Kilcooley Community Forum: New Decade for Development

FORUM

02 March, 2010

DSD Awards Kilcooley Community Forum £49,185.00

Minister for Social Development Miss Margaret Ritchie who approved further funding for Kilcooley

Already a major contributor to Neighbourhood Renewal within Kilcooley, the Department for Social Development has agreed to provide further funding to Kilcooley Community Forum office for revenue and running costs until March 2011.

The announcement was made by Mr Jerome Burns on behalf of the Minister for Social Development Miss Margaret Ritchie at last Thursday’s visit to Kilcooley by the Attorney General, Baroness Scotland. He said the Minister was well aware of the good work carried out by the Forum and it’s member groups within the estate. To date the DSD has contributed substantial funding to Kilcooley via the Neighbourhood Renewal Partnership.

Mr Jim Rea Chairman of the Forum said, “This news is greeted with thankfulness as the current funding was due to end on 31^st March and we had no idea where we would find the funds to maintain the revenue and running costs of the office. We would like to thank the Minister for her commitment to Kilcooley and also extend our thanks to Mr Jerome Burns, Mr Andrew Petrie and the staff at DSD who have assisted us with the application and community development work. We hope over the course of this funding that much more constructive community work can be achieved.”

Mark Gordon Community Development Manager, “This news comes at such a crucial time as staff have been on protective notice since January unsure about what would happen next. I am thankful to the Minister and all the team working with her on the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy and I hope we will continue together to build a better, stronger, more vibrant community.”

Alex Easton (MLA) who promoted the work of the Forum and emphasised the need for the work to be funded said, “I am delighted at this news. It has taken some work and time to get to this point and I believe North Down could not afford to lose Kilcooley Community Forum as they have done so much good work in Kilcooley and across the borough. I would now like to see other communities benefitting and Stormont needs to look at the possibility of core funding community development workers in North Down.”

The announcement also highlighted that the Forum’s application has been appraised for three years in total, but until people are clear about the outcome of the Review of Public Administration only one year’s funding can be approved at this time. This suggests when things are a lot clearer the Forum’s application could potentially be awarded funding until 2013.

Kilcooley Community Forum would like to thank all the partner agencies who offered letters of endorsement to the DSD in regard to the application.

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