view issuu 26, 2014

Social Affairs magazine for community/voluntary sectorWebsite: viewdigital.org Issue 26, 2014

‘I WANTMY KIDSTO ENJOYTHE FIELD IPLAYED ONAS A BOY’

VIEW

Residents battle tokeep green amenity

Full story on pagesfour and five

VIEW, issue 26, 2014 Website: viewdigital.org

VIEW

EditorialVIEW, the online publicationfor the community/voluntarysector in Northern Ireland.

CONTENTSCONTENTSHard times

Page 6 A new report has highlighted the squeezeon families from soaringenergy bills and benefitcuts

Funding award

Pages 8-9 Artistic director Emma Jordan,right, explains what afunding award means forthe future work of her company

Charity advice

Page 10 Lawyer Catherine Cooney,above, offers somewords of advice on charity registration inNorthern Ireland

Photographer Kevincooper has more

than 25 years experience in Press

and Prphotography. Kevin

works to a widerange of clients in

community andvoluntary sector

organisations as wellas the trade union

movement.

Kevin cooper

PHoToLinE

For quoTaTions

conTacT

E: [email protected]: 028 90777299

M: 07712044751

Once in a while a certain story comesalong your way and

you know you will have tocover it. It may not be earth-shattering news but it meanssomething on a very personal level.

Such a story is our frontpage cover about the struggleby residents in west Belfast toprotect and hold onto a greensite know as GlassmullinGreen.

I know the area well be-cause I grew up there. Thelarge field, surrounded on allsides by houses, holds manymemories for me and all thosefrom the area, including thosewho have moved away to faroff fields.

Along with my parents,brothers and sisters, I moved

into the area in the late 1960s.Glasssmullin Green repre-

sented an escape from apacked house. My friends and Iplayed there long into thenight, all hoping that are parents would not call us in.

The field also has its ownhistory. In 1969 it served as a

‘temporary home’ for refugeesfleeing from their homes as theTroubles engulfed Belfast.

Families lived in caravanson the field which were laterreplaced by chalets. For a whilethe field returned to its naturalstate as the families were rehoused and moved on.

The British army later occupied the field and built afort, known locally as SilverCity.

They in time also movedon. And now the field is underthreat once again as a localschool has applied to build asports facility on it.

My late parents, Joe andRosaleen, would, I think, havesupported the residents’ attempt to hold onto thegreen site. Read the story onpages four and five.

VIEW editorBrian Pelan

Conference

Pages 12-13 CampaignerBernadette McAliskeywas among those at a recent DTNI conferencein Belfast

A love affair

Pages 14-15 Una Murphy meets European volunteers who areworking in the voluntary/communitysector here

Touch of art

Pages 18-19 JosephPelan, above, checks out Contemporary Sketchpad – a newarts/music communityvenue in Belfast

Website: viewdigital.orgVIEW, issue 26, 2014

Bliss asPanti isbookedfor Pridelecture

Amnesty International has announced that controversialDublin drag queen, Panti Bliss,will deliver this year’s Amnesty

Belfast Pride Lecture.Earlier this year Panti Bliss, the drag

persona of Rory O’Neill, took to the airwaves and the stage of Dublin’s AbbeyTheatre to blast homophobia and homophobes.

With her Noble Call speech, Panti wentviral, attracting over half a million YouTubeviews. Fintan O'Toole of the Irish Times calledit “the most eloquent Irish speech since DanielO'Connell”.

Announcing her intention to deliver theAmnesty Lecture in Belfast, Panti Bliss said:

“I told the Abbey Theatre audience that peoplewho actively campaign for gay people to be treatedin an inferior fashion are, in my gay opinion, homophobic. I have a feeling that message is justas relevant in Belfast as it is in Dublin.”

Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland Programme Director of Amnesty International, said: “We are delighted that Panti is Belfast-bound to deliver theAmnesty Pride Lecture.She is one of Ireland’smost articulate advocates againstthe discriminationand persecution ofLGBTI people everywhere and thatis an important message for Belfastand the world.”

