Charities in Northern Ireland are being invited to prepare grant applications for up £75,000 from an emergency £11.7m government fund.
Carál Ní Chuilín, the communities minister, announced the second phase of the Covid-19 Charities Fund, and is urging charities to start making application preparations before it opens on 6 January.
This phase of the fund will be delivered by Community Finance Ireland on behalf of the Department for Communities.
It is open to charities that have lost income due to the impact of Covid-19 and are unable to cover unavoidable costs between 1 October and 31 March.
Ní Chuilín said: “We have more than 8,000 charities that do invaluable work and provide essential support to people when they need it most.
“This funding will help those charities facing extreme financial pressures as a result of curtailment to their fundraising activities to continue to deliver critical services.”
Donal Traynor, group chief executive of Community Finance Ireland, said: “We have seen first-hand the force for good behind these organisations and the positive change they make to the communities or end users they serve.
“We are delighted to collaborate in helping to administer this fund at what continues to be a challenging cash-flow period for the charity sector and change-makers in Northern Ireland.”
Pre-application information, including eligibility and guidance is available on the Community Finance Ireland website.
The Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action said it would be holding advice sessions all this week here.