Grant boost joy for Irish Street

The small grants programme is awarding 9,845 to Irish Street Community Association as part of a grants roll-out of 287,974 to 35 groups across Northern Ireland.

Awards for All offers community, voluntary and statutory groups the chance to apply for small grants of between 500 and 10,000 that will have a big impact on local communities and the lives of people most in need.

Irish Street Community Association is using the grant to help celebrate the 60th anniversary year of the building of Irish Street Estate.

The local association, which works to improve the health, education and self-esteem of the estate’s residents, will use the grant to help run a range of activities and events to mark the occasion including a photograph exhibition in May on the history of the area, a football tournament in July, and a community festival in August.

Local resident Tommy Lynch, 46, who has lived in the estate all his life, explained that the busy programme of events will encourage the community to come together and celebrate

“This housing estate was built back in 1950,” said Tommy. “It’s a neighbourhood renewal area and there are high levels of disadvantage and unemployment, and educational attainment is very low.

“One of the problems is that there not much community activity going on here. The association is based in the Irish Street Community Hall in the centre of the estate and we want to make this a focal point for community life in the area.

Tommy continued: “Community spirit has diminished over the years and we want to get it back – these celebrations will help us do that.

“As well as the events planned, we are also going to start up a mothers and toddlers group and we have fun social outings planned for young people so they can expand their horizons a bit, and for the women’s group to enjoy a shopping trip in Lisburn.

“By running all these that will bring people together to celebrate the heritage of this estate we will bring back the community ownership and spirit that has been lost a bit in recent years and give residents the opportunity to take pride again in this estate.”

Frank Hewitt, Big Lottery Fund NI Chair, said: “The Big Lottery Fund’s NI Awards for All programme funds health, education, environment and community projects that help people bring about positive change in their lives, improve health and well-being, develop skills and create safer communities.”

“The application process is simple and accessible and shall remain so, making it easy for applicants to successfully apply for small pots of funding that can have such a big impact on local communities and lives.”

Application forms and guidance notes are available to download at www.awardsforall.org.uk.

For more details call us on 028 9055 1455, or e-mail us at [email protected]