EEA GRANTS
The EEA (European Economic Area) and Norway Grants are funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The Grants have two objectives:
- to reduce social and economic disparities within Europe and
- to strengthen bilateral relations between Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway and Europe
During the 2014-2021 funding period, the EEA & Norway Grants amounted to €2.8 billion. The five areas where funding was primarily provided are the following:
- Innovation, Research, Education and Competitiveness
- Social Inclusion, Youth Employment and Poverty Reduction
- Environment, Energy, Climate Change and Low Carbon Economy
- Culture, Civil Society, Good Governance, Fundamental Rights and Freedoms
- Justice and Home Affairs
Our charity, St Loucas Community, in July 2020 was successful in securing €1m from the EEA Grants, under the umbrella of social inclusion to co-finance the construction of a new, state-of-the-art Multifunctional Community Centre for people with disabilities, located in the Nicosia district (Filani). Once completed, this will comprise of a 3-storey, main building and 6 independent houses offering health care, day care, accommodation, support and development to young persons with complex disabilities.
As this is a very costly project, it has been decided that construction will be completed in four independent phases. In October 2019 we began construction of part of the main building (Phase A) financed by own funds, which were raised through various activities/events and donors over the years. By securing €1m from the EEA Grants we were able to extent construction in November 2020 to include the entire basement and one of the houses (Phase B).
Both phases of the project were completed at the end of April 2024. In 2022, an additional funding of €708.588 was approved, which was used for the construction of one more independent house and to accommodate part of the rising construction cost. In 2024 extra funding of €230.000 was approved to cover additional construction costs and the purchase of equipment. The total budgeted amount is €2.153.987 (€1.938.588 EEA and Republic of Cyprus – €215.399 by our own Funds).
With the completion of this part of the project, the following will be offered:
- 24-hour care programmes
- Day care programmes
- A range of therapies (hydrotherapy, speech therapy, physiotherapy etc)
- Various recreational, creative and developmental activities
- Physical exercising
- Entertainment
INTERREG V-A Greece-Cyprus 2014-2020
The foundation of “St. Loucas Community” participates in the “ENERGOPIO” action, within the framework of the INTERREG programme Greece and Cyprus 2014- 2020. The project is co-funded by the EU, the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) and the National Resources of Greece and Cyprus, with a budget of €2.840.485,53. An amount of €1.747.766 has been allocated to the foundation.
The aim of “ENERGOPIO”, is to activate Communities and Cross-Border Standards for Energy Saving projects in Public Buildings in Greece and Cyprus and to develop “common standards” for the establishment and operation of energy communities that will implement the pilot projects.
In this context, St. Loucas Community is enriching its buildings under construction with the necessary materials and the implementation of the photovoltaic park so that it can be upgraded from energy class B to energy class A.