Story: Inishowen Independent
STORM clouds are gathering ahead of tonight's Annual
General Meeting of the Newtowncunningham Community
Development Initiative. The community group, founded
five years ago face a make or break couple of months
and could run out of money by June.
The NCDI depend on the International Fund for
Ireland for the bulk of their funding, but that line
of finance runs out in March.
Last year they applied to the Family Support
Agency’s Family Resource Centre Programme for
core-funding, but this proved fruitless. They
reapplied and await a decision next month.
“The IFI money runs out in March so we will have an
anxious wait to see if the Family Support Agency
will fund us to become a Family Resource Centre. We
have some money saved that we raised ourselves, but
if we don’t get more money by June we may have to
close down,” said Frances Browne, the NCDI’s
Community Development Officer.
“We approached the Family Support Agency for funding
last year but they wanted more information before
making their decision,” she added.
Nationwide, the FSA fund six projects a year, and
because of the high number of competing resource
centres in Donegal, such as Moville’s Serenity
House, it’s far from a formality that the NCDI will
receive FSA funding.
“At the moment there is a large degree of
uncertainty about the NCDI’s future. We need around
€80,000 a year to sustain the project, and want to
know we have secure funding so we can implement more
long-term plans. We don’t want to have to be looking
for new sources of funding ever three years,” added
the Newtown community activist.
The NCDI have plans establish a drop in centre that
would possibly incorporate a counselling service.
They also want to start programmes specifically
aimed for women and the youth of the area, but
cannot proceed until they find a new source of
funding.
92% of respondents to the NCDI’s Community Audit,
carried out last autumn replied that Newtown needed
a Resource Centre.
The NCDI’s annual report states that the development
of a community resource centre is a key strategic
objective that would ‘create a single neutral cross
community facility which can provide for the needs
of all the population of Newtowncunningham and its
environs.’
In his Chairman’s report Martin Burke states that
the recent increase in the Newtown population is a
challenge to the social cohesion of the town.
“It is evident that our population will increase
still further in the next few years if the
speculation in property is any indictor and the
number of new planning application being submitted
to DCC.
“This has both advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages include a greater potential pool of
volunteers and community activists. On the negative
side it may add to the current situation of people
living in the area but being inactive in the
community
“Creation of a sense of community which makes
Newtowncunningham a great place to live and
socialise is a key action in the overall development
of the area.” |
