Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Community Planning Partnership has been successful in securing significant financial and in-kind support to implement its Community Plan and further embed the wellbeing agenda for the benefit of all people living and working in the local council area and further afield.
Carnegie UK Trust announced earlier today that Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Community Planning Partnership, along with its counterparts in Derry City and Strabane District and Lisburn and Castlereagh City, has been selected to participate in its Embedding Wellbeing in Northern Ireland project.
Operating from 2018 until 2020 and representing an investment of £350,000, the project aims to help participating Community Planning Partnerships to learn from each other and share their experiences in implementing their Community Plans, undertake study visits to local authorities outside Northern Ireland where they can view best practice examples as well as receive expert support from an independent external project Advisory Group.
Deputy Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough, Councillor Paul Duffy, welcomed the announcement saying: “We’re delighted to be working with Carnegie UK Trust to realise our shared vision of creating a borough that has a happy, healthy and connected community, a vibrant and sustainable economy and appealing places for living, working and learning.
Being selected to take part in this project is a great endorsement of the commitment shown and work already undertaken to date by our Community Planning Partnership to align our priorities with the draft Programme for Government and ensure wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do.”
Roger Wilson, Chair of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Community Planning Partnership and Council Chief Executive, added: “With Community Planning still a relatively new statutory duty, this project offers great potential for creating new opportunities for our Community Planning Partnership to collaborate with others outside Northern Ireland whose community planning work is at a more advanced stage.
“Through greater collaboration, we will be better equipped to overcome challenges in implementing our Community Plan and achieve our goal of bringing about positive change for communities through the delivery of better public services.”
Martyn Evans, Chief Executive of the Carnegie UK Trust, continued: “Through our Embedding Wellbeing in Northern Ireland project, we believe we will see real changes not just through the work of the three Community Planning Partnerships which have been successful, but to the everyday lives of each citizen in Northern Ireland as community planning starts to take shape.
“All Community Planning Partnerships in Northern Ireland are to be commended for their commitment to community planning. It was clear that so much work has gone into ensuring that the Community Plans reflect the local needs and aspirations of the communities they serve.”
Aideen McGinley, Carnegie UK Trust Board Member and Chair of the new Embedding Wellbeing in Northern Ireland project Advisory Group, further remarked: “Through our expression of interest process, the Advisory Group saw some fantastic examples of the spirit of community planning in action, and we’re delighted to be able to shine a light on these so that Northern Ireland might just lead the way across the UK and Ireland in community planning.”
To find out more about the Embedding Wellbeing in Northern Ireland project, visit www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk. To view the borough’s first Community Plan, visit www.armaghbanbridgecraigavon.gov.uk/resident/community-planning/