The AmnestyPride Lecture willtake place atBelfast’s MAC the-atre on ThursdayJuly 31.

Tickets are available for £3 fromThe MAC box office:028 9023 5053.


STRUGGLE TO HOLD ONT Group of residents in west Belfast

By Brian Pelan

Agroup of residents in Andersonstown, westBelfast, have vowed to continue their campaign to save a local green space from development.

Glassmullin Green, which is surrounded by houses on all sides, is the subject of a planning application by the nearby De LaSalle College who want to turn the field into asports facility.

In an area with high density housing and fewpublic green spaces, residents, who live close toGlassmullin Green, have argued that a sports facility,if built under the present plans, would drastically affect their quality of life.

“We are opposed to the present planningapplication which proposes to develop an artificialturf pitch with associated classrooms, changing facilities, parking, floodlights and fencing,” saidspokesperson Aithne Kerrigan.

“We’re very aware that some of our neighboursdon’t have gardens and really rely on the open greenspace at Glassmullin. If this proposal goes ahead, itwill dramatically restrict access to the green. Wehave raised our concerns with De La Salle College,the Planning Service, elected representatives from allthe parties, Belfast City Council and the landownersthe NI Housing Executive. We hope they see sense and protect this valuable open green space for everyone.”

Ms Kerrigan added: “We are not opposed toany planning proposals. But we need the presentproposal withdrawn.”

Resident Martin Derby, who has lived in thearea since the 1950s, said: “I played on the green as aboy. I play on it now with my children and my grandchildren. I want to protect it for them.”

Fiona Kane, acting principal of De La Salle College said: “De La Salle does not have its ownplaying fields due in the main to the school’s location. The result is that pupils are denied a facilityto which they are entitled.

“Department of Education recommendationsfor a school of De La Salle’s size states the school isentitled to five pitches. The creation of these new facilities would deliver a range of benefits. These include an enhanced physical education programmethrough the improved delivery of the National Physical Educational curriculum.”

I played on the green as aboy. I play on it now withmy children and my grandchildren. I want toprotect it for them

‘

’


TO OUR FIELD OF DREAMS t vow to save Glassmullin Green

Clockwise fromabove: Some ofthe residentswho are campaigning tosave GlassmullinGreen, a map ofthe proposeddevelopmentand a group ofchildren fromthe area on thegreen space in 1956


Acouple with two children needsto earn £40,600 to have an acceptable standard of living, almost 50% more than before the

recession, according to a report that highlights the squeeze on families fromsoaring energy bills and benefit cuts.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation(JRF) said its latest research into what thepublic considered essential to reach a minimum acceptable standard of livingshowed a growing gulf between what people needed to earn and their actual incomes.

The analysis shows that even as realwages start to rise again, low-earning families with children are unlikely to beable to close the gap between their income and their needs, due to low pay, rising prices and reduced government support.

A Minimum Income Standard for theUK, from the independent Joseph Rown-tree Foundation (JRF), is an annual livingstandards benchmark. It provides a barometer of what has happened to living

standards for low income families sincethe downturn and during the recovery.

For the first time, pensioners say thathaving the internet at home is essential toallow them to participate in society. Working age people without children, onthe other hand, say that a landline is nolonger an essential.

The research by Loughborough University found the cost of a minimum socially acceptable standard of living has increased by around 28 percent since2008, higher than the official inflation rateof 19 percent, which is due to rising costsrather than rising expectations.

Over the same period, the NationalMinimum Wage has increased 14 percentand average earnings nine percent.

In 2008 if each parent earned £14,000the family would reach an acceptable livingstandard. If their earnings had increased inline with the average since 2008, theywould now earn £15,000 each.

That is over £5,000 short of the£20,400 each they would need to earntoday to reach an acceptable living

standard. A lone parent with one childneeds to earn £27,000 – more than doublethe £12,000 needed in 2008.

