VIEW

VIEW

VIEW, issue 14, 2013

Website: viewdigital.org

CONTENTS

Daily struggle

Page 2

Celebration

Pages 4-5 A mum and daughter in east Belfast talk to VIEW about how hard life is for working class families

Page 10 A number of inspirational women were honoured at the recent WOMEN’S TEC awards ceremony

Facts not myths

Under attack

Pages 6-7 We dispel many of the myths about people receiving benefits in the midst of negative comments from various politicians

Pages 12 A number of familes with children are among those being hardest hit by cuts to Dublin’s homeless services

Speaking out

My story

Pages 8-9 Solicitor Dorcas Crawford, above, tells VIEW why it’s vital that Northern Ireland’s politicians face up to the abortion issue

Page 18 Adam McCormick (above), who is deaf, tells VIEW about his work as a youth worker and a translator for people with hearing loss

PHoToLinE Photographer Kevin cooper has more than 25 years experience in Press and Pr photography. Kevin works to a wide range of clients in community and voluntary sector organisations as well as the trade union movement.

For quoTaTions conTacT Kevin cooper E: photoline@supanet.com T: 028 90777299 M: 07712044751

Find out more about The Big Picture on page

Editorial

VIEW, the online publication for the community/voluntary sector in Northern Ireland.

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am Lucy Gollogly, the new editor of View. I’ve taken over the role from Brian Pelan who has moved on to other projects.

I’m delighted to welcome you to our latest issue. I’m excited to be addressing some of the most pressing issues facing the community and voluntary sector, and there is no more pressing issue than the impending welfare cutbacks.

In Britain, the impact of the Coalition Government’s decision to reduce the cost of the benefits system is already being felt.

The ‘bedroom tax’ – which cuts benefit payments to social housing tenants deemed to have excess living space – was introduced in Britain on April 1.

Charities in Northern Ireland have warned the policy, if introduced here, will lead to increased levels of rent arrears and homelessness.

The Welfare Reform Bill is still being considered by MLAs.

young mothers in their area are dependent on food banks, and even those who can still feed their families are barely able to pay basic bills like rent and heating.

VIEW editor Lucy Gollogly What is clear is how much people here are already suffering as the local economy continues to lag behind the rest of the UK. In this issue, journalist Una Murphy meets a mother and daughter who tell of their financial concerns even before the welfare cuts hit.

The women from east Belfast’s Cregagh estate say some

 We also explore the implications of Northern Ireland’s confused abortion laws in an interview with leading lawyer Dorcas Crawford, who represents the Family Planning Association and the Marie Stopes clinic in Belfast.

Northern Ireland has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe and has so far failed to clarify the law for clinicians, leaving many doctors and health trusts afraid to carry out terminations under any circumstances.

Ms Crawford tells us why she believes abortion is primarily a health issue which our politicians in Stormont must address to protect the health and well-being of women.

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VIEW, issue 14, 2013

Profile

Page 3

We talk to Kirsten Kearney, chief executive of the Educational Shakespeare Company, which works with a range of marginalised groups – www.esc-film.com

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It’s very moving when you see the difference your work brings to individuals and their families

1, How long have you been in your present position?

our work involve Shakespeare, so we tend to use ESC instead.

Five years, since I raised the money for the job.

6. What projects have you lined up for the future?

2. What attracted you to the position?

I had been volunteering for ESC for some time and had served on the Board so it was a natural progression to try and get more involved at the coalface.

3. What are the main areas of work that the Educational Shakespeare Company (ESC) is involved in Northern Ireland ESC works with extremely marginalised people.

We specialise in criminal justice and mental health and in the overlap between the two.

4. Is it difficult to motivate people to take part in the ESC? Not at all. We have incredibly committed people and committed volunteers, one even walked from Ballyclare to Belfast in the snow last Christmas to man the telephones in the office.

People are attracted to the ESC because of the ethos, because of the ethics of the organisation and because, as far as is possible, we try to live out what we believe in.

5. Can you tell our readers about the decision behind the name, ESC? ESC stands for the Educational Shakespeare Company and was chosen because Tom Magill, the co-founder and artistic director, who worked as Michael Bogdanov’s assistant director in the English Shakespeare Company, was asked to set up a branch in NI. Obviously, the ‘English’ wouldn’t be very politically suitable, so ‘Educational’ was chosen instead. We have moved a long way since then (1999) and only parts of

It’s an exciting time for ESC. We are partnering with a lot of mental health charities; for example, NIAMH, Mindwise and Action Mental Health, to take forward innovative film-making projects to help heal trauma and help people rebuild their lives. I’m also spearheading a new initiative – NI’s first ever Mental Health Arts & Film Festival. We’re trying to pull together a group of interested people to lay the groundwork to bring this into being. https://www.facebook.com/NiMentalHealthArtsFilmFestival And then, our next feature film, Prospero’s Prison, a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, to be filmed with former prisoners (and a few special guests) at Belfast’s Crumlin Road Gaol.

