Trust exhibits at Development Trusts NI Conference
The Building Change Trust exhibited at the Development Trusts NI (DTNI) conference entitled: The NI Conversation 2014 – Making Local Work.
Development Trusts are enterprises created by communities to enable sustainable development in their area.
They undertake a wide range of economic, environmental and social activities and services. As independent not-for-private-profit organisations, they are committed to involving and being accountable to local people.
The conference, which took place at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, saw Social Development Minister Nelson McCausland launching a policy framework for Community Asset Transfer (CAT) for Northern Ireland.
He said the transfer of public sector assets to local communities will create real opportunities to stimulate regeneration and greater community cohesion.
As part of the conference, Aongus O’Keeffe, Programme Leader for the Trust’s Inspiring Impact Northern Ireland initiative, delivered a master class on the Case for Social Impact alongside Nancy Brown from Gauge NI. Tiziana O’Hara, Cooperative Alternatives, also delivered a breakout session on Crowd-funding and Community Shares.
Speaking about the event the Trust’s Director of Operations Nigel McKinney stated, “The Trust has been involved in the debate around asset transfer for a number of years having supported some initial conversations on the subject and carried out a number of study visits.
“We are pleased to have sponsored DTNI’s annual conference for the past 2 years and believe that their work sits very well with the Trust’s work on Social Finance.
“If Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sector organisations in Northern Ireland are to develop and use physical assets then both new forms of finance and support in the form of investment readiness will be needed and this is increasingly recognised.
"The Trust is now actively looking at its next steps in this area and plans to take significant action before the end of 2014”.
You can find out more about the conference on Twitter under the hashtag #makinglocalwork.
To find out more about the Trust's work in Social Finance, please click here.