of the Irish Traveller community and a long-time Traveller activist. He was a founding member in the 1980s of Minceir Misli, the first Traveller-only organisation, and has since represented the Traveller community at national and international level in a broad range of contexts, including on the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy Committee. Now practising as a counsellor and psychotherapist, Thomas established and continues to manage the Traveller Counselling Service, which provides culturally-appropriate counselling, psychotherapy and mental health support to members of the Traveller community.
Hope & Ambition
Hope & Ambition Phase 2
Co-design in action! To kick-start the new four-year phase of Hope & Ambition, our funding and development initiative, the Trustees met last week with the practitioners and CEOs of the four participant organisations to discuss the work that will be undertaken in this new phase and to celebrate the learning and achievements of the first four years completed together.
Dr Liz Hayes, who guides the initiative and advises the Trust, put everyone through their paces in rounds of conversation, enquiry and reflection. The setting for the meeting couldn't have been more perfect, or inspiring: a beautiful, physical embodiment of the values of inclusion, collaboration and trust at the heart of Hope & Ambition - A Good Night's Sleep in the gallery of Rua Red.
More will be said about this new phase of the initiative but we thought that these brilliant photos by Ala Buisir convey a lot and certainly set the tone for our new endeavours together!
With very warm thanks to our wonderful Hope & Ambition practitioners and CEOs from Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, Intercultural Language Service, Irish Refugee Council and Rua Red who turned up as always ready to engage, reflect and exchange.
March 2024
Hope & Ambition
Traveller Residency Program
Rua Red has just launched a new Traveller Artistic Residency Program, supported through Hope & Ambition. Applications are invited from Traveller creatives in any art form and will provide facilities, mentorship and resources.
This is the first element of the Traveller-led arts initiative that Rua Red has been developing with the guidance of a steering group drawn from the Traveller community, including the Chair, Oein DeBharduin, a writer, activist and educator. The launch of the residency program is an exciting moment for Rua Red, seeing many months of enquiry, reflection and preparation realised in a program truly tailored to Traveller creatives. We can’t wait to see more!
February 2024
Hope & Ambition
A Good Night’s Sleep
A Good Night's Sleep is now open at Rua Red in Tallaght and runs until 3 March 2024. Special congratulations to our Hope & Ambition participants Maoliosa Boyle and Joyce Dunne of Rua Red and Aoife Dare and Natasha Muldoon of the Youth Work Programme of Irish Refugee Council who collaborated on this 10-month project and resulting immersive and inspiring installation that explores experiences of belonging. DoubleTake Studio, New Horizon HUB and the Tallaght Ukrainian community also participated and the project was led by artist Morag Myerscough.
December 2023
Hope & Ambition
ILS publishes Dubylon
Congratulations to Peter Sheekey and everyone at the Intercultural Language Service on the publication of Dubylon, a collection of poems written by Dubliners from all over the world including Syria, Palestine, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Peru, Malawi and Brazil. Dubylon is part of an ongoing intercultural writing programme that seeks to give voices to the many tongues and traditions that are part of Dublin’s conversations in the 21st century. A part of the Intercultural Language Service’s storytelling project which began in 2017, the book provides a space for diverse people to share how they see, feel, and live in the city which is their home. You can access a digital version of Dubylon using the link below. Please donate if you can!
November 2023
New Report
Corporate Funding Insights
November 2023
Corporate Funding Partnerships: Insights, Ideas and Outcomes
Earlier this year, the Trustees hosted a roundtable event on the subject of corporate funding partnerships. The event brought the Trustees together with the CEOs of the recipient organisations of Hope & Ambition (the Trust’s current funding and development initiative) and guests with expertise and interest in the field of corporate funding partnerships. We are delighted now to share the insights, outcomes and ideas that emerged from that event.
The full report can be read by clicking the button below.
What was clear is that there are rich opportunities for corporate funders open to collaboration - but that tensions can arise due to differing perspectives, expectations and motivations. The limitations of conventional structures were also highlighted, both in terms of short term funding cycles and funding solely for project work.
We hope that this report will be of interest to corporate funders, charities and philanthropic trusts alike and we look forward to further conversations in 2024.
About Us
Mount Street Moments
Warmest thanks to three of our trustees, Charlie Delap, Sarah Perrem and Margaret Barry, who participated in this trio of short video interviews which teases out the essence of the Mount Street Club Trust. Many thanks also to creative agency Gorm for bringing our ideas into motion!
