ABU DHABI, 10th May, 2023 (WAM) — The Authority of Social Contribution – Ma’an, has launched a community volunteering programme grant for 2023 as part of the Ma’an Grants programme.
The grant is designed to support licensed non-profit organisations, social enterprises, volunteer groups, schools, academia, and private sector organizations in Abu Dhabi to implement community volunteering programmes or propose new initiatives that address social priorities in the emirate.
The community volunteering programmes aim to benefit a large population of citizens and residents, including people of determination, seniors, at-risk youth, blue-collar workers, women, and society at large.
With over 27 different programmes to choose from, there is something for everyone across a plethora of themes and activities.
Dr. Mohammed Al Dhaheri, Acting Executive Director of Community Engagement and Volunteering Sector, said, "Issues impacting the well-being of the entire community need to be solved by engaging the entire community. Ma’an aims to foster a culture of collaborative social responsibility, and our Community Volunteering initiatives provide a comprehensive spread of stakeholders with the opportunity to step up and make a positive difference to the community in which they live, work and thrive."
Some of the community volunteering programs include:
Fit Fam: a dedicated program of fitness sessions for people of determination and their families.
Active Parks: regular fitness sessions for everyone throughout parks and public spaces in the emirate.
Everyone Is An Artist: arts-related activities including performing arts instruction for people of determination.
Friendly Support: comprehensive support for former prisoners.
Community Clean Up: engaging up to 500 volunteers in various mass clean-ups of the environment by the general public, school students, and artists, who will collect and segregate waste before creating art pieces from it and then potentially auctioning the works off.
Teach and Learn: volunteers teaching seniors digital skills to enable them to use apps and social media.
Journey of Generations: recruiting 400 volunteers willing to visit seniors in their homes and engage with them in activities aligned to their interests.
Empo(women)t: volunteers helping women improve their ability to deal with key stress factors in their lives whether they be family, professionally, or socially related.
Social Scouts: volunteers mentoring school children to better engage with their local community and navigate its issues.
Future Leaders: a youth leadership program offered in schools.
Accelerate My Future: aimed specifically at at-risk youth and looking to boost their employability through digital education, including coding.
Recovering Together: designed to support recovering substance abusers through regular support group meetings.
Interested applicants can apply for funding by using either www.maan.gov.ae or community.engagement@maan.gov.ae email address. The evaluation team will invite shortlisted applicants to present their proposals, and the selected proposals will receive up to AED100,000 per program annually for project logistics, operations, staffing, and marketing. The deadline for applications is June 30th.
Dr. Mohammed Al Dhaheri added, "This is a great opportunity for people and organizations to become change-makers in the community and enable social impact across the emirate. In line with our commitment to creating a collaborative community that evolves the way community volunteering is conducted, we are also open to additional community volunteering initiatives providing they assist vulnerable groups, activate volunteers, and create impact."