Families with children have significant ground to make up in order tomake ends meet. This is not only becauseof the soaring cost of essentials but alsobecause of cuts to benefits and tax credits.

Julia Unwin, Chief Executive of JRF,said: “These figures show there is still a lotof work needed to make up the lostground for low income families.”

Abigail Davis, an author of the report,said: “Throughout the past few difficultyears, the people we talk to have held aconsistent view of what it means to live atan acceptable level in the UK. It meansbeing able to afford to feed your family andheat your home properly, but also havingenough to buy a birthday present and the occasional meal out.

“The growing number of people whofall below this standard are unable to afford basic goods, services and activities that most of us would take forgranted.”

Couple with two children ‘must

earn £40,600 to meet basic needs’

The elderly, the young and low income working families have been hard hit by benefit cuts in the UK

Edwards & Co. solicitors advises charities and the voluntary sector in Northern Ireland

on a wide range of legal issues including charity creation, charitable status and

constitutional matters, trading and commercial arrangements, employment law,

finance, fundraising and property law, as well as dealing with the Charity Commission

for Northern Ireland.

Our team offers a full range of legal services including mediation, wills,criminal law,

clinical negligence and personal injury claims, as well as family/matrimonial work.

Practical advice and a sensitivepersonal approach. We prideourselves on our unrivalledcommitment to clients’ needs.

Contact Jenny and Teresa: Edwards & Co. Solicitors, 28 Hill Street, Belfast, BT1 2LA.

Tel: (028) 9032 1863 Email: [email protected]

Web: edwardsandcompany.co.uk


It is early morning and the café at Belfast’sMAC arts center in the city’s CathedralQuarter is slowly gearing up to greet theday ahead. Yet despite the early bird hour,there’s not even a scintilla of sluggishness

from the woman sitting thoughtfully sipping aflat white coffee at the only occupied table.

Emma Jordan is a decidedly singular person. Attending to the series of questionsposed to her, she emerges as an intensely focused force of nature tempered by a beguiling sense of humour.

As she locks on to each subject raised, Iam glad to have put thought into the selectedtopics for discussion. For while generous withher time, it becomes apparent during the hourand a half of our interview, that a freneticschedule means time is at a premium, and thattime wasting is not something that Emma hastime for.

Our conversation begins with the recent

announcement that the Paul Hamlyn Foundation has awarded her £295,000 in a nostrings attached four-year investment in hertheatrical endeavours.

“This money comes from the Break-through Fund established six years ago by thePaul Hamlyn Foundation. They set it up to support the work of what they call ‘exceptional cultural entrepreneurs’, which Ibasically understand to be people who canmake stuff happen in terms of the arts withintheir role in society.’

“This kind of money is exceptional as it’sgiven without restrictions to help artists get towhere they want to be and do the work theymost want to do. It’s both humbling and liberating. I’m delighted to be only the secondperson from here to get such an award, theother being Stuart Bailey back in 2008 to support his work with young people and musicat the Oh Yeah Center.

“My award will be going on a mixture ofhelping with Prime Cut’s existing core costs,supporting the development of a group ofemerging artists and in terms of making it

possible for me to have time to develop newapproaches to making theatre and integratingit with film, choreography and sound.”

The form that such new approaches totheatre will yield can only be guessed at, butjudging by Prime Cut’s two decades plus trackrecord, it’s a fair bet that four core elementswill be part of the mix – that the work will bepolitically charged, involve considerable spectacle, and have significant degrees of bothlocally based community engagement and international collaboration.

