Posts tagged ‘Voluntary’

: The Big Society – Hugo Swire interview

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
To Hugo Swire, the Big Society is a major culture shift to give power to citizens but critics claim the concept is shallow and disguises cuts. Peter Cheney discusses the idea with the NIO Minister. Instead of a cover for cuts, Hugo Swire sees the Big Society as a kind of confession. The NIO Minister, who leads on the subject in the province, describes it as an admission that “big government can’t always do it, shouldn’t always do it and when it does things, it doesn’t always do it very well.” He sums up David Cameron’s concept as a transfer of power from the state to local...[full story]

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: NICVA-risks of welfare reform

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011
Lisa McElherron warns that welfare reform will hit the poorest hardest. The welfare reforms currently working their way through Westminster have been widely described as the most radical shake-up of the social security system in over 40 years. With the aim of simplifying the benefits system, improving work incentives to encourage the move from benefits to work and reducing administration costs, the implementation of the changes will impact upon a significant percentage of the working age population in Northern Ireland. No one can argue that the present overly complicated and bureaucratic...[full story]

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: Big Society and churches

Monday, October 10th, 2011
Peter Lynas sees opportunities for churches and other faith groups in the Big Society, and the potential for building better relationships all round. The Big Society is not a new idea. In fact, David Cameron caused outrage when he claimed that Jesus founded his Big Society crusade. Part of the difficulty with the Big Society is that different people mean different things when they refer to it. Lord Wei, the former Big Society advisor, said it “is based on an unshakeable belief that people, when equipped with the right resources, can achieve more than central government.” Others describe...[full story]

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Posted in Assembly, Reform, Social, Voluntary, Westminster | Comments Off

: Workings of a credit union

Monday, September 5th, 2011
Credit unions across Northern Ireland rely on teams of volunteers to assist members in their financial transactions. Meadhbh Monahan discusses the operations of Cloughfern Credit Union with manager David Dowey. From small beginnings in 1989, Cloughfern Credit Union has accumulated 2,500 members and is run by 12 volunteers and two part-time members of staff. Situated in Cloughfern Protestant Hall, the credit union now requires bigger premises. It has “grown so rapidly and large” that it has also had to open more hours. Previously only open on Friday and Saturday evenings, the credit...[full story]

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Posted in Business, Economy, Finance, Voluntary | Comments Off

: Voluntary & community directory

Friday, September 2nd, 2011
The Building Change Trust Investing in Social Change; working to make today’s challenges tomorrow’s opportunities. The Building Change Trust was established by the Big Lottery Fund with a National Lottery grant of £10 million as an investment for community capacity building and promotion of the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland. info@buildingchangetrust.org www.buildingchangetrust.org T: 028 9040 8725 New Life Counselling New Life Counselling is committed to supporting the emotional health and wellbeing needs of our clients. We provide free counselling...[full story]

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: Supporting young carers

Friday, April 15th, 2011
Children as young as eight are caring for a parent or family member in Northern Ireland. Young Carers NI’s Julia McKeown tells Emma Blee about the problems they face and the support available. “You would be amazed at how many very responsible tasks that very young children have to do. You would have children of 12 that run a whole household and that wouldn’t be unusual,” remarks project manager Julia McKeown. The organisation provides support for around 600-700 young people at any one time who look after or care for a parent or relative who is ill, has a disability, a mental...[full story]

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Posted in Education, Health, Social, Voluntary | No Comments »

: All-party group on learning disabilities

Thursday, March 10th, 2011
The number of all-party groups meeting at Stormont has increased in recent years but Pat Ramsey believes the learning disability group is still one of the most important. Emma Blee writes. “There are a number of core Assembly members who have a reputation of being conscientious in all-party groups and then they’re caught,” jokes Pat Ramsey. However, with seven of the groups to contend with, he is serious when he claims it is often “difficult to juggle” his time. As well as chairing the learning disability group, he also works on groups dealing with road safety, cancer and diabetes...[full story]

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: Debt – a helping hand

Friday, January 28th, 2011
Personal debt is an increasing worry in Northern Ireland and many are finding that their finances are spiralling out of control. Emma Blee visits the Citizens Advice Bureau to find out the extent of the problem and the advice on offer. With further spending cuts on the horizon, the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is beginning to feel the tight grip of the recession. The average waiting time to set up an appointment with an advisor is now around three weeks, whereas an appointment could have been set up within one week last year. The organisation dealt with more than £33 million of debt...[full story]

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Posted in Finance, Social, Voluntary | No Comments »

: All Party Group on Children and Young People

Friday, January 28th, 2011
Each month an all-party group of MLAs gets together to discuss the needs of children and young people. Dawn Purvis explains its work. “It’s a no-brainer from my point of view. The more informed I am, the more knowledgeable I am,” remarks Dawn Purvis. Her role as Chair of the All-Party Group on Children and Young People, she believes, has helped in many aspects of her constituency work as well as her wider work as an MLA. When devolution was restored in 2007, Purvis was asked by the community and voluntary sector to join the group to help tackle many of the problems facing children...[full story]

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Posted in Education, Social, Voluntary | No Comments »

: Priorities for childcare

Monday, December 6th, 2010
Affordable and flexible childcare is vital to help single parents deal with imminent welfare changes, Jennifer McCann tells agendaNi. With major budget cuts on the horizon the Coalition Government is proposing to radically shake-up the welfare system, leaving many families worried about childcare. The Government wants to encourage the jobless to go back to work but Sinn Féin MLA Jennifer McCann argues that an appropriate childcare strategy needs to be put into place before this can happen. In a no day named motion (i.e. yet to be debated be the Assembly), McCann called for the Executive...[full story]

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Posted in Assembly, Education, Social, Voluntary | No Comments »

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