Ards & North Down Borough Council: Good Relations Grants
Overview
Ards and North Down Borough Council’s Good Relations Grant Programme aims to support, encourage and facilitate activities which enhance and develop community relations within Ards and North Down and which promote good relations between persons of different political opinion, racial group or religious belief. Local community groups and the voluntary sector are invited to apply for funding to deliver good relations/good race relations projects. There may also be opportunities for partnership working between statutory agencies, the voluntary and community sectors using community development approaches to deliver innovative good relations/good race relations endeavours.
The scheme can award up to £1,000 to a single project.
The Council wish to continue to support local groups to build on their good practice, so that a variety of exciting and innovative projects can take place locally. Through commitment to good relations and community development work, groups and individuals from different political, racial and religious traditions have been enabled to engage with one another in ways which:
- Develop understanding, trust, equality & fairness
- Build confidence & inclusion
- Encourage meaningful dialogue and sustainable relationships based on the principles of equity, respect for diversity and Interdependence
- Equity is a commitment to fairness, ensuring equality of access to resources, structures and decision-making processes and those actions to secure and maintain this.
- Respect for diversity supports the value derived from understanding and accepting differences, between people of different religious, ethnic or political background.
- Interdependence is the recognition by groups of their obligations and commitments to similar groups and of how community experiences are inter-connected
Who can apply?
- Constituted community and voluntary organisations
- Partnership/inter-agency groups
- Church and other religious groups may apply for projects that meet the objectives of the funding scheme
- Constituted residents groups
Applications should focus on delivering Good Relations Outcomes under at least one of the following themes from Together: Building a United Community (TBUC) framework:
- Children and Young People
- Our Shared Community
- Our Safe Community
- Our Cultural Expression
and in accordance with the Ards and North Down Borough Council Good Relations Strategic Plan, all applications must demonstrate that their project meets the project level outcome associated with the themes below:
Children and Young People
- Improving Attitudes of children from different background
- Young people engaging in bringing the community together
Our Shared Community
- Increase use of shared space and services
- Shared space accessible to all
Our Safe Community
- Reduce the prevalence of hate crime and intimidation
- A community where places and spaces are safe for all
Our Cultural Expression
- Increased sense of community belonging
- Cultural diversity is celebrated
Your project should relate to the group/organisation’s strategy for sustainable good relations work.
Examples of Good Relations Work
- Single Identity Work refers to activities that do not cross traditional community boundaries. It aims to increase confidence within a community so that people are better able to define their identity and needs in relation to others. Good Relations work of this type challenges long-held, unquestioned stereotypes that are no longer appropriate within the wider community and should open up channels of communication within and between communities. Applications from community groups for single identity work must demonstrate that their project is aimed at developing the capacity of the single identity group to engage with that which is different.
- Cross Community Work involves the bringing together of groups or individuals from varying racial and religious communities to engage with each other in ways which openly challenge perceptions, develop understanding, encourage dialogue and sustainable relationships based on equity, respect for diversity and Interdependence.
- Cultural Diversity Work encourages positive awareness of difference and diversity both between and within communities. It explores different identities and cultures and promotes inclusive discussion and debate. Cultural diversity work challenges the negative stereotypes that sustain division and conflict in our society.
Good Relations work is inclusive of culture, it deals in areas such as history, language, drama, music, performance, literature and community arts.