All of these elements were for exampleinterwoven in Prime Cut’s recent large-scaleproduction ‘The Conquest Of Happiness’. Produced collaboratively with the Sarajevobased East West Theatre Company and jointly directed by Emma and legendary theatre andfilm director Haris Pasovic, this large scale production was performed in, amongst othervenues, Belfast’s T13 cycle park and under the

iconic bridge at Mostar in Bosnia. ‘The Conquest Of Happiness’ featured a

wide ranging series of vignettes from scenes ofconflict and repression ranging from Nazi Germany to the Rwandan genocide, by way ofDerry’s Bloody Sunday and the Balkan calamityand counterpointed these events with thework of philosopher and peace campaignerBertrand Russell.

Emma says: “Every year one of our threeproductions is a show based on lengthy community engagement to develop the confidence and trust of, and relationships with, people in the most economically deprivedareas here. My vision is for theatre to simplybecome part of what people, irrespective of background or economic status, do.”

Fresh from performing a trilogy of playsabout Pinochet’s Chile, Prime Cut have alreadymoved on to devising their next productionwhich will satirise middle class life in Belfast.

Emma adds: “Watch out for somethingspecial staged in forests and bogs, something dreamlike where innocence andhorror collide.”

The Prime of Ms Emma JordanPrime Cut theatre’s artistic director tells Harry Reid whata £295,000 funding award means for the future work ofthe company which she leads

This kind of money is exceptional asit’s given without restrictions to helpartists get to where they want to beand do work they most want to do

‘

’Above: Prime Cut artistic directo Happiness which was staged, amo


r Emma Jordan in The Mac in Belfast and below, scenes from the company’s joint production of The Conquest Of ongst other places, at Belfast’s T13 cycle park and at Mostar in Bosnia Main picture: Kevin Cooper


Charity registration in Northern Ireland is well underway and compulsory for all charities which

meet the public benefit test. In other words if you are a member of

a committee, a trustee or a director of anorganisation which meets these requirements you are requried to apply toregister your organisation with the CharityCommission for Northern Ireland (“theCommission”).

A charity must have purposes whichfall under one of the descriptions listed inthe Charities Act and these purposes mustbe for the public benefit.

The charitable purposes include therelief of poverty, the advancement of education or religion, the promotion of health or the saving of lives, citizenship or community development,arts, culture, heritage or science and amateur sport.

Edwards & Co. conducted a successfulseminar for invited guests at The MAC lastWednesday, June 25, together with the

Commission to outline recent charity lawdevelopments and the process of registration of charities.

Experts from Edwards & Co,

including Jenny Ebbage, Head of Charitiesand Enterprise and the Commission,including Punam McGookin, Head of Charity Services, circulated amongst thetables of charity trustees and other persons involved with similar bodies thatmay fall under the remit of the Commission to discuss the relevant topics – Who is a trustee? What is yourgoverning document and does it needamended? What is the public benefit requirement?

All charity trustees must remain mindful of their responsiblities especially inthis climate of rapid change in the sector.

Both Jenny Ebbage and CatherineCooney can advise on charity registration,governing documents and the responsibility of charity trustees.

• Contact them [email protected] or 02890321863• Catherine Cooney:catherine.cooney@edwardsand-

Advice: Catherine Cooney

Seminar held to give update on charity law

Taste of China: Members of the Chinese Welfare Association at the Mountcollyer Youth Centre in northBelfast. The event is part of a Youth Intercultural Art Project, supported by Mountcollyer and Holy Family youth groups and the Northern Ireland Community of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (NICRAS)


By Una Murphy

When Bernadette McAliskey addressed the DevelopmentTrust NI (DTNI) ‘Making Local

Work’ conference at Belfast’s WaterfrontHall in June she took to the stage oncrutches.

“If I don’t feel the pain I can’t workout what the solution is,” the veteran campaigner, who is CEO of the South Tyrone Empowerment Project (STEP), toldthe audience.

She said that STEP, which received EUpeace funding, had decided that what ‘community’ meant was a “community ofplace, an administrative area”.

She said there had been significant inward immigration into the labour marketwithin the local community.

Ms McAliskey spoke of STEP’s aim ofbuilding a sustainable community.

