Post Election Panel Discussion at Forthsping Intercommunity Group

The Building Change Trust through staff employed by the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland recently participated in a panel discussion on the implications of the recent Assembly and local government elections for the community and voluntary sector and wider society in Northern Ireland

The panel discussion was convened by Forthspring Inter-Community Group in Belfast  to inform ‘Volunteers in Mission’, a US Methodist group, visiting Forthspring to learn about the work it does locally.

Forthspring is in receipt of an Exploring Change award from the Trust to explore change in how it delivers services to ensure future sustainability.

The panel included; Charlie Fisher (Community Foundation Northern Ireland), Marion Weir (Open Hands), Bebhinn McKinley (Community Relations Council) and Richard Johnston (Belfast Central Mission and Chairman of Forthspring Board of Governors)

During the discussion the panel referenced some common points of interest including the background of expected cuts under which the sector is presently working. It was highlighted that as a consequence, key social services will come under increasing pressure and community organisations providing services would need to adapt to changed circumstances.

Reflecting on the work of the Building Change Trust in supporting collaboration and change in the sector, Charlie noted that duplicate services were an unaffordable luxury and that social segregation had to be transcended by cross-community planning, new social investment interventions, and development of new approaches to accessing and sharing services.

Bebhinn concurred, eloquently stressing that shared services that bridge the sectarian divide promote economic efficiency as well as foster social goods like improved health, security and environments.

Marion noted that while  Nationalist West Belfast grew in confidence, the Loyalist communities of Shankill and Woodvale were suffering an increasing sense of estrangement and disenfranchisement.

The panel agreed that dealing with the risk of ghettoisation was a high priority social policy issue. Richard Johnston made a strong case for the charitable sector’s pivotal role in continuing to provide essential social services under conditions of expenditure cuts. It was noted that community businesses and social enterprise had a role to play and that government and others should invest in the capacity of the sector to play a fuller role and bring forward policies that recognise the role played by the community and voluntary sector in social and economic regeneration.

The American audience brought to the table an appreciative understanding of the issues and several contributors made important comparisons with the dilemmas facing policy-makers in the US where social programs are anathema to many politicians.