7. How difficult is it to attract funding in the present economic climate?

It’s definitely challenging. At the moment we are making definite strategic headway with new partnerships, political interest in our work and new projects on the table, but at the same time, our core funding runs out in a year, so it’s make or break time. We are deliberately expanding into social enterprises to try and bring in unrestricted income.

8. What relationship does the ESC have with former prisoners and what does it achieve for them?

ESC has a very close relationship with them. We have worked for many years inside the prison system in NI, in the Maze Prison, in HMP Maghaberry, where we made Mickey B, and are planning to work in Hydebank Wood with young offenders. We have focused on work with

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former prisoners over the last four years, and made a real breakthrough last year when we opened our training centre, Helping Hands, http://helpinghandsbelfast.co.uk/ which provides mentoring and practical help for non-politically affiliated ex-prisoners and youth at risk.

9. What do you like most about your role?

It’s quite amazing to be able to have an idea, and and be able to bring it to fruition. It’s very moving when you see the difference that your work brings to individuals and their families.

One lady, whose husband was involved in our work at Holywell Hospital, thanked me for giving her her husband back.You can’t put a price on things like that.

10. What do you like least about your role.

The way it takes over my whole life. Seriously. I think to do this type of work you need to live and breathe it. Because you have to be incredibly committed to it to put up with the difficulties that come from doing radical, innovative work in a society that is neither radical nor innovative. It is also very difficult having such big dreams with such a limited organisational infrastructure, staff and funding.

11. Can you tell our readers the name of your favourite book?

Currently the book that has moved me most is Sunny Jacobs’ Stolen Time. It’s about her experiences being falsely imprisoned on death row in Florida for a crime she didn’t commit.

12. What would you like to do if you could choose any job?

I would like to do my job. But with more funding and more staff.

VIEW, issue 14, 2013

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Page 4

Many families can heat now, never m

As communities await news of how impending welfare c east Belfast tell journalist Una Murphy about the consta

Mum Sally Foster and her daughter Cathy, who live in the Cregagh estate in east Belfast, talk to VIEW about the pressures t

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would like to see politicians coming down to the streets and talking to people and seeing how hard it is, says Belfast mother of three Cathy Foster, She lives in the Cregagh Estate in east Belfast and while she works part-time as a receptionist and gets help from her mother Sally with childcare, is finding it hard to make

ends meet.

Cathy, 31, knows of more and more mothers locally going to food banks to feed their families. “Food banks are the last resort it is either that or steal,” she said.

She helps run a local parent and toddler group so knows at first hand the pressure families are under.

Many families are now at breaking point with most behind on paying rent and heating and waiting for the knock on the door from debt collectors. “Most can’t afford heat never mind holidays,” she said.

“I think things are going to get harder, people just can’t afford the basic things like food and heating anymore.

VIEW, issue 14, 2013

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n not even afford mind any holidays

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cuts may affect them, a mother and daughter living in ant economic struggle that many families are enduring

that many families are living under “People are worrying about paying for dayto-day things. Families with young children need to buy nappies and have to buy cheaper frozen food because they can’t afford to get fresh vegetables.

“Everybody is in the same boat – it’s not just this area or any one religion, Catholic or Protestants, it's everybody.”

Cathy's Mum Sally, 65, said she thinks things are going back to the bad old days.

“Things are getting worse instead of better", she said. “We used to make the same dinner do for two to three days at a time.

“People are struggling again and it is already getting harder and harder and nothing is coming along to make it any easier.”

Cathy is worried that she won't have a job next year. Sally is worried about her husband who's had heart problems but still works part-time and can't afford to retire.

Asked about what politicians were doing to improve the situation Sally sighed with resignation: “The only time you see a politician is when they want your vote.”x0

VIEW, issue 14, 2013

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Page 6

Benefits – separating th W

hat percentage of the UK's adult population is dependent on the welfare state?