She added that many community andvoluntary sector organisations had becomeagents of delivery of the government’s social programme and “most people don’tbite the hands that feed them”.

She added: “Have we become dependent on the 100 percent letter ofoffer and we cannot get out of the bed inthe morning without a grant?”

Steve Clare from Locality in Englandtold the conference that Prime MinisterDavid Cameron’s Big Society “had beenused as a cover for cuts in public spendingand had become discredited”.

He added: “Big Society is now knownas BS”.

He warned of the “Tesco-isation” ofpublic services if the private sector isawarded contracts to provide them.

“There are two key challenges; legitimacy – who is best placed to decideon how services are delivered and redesigning public services to make them‘local by default”.

John Mullan, CEO of Bryson Charitable Group and one of the founding members of DTNI, said the creation ofnew markets for social enterprises wereneeded.

He added there should be a shift awayfrom grant funding.

He said that three challenges weremaking public services local by default,working with local and central governmentand making new social finance productsavailable.

Colm Bradley told the conference

that the procurement of public servicesmust protect public benefit.

He warned that investment companieswere gearing up to provide care homes forchildren and the elderly which were traditionally provided by the public sector.

He warned that the private sectorcould undercut on price to win contractswhen public services are put out to tender. “How do we design communitytransfer to protect public benefit?,” headded.

Most people don’t bite thehand that feeds them,McAliskey tells conference

Above: Bernadette McAliskey and below, John McMullan, chief executive of the Bryson Charitable Group, who were both at the recentDevelopment Trust conference at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast

McAliskey image: Kevin Cooper


DTNI has promoted eight pilotprogrammes to show the benefitof ‘Making Local Work’

The Leafair Community Association in Shantallow, Derry,has taken over two neglected soccer pitches and transformed itinto a 3G floodlit pitch, pavillionand playpark.

Bangor Share Space hope toboost regeneration of the CoDown seaside town by taking overthe disused courthouse.

They plan to support arts, culture, heritage and social enterprise organisations in the refurbished building.

In Co Antrim, Broughshane

and District Communication Association wants to transform aformer police station into a community resource with housing for the elderly and arestaurant.

The Resurgem CommunityDevelopment Trust aims to refurbish and build houses in Lisburn city and has identifiedtwo sites for redevelopment.

In north Belfast, the GreaterWhitewell Community Surgerywants to change a primary school,closed down in 2013, into a crosscommunity space with housingand a sports facility.

Ardoyne Youth Providers’

Forum wants to use a formergirls’ secondary school to housefacilities for the Marrowbone andArdoyne areas, including health,youth and childcare services.

Duncairn Community Partnership plans to take overderelict strips of land on an interface to provide a sharedspace for local communitieswhere anti-sectarian work couldbe carried out to boost community relations.

And in Belfast city centre theCathedral Quarter Trust want tosecure the long term future use of two buildings to support thedevelopment of the area.

Leading the way to show that Making Local Work pays off


European volunteers from Italy, Spain, France, Germany,Portugal and Poland have embraced Northern Ireland with gusto but just don’t ask them to like

the food.The young people with a joie de vivre are determined

to give a helping hand to community and voluntary sectororganisations, including Volunteer Now, Ulster Wildlife Trust,Womens’ Aid and Hostelling International NI.

Northern Ireland’s troubled reputation has not putthem off and despite some having experienced sectarian incidents and all of them perplexed by the idea of ‘peacewalls’ they said they have been made welcome – particularlyby their contemporaries - and are determined to throwthemselves into life ‘chez nous’.

Soumaya Kehili from France, who is working withWomens’ Aid, said: “I am doing rewarding work mainly withchildren. I feel I am learning so much. I came from a back-ground working in tourism but would now consider retraining. Womens’ Aid are doing a great job and providinga valuable service to women and children.”

