OFMDFM Contested Spaces Programme

Overview

The programme will have four focus areas for support -

1. Early years and parenting programmes concentrating on young children and parents living in interface / contested space communities.

Initiatives supported should bring about improvements in the quantity and quality of shared pre-school provision and/or implement, on a shared basis, an evidence-based programme that improves and enhances parenting skills.

2. Shared space programmes targeted and delivered through schools operating in interface / contested space communities. Initiatives supported should focus on producing educational, societal and reconciliation outcomes and should lead to increased levels of shared education across interface / contested space communities.

3. Interface youth engagement programmes aimed at young adults, including those not currently engaging with existing youth providers. Initiatives supported should provide opportunities, on shared basis, for the personal development of young people as well opportunities for them to make a positive contribution to their communities and wider society.

4. Shared neighbourhood programmes targeted at families living in interface / contested space communities. Initiatives should provide opportunities, on a cross community basis, for the development of the necessary mechanism to promote an ethos of community pride for those residents living in interface / contested space communities.

It is anticipated that total funding of approximately £1.5m will be made available for successful projects under this second call for applications. The overall programme covers a period of 3 years from April 2011 but consideration may be given to extending the overall lifetime of the programme (no additional resources will be invested) to ensure that successful second Interface / Contested Space Programme

Interface / Contested Space Programme round projects can also run for a 3-year period from Autumn 2012. Further information/guidance from contacts in the department can be sought on this point.

Applications will only be accepted by consortia. Consortia must include at least one community organisation from each side of the interface / contested space, an organisation with proven capability in delivering outcomes in the focus area or areas you have chosen.

Applications will only be considered from groups operating in the top 20% of the most deprived wards according to the 2010 Multiple Deprivation Measures. Full details are available on http://www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk/

Programme Outcomes

The programme, considered over all of the pilot areas, is expected to achieve the following overall outcomes.

• Improvements in the quality of life and public services for interface /contested space communities.
• Increased and sustained community engagement in policydevelopment on issues impacting interfaces / contested space areas
• Stronger connections between children, young people and familiesliving at interfaces / contested space areas and how they inter-relate with theneeds of all groups within the community.
• A decrease in the level of inter-community violence at interface /contested space areas.
• Greater levels of engagement and empowerment of residents living in interfaces / contested space areas, with a particular focus on youth engagement.
• Greater levels of cross-community contact at interface / contested space areas amongst children, young people and families through the medium of shared services.
• Evidence of societal investment by children, young people and families in interface / contested space areas through civic engagement, volunteering and rebuilding social capital.
• Learning from the pilot projects used to inform, influence and sustain wider public policies
• Increased levels of shared advocacy to improve public service delivery and greater shared use of contested spaces & services
• More effective, efficient & responsive public service delivery
• Peace building lessons learned and being applied elsewhere.

Grants Awarded

The nine projects supported through the Programme are:

• Aspire: a partnership between Currie Primary School and Holy Family Primary School (inner North Belfast)

• APP: (Achieving Personal Potential): led by Shankill Women’s Centre with partner organisations which work in Shankill/Carrickhill, Ballysillan/Ligoneil, Skegoneill/Glandore; and Whitewell/Whitecity.

• Foyle Contested Space: a partnership of 3 post primary and 5primary schools in Derry/Londonderry to widen the scope of shared education.

• ARC: (Active Respectful Community): Led by the voluntary organisation Community Relations in Schools (CRIS), the project works with children and parents from 4 schools in Ardoyne and Shankill (Holy Cross Nursery School, Edenderry Nursery School, Glenwood Primary School and Holy Cross Boys Primary School).

• Faces and Spaces: Early Years approach to good relations which builds community-led shared partnerships in five interface areas (Falls Road/Shankill Road; Castlederg/Newtownstewart; Waterside/Cityside; Ballymena; Short Strand/East Belfast).

• South Armagh Community Interface Partnership: a community interface partnership, run by the South Armagh Childcare Consortium, focused on young families and children in rural areas of south Armagh.

• Waterside Partnership, Parents and Communities Together (PACT): a proposal to support very young children and their families, run by Action for Children, in the four contested space/interface areas in the Waterside area in Derry/Londonderry.

• Spaces to Be: a diversity in play programme, run by PlayBoard NI, which focuses on children transitioning from primary to secondary education. This programme will be run in rural areas of Newtownstewart and in East Belfast.

• Communities Unite in Reconciling and Building Societies (CURBS): a Portadown based programme to engage young people and their communities, run by the Craigavon Intercultural Programme, to encourage them to build peace and reconciliation and encourage shared initiatives.