Sarah Perrem talks about Hope & Ambition, her family connections with the Trust and her own journey to becoming a trustee.
Margaret Barry describes the value of trust-based philanthropy, her own professional background and Hope & Ambition.
Charlie Delap recounts the origins of the Trust, his family connections with it, his own career and the experience of being a trustee.
October 2023
Sarah Perrem
Margaret Barry
Charlie Delap
Hope & Ambition
Outings with Glencree
A little catch up on some of the wonderful activities that the team from Glencree’s Intercultural and Refugee Programme have organised as part of their Hope & Ambition project this year. Pictured here, singing in the rain at a picnic in Corkagh Park in July, and exploring Traveller culture at Mutton Lane and the magical forest at Massy’s Estate in the Dublin mountains in May. Both outings brought together women and children living in the Direct Provision centre in Clondalkin and in the City West Hotel, joined by others who previously lived in direct provision.
September 2023
People
Alison Sleeth
August 2023
Trustee spotlight
We are delighted to welcome Alison Sleeth as a Trustee. Alison works in the area of Strategic HR & Organisational Development. She holds a Masters in both Financial Economics and Human Resource Management and has experience working with public and private sector organisations. She is drawn to how the Trust has evolved over the decades, continuing to partner with purpose, supporting meaningful projects and creating collaborative environments - engaging and empowering people.
Our Story
RTÉ Radio Documentary
Trustee Charlie Delap, whose parents Hugh and Kathleen Delap were actively involved in the early days of the Mount Street Club, recently alerted us to a 1997 RTÉ radio documentary about the Club that is still available on the RTÉ website. It’s a fascinating listen and includes contributions from Charlie’s mother Kathleen as well as Beatrice “Sammy” Somerville-Large, aunt of Bill Somerville-Large, a former Trustee and Chairperson of the Mount Street Club Trust. Do have a listen and enjoy!
June 2023
Our Story
The Mount Street Club Story
In 2014 the history of the Mount Street Club was published and we’re delighted to make it available now digitally. Essays, photographs and archive material draw on the the rich and varied threads of the Club’s story from its foundation through to its evolution into the Mount Street Club Trust, all in the context of Dublin’s own changing social history. Click on the button below to access the book in PDF format.
June 2023
News
Behind the scenes
A glimpse of what’s to come… We’re delighted to be working with GORM to capture some of the essence of the Mount Street Club Trust on film. Pictured here, our chairperson Margaret Barry with Ala Buisir and Alicia Peres on set at Rua Red. Co-founded by Ala and Mamobo Ogoro, GORM is a social enterprise on a mission to unify across differences and advance belonging for marginalised communities.
Watch this space!
May 2023
People
Shola Adekunle
March 2023
Trustee spotlight
A very warm welcome to our new Trustee, Shola Adekunle. Shola is an intercultural competent community and youth worker, currently working with Jigsaw – The National Centre for Youth Mental Health. She is a passionate advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion and the empowerment of minority groups and works to promote the mental health of young people. Shola’s expertise will be invaluable as the Trust seeks to better understand structural racism and exclusionary practice in Ireland today.
Hope & Ambition
Hope & Ambition continues
Hope & Ambition is in full swing for 2023. Glencree Centre for Peace & Reconciliation, Irish Refugee Council, Rua Red and Intercultural Language Service have all returned for its new evolution. A key focus for the CEOs and Practitioners Clubs in this phase is to explore the structural nature of exclusion in Ireland today and to share their learning in a wider context.
March 2023
People
Katherine P Meyer
February 2023
Trustee spotlight
We are delighted to welcome Katherine P Meyer as a Trustee. Katherine has a lifelong involvement in adult learning and community development, and she was most recently the pastor of Christ Church, Sandymount (United Presbyterian and Methodist). She is currently involved with both the Irish School of Ecumenics and the Corrymeela Community. Katherine was drawn to the ethos of MSCT through her familiarity with examples of innovative grassroots collaboration for sustainable development, a just civil society and the eradication of poverty in other parts of the world.
Hope & Ambition
Hope & Ambition Phase 1
The first three-year phase of Hope & Ambition completed in June 2022. In order to capture what was achieved in that time we asked the five recipient organisations to reflect on the work that they delivered and the impact of the support that they received through the CEOs and Practitioners Clubs. Their reflections on Hope & Ambition are now available to read by clicking the link below.
