Community Houses
SIF provided funding of over £380,000 for renovations and extensions to seven community houses in the North Down and Ards area to enable a greater range and quality of services for the local communities.
Project Name: | Community Houses |
|---|---|
Zone: | South Eastern |
Category: | Capital |
Social Investment Fund Outcomes: | Increasing Community Services |
Status: | Operational – Construction Complete |
Funding awarded: | £380,767 (across all 7 Community Houses) |
About the Project:
This project involved the capital improvements to a number of ‘Community Houses’ in North Down and Ards, within the SIF South Eastern zone.
The ‘Community Houses’ are owned by Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) and have been provided to communities as part of an initiative to build community infrastructure. These houses are used to deliver valuable services to the community including IT training, life skills, counselling, outreach services, education, physical and mental health services etc and host a number of community organisations. Capital works were required to bring the properties up to a modern fit for purpose state and to comply with health and safety and DDA requirements. The improvement works varied by location and involved a mix of refurbishment, extension, access improvements and internal reconfiguration that will enable a greater range and quality of services to be offered through them. The premises were:
- Bloomfield Learning and Resource Centre
- Breezemount Community Association
- Bangor Alternatives
- Rathgill Community Association
- Whitehill Community Association
- North Down Community Association
- Scrabo Residents Association
- East End Residents Association
Progress to date:
This project has completed construction and is operational. The capital improvements to the houses have provided larger, flexible and easily accessible spaces leading to improved infrastructure and have enhanced the quality and range of vital community services offered to help meet the needs of the local communities within the SIF South Eastern zone.
Impacts:
Monitoring and evaluation of all Social Investment Fund projects is carried out using “Outcomes Based Accountability” (OBA). Where SIF has funded capital works, the project provides quarterly “post-capital” data for a period of 3 years which details the positive impacts enabled by the capital works undertaken. The Community Houses project has completed construction and OBA data collection is ongoing for the final infographic and final post capital infographic.