The welfare state is a big part of family life, with 20.3 million families receiving some kind of benefit (64% of all families), about 8.7 million of them pensioners. For 9.6 million families, benefits make up more than half of their income (30 per cent of all families), around 5.3 million of them pensioners. The number of families receiving benefits will be between one and two million fewer now because of changes to child tax credits that mean some working families who previously got a small amount now get nothing.

How big is the problem of families on benefits where generations have never worked?

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation published a study in December testing whether there were three generations of the same family that had never worked. Despite dogged searching, researchers were unable to find such families. If they exist, they account for a minuscule fraction of workless people. Under one per cent of workless households might have two generations who have never worked – about 15,000 households in the UK. Families with three such generations will therefore be even fewer.

What proportion of the welfare bill goes on benefits to the unemployed? And how has this changed?

It's rising – but we've seen such movements before. At 13 per cent between 2009-10 and 2011-12, the proportion of gross domestic product devoted to benefits is at an all-time high, but this is not the result of a long-term upward trend. Levels in the 1990s to 2008-09 fluctuated between 10 per cent and 12 per cent. The recession resulted in a substantial increase and the overall level has not fallen since. This mirrors the recession in the early 1990s, when the proportion of GDP spent on benefits increased by slightly more at around three percentage points.

If unemployment benefits are reduced, do more claimants find work?

They may stop claiming – but not necessarily go to work. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has carried out a systematic review of international research on the impact of benefit sanctions. This finds, mainly from US research, that sanctions are successful in getting people off benefits, but this may be because they are dropping out of the system altogether, rather than going into decent work. European studies show that the use of sanctions is likely to lead to worse employment outcomes (lower pay and more likely to be back on benefits) than if sanctions are not used. This is because the threat or use of sanctions makes people take lower-quality jobs than if they had been allowed to wait for a better opportunity.

What is the correlation between a country's economic performance and the size of its welfare bill?

Richer countries spend much more (as a proportion of income) on welfare than poor ones – compare Sweden and Somalia. But of course that doesn't mean spending more on welfare makes a country richer: it mostly reflects the natural tendency of societies, as they become more prosperous, to increase social spending. Some economists argue that large welfare states, which need to be financed by equally large tax revenues, over time inhibit private-sector growth. However, the experience of the Nordic countries does show clearly that there is no necessary inconsistency between economic dynamism and a large and relatively generous welfare state.

How many large families are heavily dependent on benefits?

To quote the Economist: “Though most of them seem to end up in newspapers, in 2011 there were just 130 families in the country with 10 children claiming at least one out-of-work benefit. Only eight per cent of benefit claimants have three or more children. What evidence there is suggests that, on average, unemployed people have similar numbers of children to employed people ... it is not clear at all that benefits are a significant incentive to have children."

Do any families get more than £100,000 a year in benefits, as George Osborne has claimed?

A freedom of information request showed that in August 2010, there were fewer than five housing benefit claimants receiving the equivalent of £100,000 a year.

• Compiled from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation; Full Fact; New Policy Institute; and Jonathan Portes, director, National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

VIEW, issue 14, 2013

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he facts from the myths Communities come together to look at sharp end of cuts EIGHT communities are working with the Community Foundation Northern Ireland, tracking the impact on individuals and families at the sharp end of the UK Government’s policy responses to the economic crisis.

People are coming together in regular focus groups to share their experience of rising living costs, job insecurity and unemployment, anxiety about benefit changes and cuts in public services. Together they are creating a powerful ongoing narrative using digital media as well as more traditional means to make policy makers and elected representatives aware of the reality of life at the sharp end of so-called reform.

The Communities in Action Programme is further strengthened by partnership with Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK – a major research project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (www.poverty.ac.uk) – which enables evidence gathered locally to add weight to the emerging picture of a deterioration in UK poverty measures.

Over the next year CFNI will be supporting these communities to development local initiatives to build resilience, whether arming local people with expertise in how the benefits the system works or introducing sessions on how to cook for health on a budget. 

http://youtu.be/-Id6ScBUnQQ

Bedroom tax policy: ‘This is an accident waiting to happen’ The proposed changes to housing benefit – known as the ‘bedroom tax’ – are an “accident waiting to happen,” the Law Centre’s Les Allamby (right) has said.

Under the plans, which are part of the Coalition Government’s overhaul of the benefits system, working-age social housing tenants deemed to have extra bedrooms would have their benefit cut. Those with one extra room would lose around £7 a week and those with two or more surplus rooms would lose twice that.

Some 32,000 households in Northern Ireland would be affected.