We hope that everyone who reads these reports will find much of interest in the important work that they describe and the lived experiences of the organisations and individuals who support vulnerable and marginalised people within our communities.
October 2022
Hope & Ambition
Partnering Forum
November 2022
Shared Hope & Ambition for the future
In November, the Mount Street Club Trust hosted a Partnering Forum, bringing together the Hope & Ambition phase one recipients with philanthropic organisations interested to learn more about our shared experience of trust-based philanthropy and to explore opportunities to work together to sustain Hope & Ambition into a further three or five-year phase. The forum was energising and we were delighted to observe conversations and connections sparking between guests, recipients and trustees.
The partnering forum also marked the conclusion of a co-design phase undertaken with recipients from June 2022. Over a series of workshops we explored together how the second phase of Hope & Ambition could be shaped, building on the relationships that have been fostered over the last three years to arrive at a proposal for collaborative action and a new momentum of shared hope and ambition.
The individual and shared ambitions that arose out of this process have been summarised in five summary profile pages that you can view by clicking here.
People
Paul Donovan
July 2022
Trustee spotlight
We are delighted to welcome Paul Donovan as a Trustee. Paul is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Business, Trinity College Dublin where he teaches the Full-Time MBA and the MScHRM. He is also an Emeritus Associate Professor, School of Business, Maynooth University. Paul was particularly drawn to the Trust by its focus on people at the margins.
Events
Summer Party
June 2022
Celebrating the end of the first phase of Hope & Ambition
A very big thank you to all of our collaborators, friends and supporters who joined with us to celebrate the conclusion of the first phase Hope & Ambition, most particularly the participants themselves: CEOs and practitioners from Blossom Ireland, Glencree Centre for Peace & Reconciliation, Intercultural Language Service, Irish Refugee Council and Rua Red.
An extra special thank you to Louise Keating from Glencree who spoke so memorably, weaving together the personal histories of her family, their connections and her own with the Mount Street Club and the Trust today, and the stark reality for people whose lives remain shaped by disadvantage and marginalisation. We were all captivated. Thank you, Louise!
Pictured is our chairperson, Margaret Barry, who spoke together with Louise and Liz Hayes, an advisor to the Trust and the Trustees' right-hand woman. Either side of these moments of more quiet reflection, our barge on Dublin's Grand Canal was brimming with chat, laughter and new and renewed connections. Thanks again to everyone who joined us - and for those couldn't make it this time, we hope we'll see you at the next Supporters Club event, planned for later this year.
Hope & Ambition
Playback Theatre
A brilliant short video presenting highlights from an Irish Refugee Council youth group workshop that took place in February 2022. Grateful thanks to Natasha Muldoon, the group’s Youth Worker, for sharing this with us!
April 2022
People
Charlie Delap
April 2022
Trustee spotlight
Charlie Delap has been a Trustee since the 1970s, taking over the role from his dad, Hugh, who was one of the founders of the Mount Street Club. Now retired, Charlie spent most of his working life in social work and social policy and brings invaluable expertise and skills to the Trust.
Resources
Trust-based philanthropy
The website of the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project is an excellent source of information and guidance for grantmakers interested in knowing more about the approach.
We’re indebted to the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project and to its founders, the Headwaters Foundation, the Whitman Institute and Robert Stirling Clark Foundation, for their ambition and vision in developing this approach and sharing their knowledge and experience.
April 2022
People
Robert Galavan
April 2022
Trustee spotlight
Professor Robert Galavan has been Trustee and Treasurer since January 2021. He holds the Chair in Strategic Management at the School of Business, Maynooth University, directs the MSc in Strategy and Innovation and is an Academic Director of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute.
News
Hope & Ambition update
November 2021
Trustee / Recipients Meeting, November 2021
An online meeting on the 29th of November brought the Mount Street Club Trust trustees and most of the Hope & Ambition recipients together to review and share ideas on the initiative to date and into the future.
One of the strongest themes that emerged was that the recipients greatly appreciate and enjoy the ‘relationship of equals’ that they experience with the Trust. They encouraged the Trustees to sustain their approach of respect and working in partnership and suggested that the experience and findings of Hope & Ambition should be captured and communicated more widely… Watch this space!
News
…And we’re live!
April 2022
Welcome to our new website!
It feels great to start sharing our work, ideas and findings. As with all good things, it will be a work in progress, so stay tuned!
We’re planning to publish regular updates of news and resources here and over on LinkedIn too.