Access Europe is a support and capacity-building programme for Irish civil society organisations to better access EU funds and engage in EU policy. It is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and delivered by The Wheel.
The EU provides so many opportunities to its Member States to engage in EU funded projects and activities, and to help build the policy that will shape the future of the Union.
However, there is no escaping the fact that the EU is a massive and complex institution, and so navigating all of these opportunities can be confusing and even impossible for many organisations who don’t have the time or capacity to invest. As such, Irish civil society in particular are missing out on opportunities that could have a transformational impact on their organisations and communities.
This is where Access Europe comes in. The Wheel and their partners, Early Years Northern Ireland, ran the first phase of the project from 2014 – 2017 with funding from Atlantic Philanthropies. It achieved incredible results, increasing EU funding in a cohort of civil society groups from €3.9 million in 2016 to over €22.53 million by the end of 2017.
Based on this success, The Wheel partnered with the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2020 to deliver a new and improved Access Europe programme. Our goal is to be a central hub for Irish civil society in relation to EU funding.
Raise awareness of the value of strategic involvement in EU programmes and share information on EU funding opportunities.
Build the capacity of Irish civil society organisations to apply for, win and manage funding from EU programmes.
Support the development of partnerships between Irish civil society organisations and European partners, as well as the creation of networks promoting participation in EU programmes and policy-making.
We research the EU funding programmes for civil society and disseminate information.
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We run information and training events around all aspects of accessing and managing EU funding.
Check out our News & Events section and sign up to our newsletter for information on our upcoming events.
We provide advice and support to organisations throughout their EU development journey.
You can contact the Access Europe team at europe@wheel.ie.
We connect civil society organisations to national contact points and partners in Ireland and around Europe.
Find out more about our partner database.
If you would like to contact our team, please feel free to email europe@wheel.ie
Programmes Manager
Programmes Officer
Programmes Officer
