Community Development
People and communities are the key resource for economic and social development. To this end, Tyrone Donegal partnership has been very successful in helping to animate, develop and empower individuals and communities for the dual purpose of assisting them to achieve their full potential and so that they could contribute to the economic and social development of their cross border region. Successful interventions delivered by Tyrone Donegal Partnership include:
Removing Barriers
The Removing Barriers model was designed to enable disadvantaged and excluded groups to develop ownership of and commitment to participate in cross border socio-economic activity. The Removing Barriers Programme proceeded to offer four types of assistance including;
- A cross border information and advice unit
- Cross border mentoring programme
- Cross border rural economic capacity building initiatives
- Cross border small grants scheme
Throughout the roll out of the RB programme a vast number of community/voluntary groups & community business have been affected by the RB programme. In total the RB Programme received a total of 69 applications and eventually approved funding for 33 projects who received grant assistance up to €15,000. Of those projects that were financially assisted by the ‘Removing Barriers’ Programme they were engaged in a range of activities, such as, tourism, arts, drama, music, sports, youth and older people. More than 70 groups have received Cross Border Mentoring assistance, 7 information & advice seminars have taken place, some 3500+persons have been provided with information, almost 200 persons have had capacity building training and an interactive website has been developed to provide up to date information Cross Border Activity and possible funding opportunities.
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IFI Wider Horizons Programme
The Wider Horizons Programme has been designed to empower locally unemployed 18 - 28yrs old and provide them with new skills, direction and enhanced employment opportunities while embracing the spirit of cross-border, cross community multiculturalism. The programme also aims:
- To continue to develop sustainable partnerships between key stakeholders in the private, public and statutory sectors, on both sides of the border, in order to ensure the effective implementation of the WHP.
- To continue to identify the key needs and skills of unemployed young people.
- To continue to identify key employers’ needs and skills shortages in the Area.
- To implement a procedure for the recruitment of both the trainees and the training providers that is open and transparent and which is fully compliant with the Equality legislation in both jurisdictions.
- To adopt a planned approach to the selection of the overseas providers to ensure maximum benefit for the WHP and its trainees.
- To implement a rigorous system of Monitoring and Evaluation to ensure that any targets set are achieved.
- To implement a Follow-up Strategy that aims to maintain contact with the trainees, after the WHP, to ensure that the twin aims of ‘employability’ and ‘peace and reconciliation’ continue to be nurtured.
Youth and Community Leadership Programme
Youth and Community Leadership Programme which has supported and developed the youth leadership skills and provided accreditation for over 100+ young people from the Tyrone Donegal Partnership catchment area. The aim of this programme was to empower young community workers from the North West including Tyrone, Donegal, Fermanagh Sligo and Leitrim to become more effective community agents of broad social change across religious and political borders. They increased their skills, broadened their knowledge base, expanded their network of contacts, fine tuned their professionalism and enhanced cultural sensitivity. This was achieved through a model accredited training at home and practical community work placement in Pittsburgh using the professional services of Ireland institute of Pittsburgh. The accredited community youth training was delivered via the introduction to Youth Work Programme. The introduction to youth work is one of a number of units housed within training suites entitled training for Work which was developed by the Youth Work Training board for Northern Ireland and received formal accreditation from the NI Open College Network and is currently working towards and all Ireland accreditation. This course was designed to provide participants with the basic skills and knowledge required to work with young people in a youth and community setting. It included opportunities to exchange thoughts and experiences with other youth support workers and to consider personal attitudes and approaches, as well as the attributes required to work effectively and safely with young people. Emphasis was on creating a learners-centred training environment, focusing on the needs of participants, the contexts in which they were working with young people and the experience they had to date.
Estates Management Programme
The Estates Management programme has just recently completed its pilot phase. This programme was a new development approach, drafted to research and design innovative community empowerment programme which would:
- Foster mutual understanding between communities of different traditions by helping them to address common/shared concerns for social issues.
- Develop the skills of existing community leaders.
- Identify and develop future youth/community leaders
- Identify a range of social problems which need to be addressed.
- Identify partners in Boston and Ireland who can share best practice in addressing the social issues highlighted.
- Develop a practical support programme and accreditation with direct links to Boston and other Irish based projects.