Mr Allamby said: “The Northern Ireland Housing Executive are on the record in stating that they cannot offer alternative appropriate accommodation to all those affected by the bedroom tax.

MLAs had been expected to debate and vote on the Welfare Reform Bill this week, but they will now take more time to table amendments.

Lynn Carvill of the Empty Purse Campaign, which is concerned that the implementation of Universal Credit could undermine women’s financial independence, said: “It is incumbent on all our politicians to protect the vulnerable in our society.”

VIEW, issue 14, 2013

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It’s not acceptable that in queuing up to leave the co

Lawyer Dorcas Crawford, who represents the Family Planning Association and the Marie Stopes clinic in Belfast, tells VIEW’s Lucy Gollogly why it is vital that Northern Ireland’s politicians face up to the abortion issue

VIEW: The draft guidelines on abortion issued last month by the Department of Health are out for consultation, but does the present law in Northern Ireland leave doctors open to legal action?

Dorcas Crawford: That would be my concern.

To my knowledge, no doctor has been prosecuted in Northern Ireland and it’s unlikely that they would be, but of course there is a fear because the Assembly and some of the Executive feel very strongly about the right to abortion or otherwise. And the Attorney General (John Larkin) has made his view very clear – that he is very anti-abortion. There is a very right-wing view prevailing at the minute. The need for guidelines that doctors can rely on is absolutely vital. My biggest worry about the issue is that it has been hijacked by the Justice Committee at Stormont when it is really a health issue.

VIEW: How important is it for women in Northern Ireland that the law on abortion is clarified?

DC: It’s absolutely vital. That we still in Northern Ireland in 2013 have women queuing to leave the country to have abortions – it’s not acceptable for the society we live in and it’s not what public feeling reflects. The Marie Stopes clinic is not full of people aged 18 who were at a disco last night and don’t want a baby. It’s full of women who are struggling with very serious issues and abuse.

Pregnancies are unwanted for an awful lot of reasons that people don’t get. It’s not the perception that the MLAs who are against it would have you believe necessarily.

VIEW: The case of Savita Halappanavar who died in Galway University Hospital after doctors refused to carry out a

Solicitor Dorcas Crawford tells of her concerns about the current law on abortion in termination has put the spotlight on the Republic’s abortion law. Is there a danger of a similar case happening in Northern Ireland?

DC: Absolutely not. They’re way out of kilter. I suspect 10 years ago that was very different. I think that times have moved on, people have moved on and people are broader minded.

DC: I think it’s possible because there is uncertainty and insecurity because of the lack of guidelines. So I think there is a risk. I think it’s less likely to happen up here because most clinicians are more in tune, but my worry would be that if the current prevailing view in Stormont gets the chance to really prevail, that we could have situations like that.

VIEW: Is there a lot of moralising by politicians around this issue?

VIEW: Do you think the prevailing opinion in Stormont reflects how people in general feel about this issue?

DC: Yes. When my Marie Stopes clients appeared before the Justice Committee (in January), what was very clear was that the general tenor of the two and a half hours of grilling – which is what it was – was about morality; it was not about criminality. We were invited there specifically to address the question of whether Marie Stopes was complying with the law in Northern Ireland and it was very clear that Marie Stopes is

VIEW, issue 14, 2013

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2013 we still have women ountry to have abortions

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Northern Ireland complying with the law in Northern Ireland and that wasn’t what they were interested in. The entire debate was about why they should be permitted to carry out any kind of abortion and yet that wasn’t the purpose of the invitation.

VIEW: Last month, a proposal to prevent private clinics performing abortions failed to gain the necessary cross-community support in the Assembly. Do you think there could be more attempts to shut the Marie Stopes clinic?

DC: I’ve no doubt there will be more attempts.

They’ve failed to prevent Marie Stopes being opened, which caused some considerable

Image: Kevin Cooper frustration. I’m not sure what they’ve got left to do but I’m quite sure they’ll come up with something because there’s quite clearly a very strong will to try and close it down.

VIEW: What do you think of the Attorney General John Larkin’s very strong stance on the abortion issue?

DC: I think it’s unfortunate that somebody in a public position like that makes his own personal views so clear.

VIEW: Moving on from abortion, you acted for Jonathan Simms, a young Belfast man with the neurological disease vCJD, winning a court battle in

2003 to allow doctors to treat him with an experimental drug. What did that case mean to you?

DC: Jonathan Sims’ case was probably the best and the worst case that I’ve ever done in the sense that it was the most tragic. As you know Jonny died in 2011. But he lived for over nine years (after becoming ill) and he was a triumph.

Jonny’s dad is an absolute hero, he fought so hard for him – that case was humanaity at its best, at every level. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt as good as I did when I came out of court that day in terms of results.There are times when the law can change people’s lives and that’s it at its best. And if those guidelines on abortion can save one woman’s life, they have done their job.

VIEW, issue 14, 2013

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Clockwise from above: Staff and students from WOMEN’S TEC at a recent awards ceremony at Belfast Castle; Bridgette McCormack and Angela Baillie and Anne McVicker, the chief executive of WOMEN’S TEC

Inspirational women are honoured at ceremony I

nspirational women celebrated their achievements at the recent WOMEN’S TEC annual awards ceremony attended by Belfast Lord Mayor Gavin Robinson.

The organisation supports women to gain entry to non-traditional jobs such as joinery, building, IT administration and landscaping.

The lord mayor presented awards to three students including Student of the Year, Emma Flood, and runners-up Lesleyanne McNerlin and Lisa Murphy.

Lisa said: “WOMEN’S TEC is an amazing place. I left school at 16 when I became

pregnant. I was a single young mum and felt people were looking down at me.

“Now I’ve learnt to wallpaper and all about computers – which has brought me closer to my kids.”

Lisa said that she now works as a care assistant and loves her job.

Mr Robinson said: “The growth in confidence of the women who spoke today is impressive and they can now go on to help their family, community and city to flourish in the future.”

Chief Executive Anne McVicker

of WOMEN'S TEC said: “It is a great recognition of the work we do when our students receive qualifications and move into employment or further training.

“But when they speak in front of a large audience which included the lord major and speak so confidently you can see they have raised their aspirations and they will all make even greater achievements in their lives,” she added.

Two hundred women from Belfast and beyond have gained qualifications with WOMEN’S TEC last year.

Practical advice and a sensitive personal approach. We pride ourselves on our unrivalled commitment to clients’ needs.

Edwards & Co. solicitors advises charities and the voluntary sector in Northern Ireland on a wide range of legal issues including charity creation, charitable status and constitutional matters, trading and commercial arrangements, employment law, finance, fundraising and property law, as well as dealing with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.

Our team offers a full range of legal services including mediation, criminal law, clinical negligence and personal injury claims, as well as family/matrimonial work.

Contact Jenny and Teresa: Edwards & Co. Solicitors, 28 Hill Street, Belfast, BT1 2LA. Tel: (028) 9032 1863 Email: info@edwardsandcompany.co.uk Web: edwardsandcompany.co.uk

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Homeless services in Dublin at ‘breaking point’

Vital services for the homeless in Dublin could close if more funding cuts are imposed

By Lucy Gollogly

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amilies with children are among those being hardest hit by cuts to Dublin’s homeless services, an umbrella body has warned.

A survey by the Dublin Homeless Network, which represents 23 charities, found that cuts averaging 20% since 2010 by the Health Service Executive (HSE) have left many organisations struggling to survive.

Some groups have suffered funding cuts of up to 30% in the past four years.

Despite imposing reductions of between three and six percent this year, the HSE has warned that further cuts are a possibility later in 2013. Dublin Homeless Network said that could result in vital services shutting down.

Catherine Maher, Chairperson of the Dublin Homeless Network and Director of Services at Focus Ireland said: “Dublin’s homeless services have done everything in their power to protect front-line services from years of HSE cuts.

“But this survey makes clear that homeless services are now at breaking point and if the HSE hits us again cuts will fall on direct services to the most vulnerable in our society.”

She warned that families and children are among those hit by the budget reductions.

“Families that are living in emergency accommodation, that are getting support through services, that aren’t visible to the public – these families are now going to be suffering because of these cutbacks if we don’t get the right support.”

The government has committed itself to ending long-term homelessness by 2016, but Ms Maher said the HSE cuts “undermined” that aim.

“These families will get entrenched, these young people will get entrenched and other individuals who are in homeless services will get stuck in homeless services if we haven’t got funding from the HSE to support people to move into long-term accommodation.”

A statement from HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster, which serves south Dublin, said “all services operate in line with HSE 2013 funding”.

HSE Dublin North East said it would “continue to work closely with the homeless organisations to ensure continuity of service provision and to ensure service efficiencies are achieved to prevent significant impacts on clients accessing homeless services”.

