ESF/ERDF Funding Helpdesk for Social Services

ESF/ERDF Funding Helpdesk for Social Services

On 28-29 June, 16 organisations including the European Platform for Rehabilitation (EPR) met in Brussels to kick-start a 2-years project funded by the European Union which aims to finance the building blocks for a Social Services Helpdesk. The Helpdesk project officially started on 1^st May and has two main priorities:

1. to support social services in better accessing and using EU funds;
2. to help Managing Authorities use EU funds (ESF+, ERDF and ReactEU in particular) to finance quality interventions in the field of social services.

The 16 organisations making up the project consortium, led by the European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD), represent a large variety of social services and have members located in every EU Member State and beyond. Many of the partners also have significant experience in relation to promoting EU funds to their membership, as well as providing input to managing authorities and the European Commission on the main barriers that usually obstruct the use of these funds.

During the first phase of the project, the focus was on evidence-gathering activities: 2 surveys – one for social services and one for Managing Authorities – were conducted, to get better insight into the barriers and challenges which prevent EU funds from being used by social services. There were 357  responses from social services and 75 from Managing Authorities.

In addition to this, ten national events were organised in ten different EU Member States (Belgium, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Austria, Sweden, Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Spain) in the months of October and November. During these events, social services, Managing Authorities, EU representatives and intermediary bodies will be brought together to discuss barriers, challenges, but also good practices in relation to the access and use of EU funding.

Furthermore, a launch event was organised in Brussels on 20 October attended by the European Commission, the project partners, an intermediary body and a Managing Authority to discuss the potential of the project to fill the gaps when it comes to knowledge and capacity building, simplification of EU funds, and policy guidance.

In the meantime, the project partners were working on the creation of a website and a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) which will provide training modules on the access to, use of, and reporting on the ESF+, ERDF, and other funding opportunities.