Our Work
Our simple but ambitious mission is to strengthen the capacity and capability of the sector to play their part in changing Ireland for the better. We champion the sector through our four core work programmes:
- Public Policy and Advocacy Programme.
- Networking Programme.
- Training and Development Programme.
- Information Services Programme.
For more information and detail, please see our current strategy: The Wheel Strategy (2022-2026)
Our Reach- in numbers
- 2,000+ members and a database of 60,000+ contacts with 20,000+ organisations across Irish civil society.
- 28,000 + followers across out social media channels.
- 235,814 unique visitors to our website in 2021
- 147 events delivered in 2021, reaching 13,268 people.
Our Experience
Key to our success is the level of in house expertise we bring to every project. With a committed team of 29, we offer a diverse range of skills comprising programme management, compliance, events, logistics, and communications. The skillset and experience of delivering at a National and European level brings added value to every project.
The Wheel has been developing and implementing National and European programmes since 2000, often where the relaying of complex information in a digestible way is key to the success of the project. Projects of particular note include:
The Shared Island: Shared Practices Project
Launched in 2021, the project is a joint initiative of The Wheel and NICVA (Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action) supported by the Reconciliation Fund to engage communities across the island of Ireland around shared challenges. The project will bring people and communities north and south together to explore key themes and to identify emergent local, regional, and all-island-level responses to challenges such as Covid19, Brexit, sustainable prosperity, health, well-being, digital transformation, remote working and more.
Training Links
Modelled on the approach developed by Skillnets Ireland for the private sector, Training Links encourages charities, community & voluntary organisations and social enterprises to come together in “training networks” to identify shared training needs that build the necessary skills needed in their workforces and to apply for a grant to part-fund their shared efforts to address these needs.
In addition to the provision of substantial financial subsidies to the Training Networks directed at training provision, this programme provides much-needed opportunities for sectoral co-operation and shared learning.
RevitaLESE EU: Revitalising EU Long Established Social Economy Organisations (Erasmus +). 2021-2023- Lead Partner.
The overall goal of RevitaLESE EU is to revitalise the European social economy sector, maximise its impact, and increase its overall visibility and recognition as a key contributor to the 2020 Agenda, and the possibility of an economy that works for people and the planet.
SCOPE- Skills Recognition, Capacity Building and Professional Education for the Third Sector (Erasmus +). 2018-2020- Lead Partner.
SCOPE provided an online training resource offering training in the fundamentals of governance, communications, risk management, financial management and fundraising. SCOPE also offered validation of learning through ‘digital badges’.
For more information on some of our other projects, click on the following links: