£2.2million investment in new Community Hub for Coleraine: Storey
Date published:
Social Development Minister Mervyn Storey MLA, today officially opened Causeway Rural and Urban Network Community Hub at Brook Street Coleraine.
Funding of £1.8million from the Department for Social Development (DSD) through its Modernisation Fund along with £462,000 funding from the Office of the First and Deputy First Ministers (OFMDFM) Social Investment Fund has enabled Causeway Rural and Urban Network to complete this new build.
Causeway Rural and Urban Network (CRUN) is now the landlord of a multi-purpose Community Resource Centre which comprises of over 9,000 square feet of office, retail and conference facilities.
Speaking at the official opening Minister Storey said: “This Community Hub will be an invaluable resource centre and is a welcome boost for the people of this area. Through my Department’s Modernisation Fund, community organisations can benefit financially to help meet the needs of vulnerable members of our society. I welcome the completion of this project as it will further enhance community cohesion and participation.
“By targeting resources in a way that has maximum impact, this Community Hub not only delivers the aims of the Modernisation Fund programme but demonstrates it in a practical way.”
CRUN has a database of over 120 groups who avail of their services and is now the largest provider of drug and alcohol education, prevention and training services in the Northern Board area. Over recent years CRUN has provided support services to 12,500 individuals across three Council areas.
Minister Storey added: “Causeway Rural and Urban Network has come along way since its formation in 1999 and I would like to take this opportunity to pay personal tribute and thanks to everyone who has been involved in such a success story.
“It has been very encouraging to see organisations such as CRUN develop and grow and I believe that this project will provide a focal point for the local and voluntary and community sector offering modern accessible services to people throughout Coleraine and the surrounding towns and villages.”
£462,000 of the funding is from OFMDFM through the Executive’s Social Investment Fund.
Junior Minister Jennifer McCann said: “Initiatives like this Community Hub are exactly what the Social Investment Fund aims to support. It is about local people delivering local solutions in response to local need. The local community are best placed to identify what assistance is best for their area and this scheme is proof of that. I wish Causeway Rural and Urban Network every success as they continue to provide vital support to local people and organisations in their new facilities.”
Junior Minister Emma Pengelly said: “The opening of the Causeway Rural and Urban Network Community Hub is welcome news for the people of the Coleraine area and I am delighted that the NI Executive's Social Investment fund has helped in its creation. This is the latest in a series of projects assisted by the Fund across all of Northern Ireland that, to date, represent a commitment of £58million. I have no doubt that this project, along with those already announced, will make a better, fairer and more inclusive Northern Ireland."
Notes to editors:
- The objective of the Modernisation Fund is to support voluntary and community organisations to modernise to enable them to become more sustainable and deliver new and better services in an area of change.
- The capital programme will encourage collaboration and resource sharing among voluntary and community groups and will be managed across the schemes making up the programme.
- The Social Investment Fund (SIF) was set up to deliver social change. It aims to make life better for people living in targeted areas by reducing poverty, unemployment and physical deterioration. The fund has been allocated £80million by the Northern Ireland Executive.
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