Community Projects Receive £1.1m

A total of 16 community groups across Belfast have received total funding of just over £1.1m from City Council.

The funding boost is being delivered through the £5m Local Investment Fund (LIF), which is part of the council's wider Investment Programme for the city.

The move brings the overall amount allocated through the fund to over £2.4m, after 20 groups received their awards earlier this year.

Training services for young people, visitor centres, community gardens, conference facilities and outdoor spaces are among the projects to receive support.

Three schemes have received £100,000 or more, with the largest amount going to the East Belfast Partnership, which been allocated £250,000 to develop a visitor centre.

Mornington Community Association has received £200,000 to refurbish its existing premises on Ormeau Road, while Templemore Avenue School Trust has been granted £100,000 to complete a new networking centre.

Other groups – including An Cumann Chluain Árd, Ballygomartin Presbyterian Church and the North Belfast Women's Initiative and Support Project – will use their funding to carry out repair works.

Lord Mayor, Councillor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, said: "Our support for smaller community schemes goes hand in hand with some of the bigger projects we have delivered, or are in the process of delivering, across the city as part of our Investment Programme.

"The Local Investment Fund gives Councillors from all parties the chance to invest in projects which make a direct difference to their communities, and to put forward ideas for the kinds of facilities and improvements needed in their areas."

Alderman Gavin Robinson, Chair of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, which oversees the Local Investment Fund, said: "Earlier this year, we distributed the first £1.25 million from the fund to 20 projects – seven of these have been completed, and another six are currently on site.

"This latest round of funding means that almost half of our LIF monies have now been directed into projects with a common goal of improving quality of life for residents."

(IT/JP)