Investing in communities

Eliza Martin, Community Investment Manager at Clanmil, with Stephen Key, Belfast Giants CSR Coordinator and Performance Coach, and Line Change participants Riley, Koby and Blake.

Strong communities do not happen by accident. They are built through partnership, investment, and a shared commitment to opportunity, writes Eliza Martin, Community Investment Manager at Clanmil.

At Clanmil, our purpose is not only to provide homes for people to live well, but to help create communities where people can thrive. That means investing beyond bricks and mortar, supporting initiatives that strengthen confidence, wellbeing and connection.

A recent example is our involvement in the Line Change programme, delivered in partnership with the Belfast Giants at the SSE Arena. Nineteen young people from east Belfast have been given the opportunity to take part in ice-skating and hockey sessions, alongside workshops focused on leadership, resilience and personal development.

Participants also benefit from hearing the powerful stories of local sporting role models including four-time Paralympic gold medallist Michael McKillop and Olympic and Commonwealth boxing champion Paddy Barnes. Their involvement reinforces the programme’s message that barriers can be broken and ambitions realised.

Line Change is linked to our new homes at Dargan House at Loftlines in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter and supported through the Department for Communities and the Housing Executive’s Housing for All Shared Housing Programme. It reflects our commitment to investing in people and place, backed by a five-year Good Relations Plan designed to deliver lasting social impact.

More widely, Clanmil continues to maximise the social value generated through our contracts, supporting local employment, apprenticeships and community initiatives.

Because building homes is only part of the story. It is also about building the opportunity that truly transforms communities.