Phase Two Developing Women in the Community Programme organisations announced

The second phase of the Developing Women in the Community is underway following the award of contracts to organisations from across five Council areas.

Tony Murphy, DfC Fresh Start team, said: “I’m delighted to announce an award of contract to eight successful organisations following a rigorous and competitive process.

“Each of the organisations will deliver training, personal development programmes and volunteering opportunities for women. This will be through individual and collective projects to support the development of the skills, knowledge and confidence to enable participants to take on leadership and decision making roles in their communities.”

Phase Two builds on the achievements of the pilot programme led by DfC involving 14 organisations from across Northern Ireland in the delivery of bespoke projects based on the needs of local communities.

The pilot organisations adopted different approaches resulting in a range of benefits including increased confidence and self esteem, promoting community safety, greater awareness of community support in the local area, leadership, increased collaboration and networking between the groups and participants.

The Department has extended the original programme to the end of March 2023, providing additional investment to the groups to support continued delivery. The programme was assessed by an Independent Advisory panel with all learnings informing the design of Phase Two.

The details of the successful organisations and the areas the Phase Two programme will be delivered in are listed in the table below: