Weekly summary — Derry
Our week in Derry took us to see a wide variety of micro-organisations both in the centre of the city and further afield in more rural areas.
Northern Ireland’s recent history feels very present. Derry’s Peace Bridge stands as a physical symbol of reconciliation and the city’s name remains contested, with the ‘London’ in ‘Londonderry’ crossed out on some road signs and painted back in again on others.
We saw the effects of this in some of the things the organisations are trying to achieve and how they often referenced involving ‘both sides’ of the community as examples of ‘doing well’. This focus is reflective of the funding landscape; funders are often looking specifically for evidence of cross-community activity and inclusion. For example, the EU-funded Peace IV Programme focuses on projects that promote cohesion between communities. The Mid-Waterside Residents Association applied for funding but was originally rejected because their proposal wasn’t explicitly cross-community enough. They successfully reapplied after making some changes to their outreach methods to include other groups like the elderly and the local Polish community. The Ullans Speakers Association/FUSE centre also received Peace IV funding to renovate a building to create their community hub, which is promoted as a space for all.
During our week in Derry, we met organisations at very different points in their respective journeys. For some, there is a significant gap between where they are today and where they would like to be (one organisation had stopped their services entirely due to lack of funding), while others are exactly where they want to be. Those who are thriving seem to be well-networked within local funding circles and have specific application skills and sufficient time and resources to dedicate to securing grants. For example, Patricia from Moneydig Rural Network Group had acquired expertise in funding applications and so offers to help other small groups with their forms. She also regularly picks up the phone to talk to funders and so over time has developed good relationships with several organisations. Overall, there appeared to be a reasonable amount of funding available for small community organisations (including for rent and running costs), but the ability to access it depended on capacity and resources.
Beyond familiar difficulties with funding and finances, several other challenge areas stood out as more prominent this week:
- Organisations complained that registering with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland is a lengthy and difficult process and brings onerous annual reporting requirements. We learnt that registering is mandatory for most groups; one participant told us this is due to paramilitary groups previously using community organisations to launder money, leading to a tightening of regulations a few years ago.
- We spoke to two charities working to support people with invisible illnesses and leant how raising awareness is a significant hurdle. Me4Mental is benefitting from a big shift in social attitudes towards mental health in recent years and several high profile awareness campaigns. In contrast, Fibromyalgia was only recognised as an official chronic condition 2 years ago; there is a huge lack of awareness about it and sufferers typically face misdiagnosis and public scepticism. FMANI is therefore facing an uphill battle to gain public support in terms of fundraising, but even more significantly in finding volunteers keen to give their time to the cause.
- Engaging young people was a challenge for most of the organisations we met, particularly those working in rural areas where children often travel to other towns for school. A lack of local job opportunities further means many young people leave for bigger cities, leaving behind an ageing population.
In our end of week workshop, we heard support for some similar strategies as in Dundee:
- A map/database of charities in the area would be helpful to increase local visibility.
- Alternative funding reporting methods would be welcomed, for example, a verbal evaluation over the phone in place of the current lengthy form.
We also heard some great suggestions for dealing with particular challenges:
- Our participants suggested a funding matcher — an online tool that filters a database of funding opportunities and recommends suitable funds for organisations to apply to.
- A ‘funder fair’ would be a great way for organisations to learn about different funding opportunities, ask questions to demystify the application process, and meet the people behind the forms.
- Funding applications can be highly repetitive. It would be useful to have a portal where core organisation information is stored and only new information related to a specific grant proposal is required for each application.
- We heard about successful efforts to support volunteers through dedicated wellbeing initiatives. Me4Mental has an appointed pastoral officer and a monthly meeting where volunteers can voice any worries.
- To combat the lack of youth engagement in rural areas and ensure sustainability, some groups are working on succession planning by creating meaningful roles for young people.
Finally, the trading of many cards, numbers and ideas in the workshop made it clear that the organisations we met valued the opportunity to be in the same room together. It seems there is great potential here to foster links between community groups. One suggestion that emerged was for community centres to host networking events to support community groups to come together more often for productive exchanges of knowledge and ideas.
