Radius Housing celebrates five years of shared housing in Laurel Hill with Coleraine event

The event is open to community groups, schools, statutory organisations and individuals from the Coleraine area, and as well as marking the positive impact the new homes and community work has brought since 2018.

The event, which will take place in the Lodge Hotel in Coleraine on January 25 at 7pm, will also look at how this work can continue.

Radius Housing is a social housing provider, who manage more than 13,000 homes across Northern Ireland and build more than 300 new homes each year. In 2018 they completed the Laurel Hill Gardens shared housing development in Coleraine.

Bridie Doherty, Area Housing Manager, said: “Radius are so proud of the Housing for All Programme in Coleraine. Over the past five years we have partnered with 59 local organisations, worked with nearly 6,000 participant attendances, and delivered over 59,000 participant hours of programmes and events.

"The community in Coleraine is very proactive and we have been able to support and partner some truly impactful work. There has also been a Community Relations Council Good Relations Youth Award brought to the town by St John’s and Killowen Primary Schools through work we have supported.”

Jennifer Cuthbert, Community Investment Manager, added: “We are proud to have supported community and statutory bodies with their projects in the area and we thank the Coleraine Advisory Group for their support and guidance over the years in helping us to inform the Good Relations plan for the area.”

The celebratory event is supported by the Department for Communities and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s ‘Housing for All’ Shared Housing Programme. The Programme has its origins in the NI Executive Together: Building a United Community Strategy which reflects the Executive’s commitment to improving community relations and continuing the journey towards a more united and shared society. Radius currently has 14 shared housing developments across Northern Ireland including Laurel Hill Gardens in Coleraine.

All developments are supported by Good Relations Plans, including ‘Bridging’ events which are delivered to the wider community to encourage a range of good relations outcomes which include Health and Wellbeing, Arts & Culture and Education and Training.

Lisa Mooney, Communities Officer for Coleraine, Radius Housing added: “Radius look forward to this event on January 25, we would encourage as many groups as possible in the Coleraine and within the five-mile radius to get involved. We want to celebrate but also look to the final programme in Coleraine where we will partner with Hare’s Corner Co-operative to bring a Participatory Budgeting project to the area to allow people to come up with legacy based ideas for the area.”

Karin Eyben from Hare’s Corner Co-operative added: "Participatory budgeting is a gift to all those working in community development as it focuses our attention on relationships, fairness, the often-hidden skills and talents around us, collective action and how and who gets to make decisions around the spend of public money."

The Celebratory event, at the Lodge Hotel at 7pm on January 25, is free to attend, and a hot fork supper will be provided. Anyone who would like to attend, please register with [email protected] 07872841314.