10 community groups in Northern Ireland to receive a share of £3.1 million funding

by Gráinne Connolly

The International Fund for Ireland today confirmed £3.4m of financial support for 16 community projects in Northern Ireland and the southern border counties of the Republic of Ireland. 

The funding, approved at the organisation’s recent Board Meeting, includes more than £2.3m that is allocated across 10 projects within the Personal Youth Development Programme.

These initiatives support vulnerable young people to reengage in training and learning activities and reduce the risk of being drawn into violence, crime and addiction.
 

Almost £1m has also been allocated across five projects in the Peace Impact Programme (PIP), which assists marginalised communities to resolve complex issues relating to identity and the conflict.

Meanwhile, the Fund’s Peace Walls Programme has granted £180,000 to Twaddell Ardoyne Shankill Communities in Transition (TASCIT) in support of efforts to build cross-community confidence and dialogue on interface barriers.

The latest funding packages will be awarded to 10 groups across Northern Ireland, in Belfast, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Derry/Londonderry and Antrim. 

Personal Youth Development Programme

Belfast

£282,523 to Shankill Women’s Group to continue and expand a cross-community project for young women in the Shankill and Falls areas of the city. 

Participants will be supported and guided into tailored good relations, personal development and employability programmes designed to assist them to gain skills and knowledge that can improve their lives.

The project will offer advanced support for 20 current participants and enrol an additional 20 people at foundation level.

County Tyrone

£269,863 to Coalisland Training Services to extend and expand the Assist Youth Project for two-years.

The project will provide personalised employability training for 15 current participants and enrol a new cohort of 12 young people – aged 16-25 – in a programme of tailored activities aimed at improving personal and social skills.

Assist Youth is a flexible alternative to formal education and training and operates across Coalisland, Newmills, Ballysaggart, Drumglass, Washing Bay and Moygashel.

County Armagh

£221,338 to Drumgor Detached Youth Work Project to extend the Creating Real and Inspire Change (CRAIC) initiative for two-years in Drumgor and the surrounding areas in Craigavon.

The extension will build on current work, enabling 15 current participants to advance towards tailored education and employability training while engaging a new intake of 15 young people in personalised activities aimed at improving personal and social skills.

CRAIC promotes integration and empowers young people to re-engage with their communities. 
 

Londonderry-Derry

£298,008  to Leafair Community Association to extend and expand the 3D Youth Project for two years.

Delivered in partnership with Bready and District Ulster Scots Association, the project will support 19 current participants to enrol in education and employability development activities.

The allocation will also enable a new cohort of 20 young people to take part in personalised activities aimed at improving life prospects and roles within their communities.

Mid Ulster-County Derry

£203,294 to Maghera Cross-community Link for a two-year extension and expansion of the Link Youth Achievement Project across Maghera, Swatragh, Upperlands, Culnady and Tobermore.

The extension to this cross-community project will support 10 current participants to engage in education and employability activities while also enrolling a new intake of 15 young people in a programme of good relations, personal development and skills and social development activities.
 

County Antrim

£289,697 to Ulidia Training for a two-year extension and expansion of the IMPACT Project across the Ballybogey, Bushmills, Dervock and Glebeside areas in the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council. 

The extension will enable 15 current participants to take part in education and employability training and will see 20 new recruits enrol in a programme of personalised activities aimed at improving personal skills and reconnecting them with their communities.

Peace Impact Programme

County Armagh

£216,799 to Regenerate Portadown/Lurgan to extend an existing project within six housing estates in the Portadown area and to co-deliver a project in the Mourneview and Grey Estates area of Lurgan.

The central elements of this project focus on delivering peace building work within communities in the two towns.

County Fermanagh

£200,500 to Turas Na nDaoine for a two-year project that will seek to address a number ofconflict-related issues in the East Fermanagh area, from Enniskillen to Roslea.

It will also aim to improve employability and reduce marginalisation through a series of social economy training activities.

This project is designed to support greater cohesion in the area and improve community relations.

Belfast

£184,464/€221,356 to The Hubb Community Resource Centre for a two-year community cohesion project across the Tigers Bay, York Road/Shore Road areas of Belfast.

This project will develop a strategic plan to support a transformation process for people involved or on the fringes of anti-social and/or criminal behaviour. 

It will provide activities aimed at improving employability, skills and community development.

Peace Walls Programme                    

Belfast

£180,003 to Twaddell Ardoyne Shankill Communities in Transition (TASCIT) to extend, for one-year, a North Belfast project that is fostering community confidence and dialogue around the future of interface barriers.

The projectworks with the key stakeholders and other service providers to maximise the potential for positive attitudinal change towards Peace Wall/barrier removal and/or reduction in interface tension. 

Commenting on the announcement Dr Adrian Johnston, Chairman of the International Fund for Ireland, said:

“We are pleased to be awarding assistance to 16 groups that are stepping up to address difficult problems that can divide and isolate people.

"The risks that projects are taking, with our support, are paying dividends at a challenging time for communities.

"Our work over the decades has been conducted in parallel with the political process and the current context has only served to strengthen our resolve to support peopleto remain engaged in peacebuilding activities and resist polarisation.

“Our steady and careful approach has enabled communities to move forward and secure significant progress on a number of complex issues.

"Investments made through our current strategy are achieving a great deal, but much more remains to be done.

"Communities need to see urgent and proactive delivery on commitments made in the Fresh Start Agreement and the Tackling Paramilitarism agenda.”

The Chairman took the opportunity to thank the international donors to the Fund for their continued support –the Governments of the United States of America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand and the European Union.