EastSide Partnership one of 10 winners in Power NI’s Brighter Communities £10K funding initiative
Parents living in the lower Newtownards Road area of East Belfast are set to gain a bright new family friendly hub to bring people together for social, education and community purposes when life gets back to a different normal in a post pandemic era.
EastSide Partnership is a recipient of a Power NI £1000 grant – one of ten groups across Northern Ireland to – as part of the leading energy company’s Brighter Communities programme.
Maggie Andrews, EastSide Partnership’s Education Programme Manager picks up the story:
“As a regeneration organisation focusing on key social, economic, cultural and environmental issues, we’re always looking at new ideas and ways to enhance opportunities for local people.”
“A former family centre on Tamar Street, Carew II, had become vacant and we took over responsibility for breathing new life into the building and revitalising it for community use.”
“We applied for a Power NI Brighter Communities award and were thrilled our application was successful. We run a lot of services for children and families and we particularly wanted to reach out and further engage with local parents and this cash award has been very timely.”
“We plan to create a bright and colourful space for parents to come together. The room we are using within the main building was previously an office, so we need to warm it up and make it cheerful and welcoming. The Power NI award will help us to paint and furnish the room to a high standard and we’re looking forward to bringing the project to fruition.”
Launched during the latter part of 2020, the Brighter Communities £10K funding pot was designed to help ten community, sporting, charity, youth and all age groups bring their projects to life and help regenerate their local area.
Power NI which this year marks its 90th anniversary, first introduced the Brighter Communities initiative back in April 2018. Since then it has supported a huge range of bespoke groups and clubs from wheelchair basketball, beekeepers, vintage cyclists and young cheerleaders to street soccer, dragon racers, Early Years and stroke recovery groups.
Congratulating Maggie and the team at EastSide Partnership, Gemma-Louise Bond, Senior Sponsorship and Events Executive at Power NI said, “It’s fantastic to support the wonderful work that the Partnership team does in East Belfast. The new parental hub, once up and running, will really make a huge practical difference to the lives of families in the community.”
Find out more how Power NI Is energising local communities