Maria Gonzalez from Spain said she loved her experience of volunteering with Hostelling International NIso much that she has decided to stay on in Northern Ireland. “I didn’t really know about the Troubles before Icame”, she said. “Since I came here I have got to love thiscountry and I’m going to stay. Her favourite hostel is WhitePark Bay on the North Antrim Coast.

Further along the Antrim Coast you may find UlsterWildlife volunteers Ezechiele Squarina, Julia Wilutzky, SofiaGoncalves and Ramon Arribas working in Glenarm Forest.Other days they are in the bogs – Bog Meadows, Belfast andBallynahone Bog in Magherafelt in Co Derry that is.

Polish volunteer Natazza Wdowicke, who works on Volunteer Now’s Timebank project with StephaniePainchault from France, said: “Volunteering is not as advanced in Poland and I would like to work in this field inthe future. I’m involved in outreach and engagement workon the Timebank project.”

Stephanie, who is working on communication and socialmedia for the project, added: “Timebanking is helping tobuild communities, it is not a type of currency – it is exchanging for a social good.”

So what about the food here? Comments included“Food is really unhealthy here” and “The fish and chips arecovered in oil”.

But on the flip side they seem to like Northern Ireland– whether it is the scenery or the camaraderie of the localyoung people – the European volunteers feel at home andare making a difference.

A love affair with Norther Una Murphy meets a

group of European

volunteers and asks

them about their

views on working in

Northern Ireland

Bryson Charitable Group EVS officer Mary Hegarty, sixth left

By Mary Hegarty

“When someone gets to work with volunteers in any capacity it’s prettygood, but when it’s working with young volunteers from across Europe, it’s really pretty special.

Not that I don’t have my bad days(believe me, after 16 years I’ve had a fewcrises to deal with and got to know ourhealth system pretty well), but seeing the difference a year of international volunteering can make to a

young person is a I work within

Service, a fantast Commission prog 18-30 year olds t European countr monetary cost to

It’s part of th Programme, whi funding program ing, youth and sp

I’m an EVS O ble Group and I’m delighted and am

‘Local young people


rn Ireland, if not the food

, and VIEWdigital co-founder Una Murphy, far right, with a group of the European volunteers Image: Kevin Cooper

a real privilege. n European Voluntary

tic European gramme which enables

to volunteer in another ry, at virtually no o the volunteer.

he Erasmus + ich is the new EU

mme for education, train- port.

Officer in Bryson Charita- m constantly

mazed at how many

young Europeans want to come toNorthern Ireland. What is also surprising,however, is how few local young peopletake up this great opportunity.

Those who have are our best advocates and can bear witness to theimpact the programme can have – EVShas led to changes in career aspirations,the desire to go on to further education, discovery of new talents andinterests, multilingualism, developmentof self-confidence and self-esteem,meeting of future spouses and, perhapsmost crucially of all for us here in NI, the

discovery that there’s a whole lot moreto the world than our little land.

There are great opportunitiesthrough EVS for local young people.

There’s some information on EVS atthe following sites or contact me at [email protected] • www.brysongroup.org/volunteering• www.europa.eu/youth/eu/article/euro-pean-voluntary-service-what-it-really_en • www.erasmusplus.org.uk/• www.britishcouncil.org/youth-in-ac-tion/young-people

need to look at this great opportunity’


A WOMAN who raised hundreds of thou-sands of pounds for charity after being diagnosed with breast cancer has died.

Thirty-five-year old Noleen Adairfrom Belfast had battled the disease sincethe age of 22.

Despite being seriously ill for adecade, Noleen worked tirelessly forwomen with breast cancer with the Pretty'n' Pink charity.

After launching the charity in 2006she inspired and encouraged people to getinvolved in hundreds of events acrossNorthern Ireland.

The aim of Pretty 'n' Pink is to create awareness of breast cancer here, es-pecially in young women.

It also provides funds for patients whodo not meet the criteria for any otherpublic or charitable funding. This involves not only organising fundraising

events, but also giving out individual grantsthat go towards things like heating oil andchildcare.

A spokesperson for Pretty ‘n’ Pinksaid: “It is with the deepest sadness that wehave to report that our much loved, brave,

inspirational and respected founderNoleen Adair passed away in the earlyhours of Thursday morning, June 26, after along battle with breast cancer.

“Not only was Noleen the charityfounder and our colleague, but she wasalso our friend, mentor, and an inspirationto us and others. Our thoughts are withher family at this time. Her memory willlive on through the charity that shefounded.”

Announcing news of her death herhusband Gavin said she died peacefully inher sleep surrounded by her family.

He said: “Noleen meant somethingdifferent to all of us – to me she was mywife and my best friend – to you she mayhave been your relative, your friend, a fellow cancer sufferer or a work colleague, but to all of us she was onething above all others – an inspiration.”

Pretty ‘n’ Pink founder mourned by colleagues

Tributes: Noleen Adair

An acrobatic performance at a recent WOMAD Belfast Beyond Skin cultural event at the Skainos centre ineast Belfast


VIEWdigital presents Co

Report/camera/editing –

Stairwayto art,jazz andhip hopA

new community art group is beckoning prospective artists toexhibit their work in Belfast.

Frankie Devlin, artistic director of thefledging art collective ContemporarySketchpad, described it as an “alternativeplatform for creativity.”

“We want it to become one of themost expressive and ground-breakingnights the city has to offer not just for artbut music as well.”

Founded by the young artist less thantwo months ago, Sketchpad has alreadyhosted two nights offering a varied arrayof work from within the community andfurther afield.

For any culture vultures circling nearQueen Street art galleries, ContemporarySketchpad serves up a low-key evening ofhigh culture and is situated in the appropriately elevated setting of StudioEleven, College Court. On behalf ofVIEWdigital, I attended the most recentexhibition held there on June 13.

On first entering the space, one notices two things, the first being the elevator you have to forgo to arrive andthe second is the cool aura evoked by theminimalist interior. Around the exterior,art pieces hung from water pipes whileceramic organs decorated the podiums inthe centre of the room. The atmospherewas cool and increasingly casual as the accompanying musicians and DJs switchedbetween a medley of jazz, hip hop, deephouse and surf rock.

This cultural crescendo continued torise, stretching long in to the night andwhilst the organisers’ plans for the futureare ambitious their Gonzo spirit is determined the wave won’t break hereand that’s not the only watermark yet tohave transpired, as, so far, the evening isfree of charge.


ontemporary Sketchpad

– Joseph Pelan


Alana Hughes, a volunteer with the Northern Ireland

branch of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, in

front of Belfast City Hall recently as the building was

lit up in the association's colours for global

awareness day. For further information visit

www.mndani.com or Twitter @MNDA_NI

If you would like your community/

voluntary organisation to be selected for The Big

Picture in the next issue of VIEW, send images,

marked ‘Big Picture entry’ to

[email protected]

The Big Picture


• Community and voluntary organisations can reduce energy bills and can be

eligible for a grant for cost of equipment.

• AFFINITY LINKS will carry out an energy audit FREE OF CHARGE, make

recommendations to reduce your costs and cut carbon emissions, look for grants or

zero percent loans to cover costs and install and maintain all fittings.

• When energy consumption is reduced we will secure the best price for electric and

gas on a fixed rate for one, two or three years where possible, we look after the full

procurement process once we have secured the best rates and we look to secure

rebates where due.

• We look after ALL your energy needs year after year ensuring you are always on

the best rates so your organisation is always in the best position to save money

going forward.

• For more information contact [email protected]

Tony Kennedy,Director of the JohnHewitt Society, left,with Gerry White, general manager of theJohn Hewitt bar inBelfast, at the launchof the John Hewitt International SummerSchool programme.The summer schoolwill run from Monday,July 28, to Friday, August 1, at the Market Place Theatreand Arts Centre, Armagh

Image: Kevin Cooper

view issuu 26, 2014

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