TAKE ANOTHER LOOK

and ask yourself who’s underneath He’s a brother He’s a son He’s an uncle He’s a best mate

He’s my dad

VIEW, issue 14, 2013

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Sharlene McGee and Helen McBride, co-directors of Hollaback! Belfast, which aims to tackle street harrassment

It’s time to give a Hollaback!

By Lucy Gollogly

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olf-whistling, cat-calling, name-calling and groping – most women (and some men) have encountered it at one time or another. Now a worldwide collective that aims to combat street harassment is setting up in Northern Ireland.

Hollaback! encourages victims of street harassment to share their experiences using blogging and mobile apps. The movement originated in New York in 2005, and now has branches in 65 cities all over the world, including Belfast.

Hollaback! Belfast co-director Helen McBride’s own experiences motivated her to start the website with her friend Sharlene McGee. “My experience of street harassment as a teenager stems from being 12 or 13, walking to the local shop and having men in vehicles beep-

ing the car horn at me and shouting out the window at me. As a child experiencing this, in an environment where no one really talks about street harassment, I internalised it, and learned to accept it as something that I was going to just have to put up with when I was out in public.

“It's incredibly dangerous, the attitude that street harassment is something we should just put up with. We don't accept harassment in the work place, or the home – why should we accept it on the street?”

Helen, who is 25 and from Middletown, Co Armagh, says street harassment is as much a problem here as it is anywhere else.

“This is something that most people have experienced. There are statistics that suggest that 80 to 100 per cent of women have experienced street harassment at least once in their lives and many of them experience it daily.

“As well as women, members of the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and

queer) community and people of colour also suffer from it on a regular basis. As Belfast and Northern Ireland becomes more accepting and as we move into the 15th year of our peace agreement, I think it’s a great time to bring about change.”

Helen says that one of the movement’s aims is to use people’s stories to change public attitudes.

“What we can do is collate this information and bring it to the local press, local authorities and community leaders. We can bring about change, we can create education – there’s so much we can do. By getting people to share their stories we can use that and harness it into real power.”

Hollaback! Belfast’s official launch party is in the Hudson Bar, Gresham Street, Belfast on April 18 at 8pm. All welcome. http://belfast.ihollaback.org/

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Food funding boost for families

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AFEFOOD recently announced the recipients of £350,000 of funding for the Community Food Initiatives Programme 2013-15, which aims to positively influence the eating habits of families in low income communities on the island of Ireland.

Funded by safefood, the Programme aims to support Community projects in promoting greater access and availability of affordable, healthy food.

The community projects in Northern Ireland that will each receive up to £35,000 over the next three years are: the Windsor Women’s Centre, Belfast, Co. Antrim and Cloughmills Community Action, Cloughmills, Co. Antrim.

The “Windsor Women’s Centre Food for Thought” Project in the heart of South Belfast aims to provide a range of activities including a healthy breakfast club for crèche children, a multi-cultural cookery club and an inner-city community garden; The Cloughmill’s “Incredible Edible” Project aims to develop a sustainable, fair and healthy food system in the local community through skills-based food education and cooking programmes, reduce the impact of food poverty and improve diet-related health in the community.

Dr Cliodhna Foley-Nolan, Director, Human Health & Nutrition, safefood said: “These Community Food Initiatives represent excellent examples of how local communities can work together to overcome some of the problems

Cliodhna Foley-Nolan, Safefood and three-year-old Joel Black help safefood officially announce the community projects from the island of Ireland that will be awarded significant funding under its new Community Food Initiatives Programme 2013 – 2015 they face in accessing healthy, affordable food.

“The health effects of food poverty range from difficulties in concentration and poor energy levels in children, to wellbeing issues in everyday life for adults and higher rates of dietrelated chronic diseases in later life.”

“By funding community food projects that offer real and practical support for people, we

can help develop lifelong skills and knowledge of healthy, nutritious food, and promote positive attitudes to food and diet in the community and foster a new approach to tackling food poverty on the island.”

The programme of funding will be managed at a local level by Healthy Food for All, an all-island multi-agency initiative.

About OCN NI Making the Difference

Open College Network Northern Ireland

OCN NI Level 1 Award in Employability Skills (QCF) Qual No. 600/6923/5

OCN NI Level 1 Certificate in Employability Skills (QCF) Qual No. 600/7014/6 http://www.ocnni.org.uk/files/OCN%20NI%20A5%20Leaflet%20(Employability%20Skills).pdf

A national awarding organisation

 Open College Network Northern Ireland is a nationally recognised Awarding Organisation regulated by Ofqual (the regulator of qualifications, examinations and assessments in England and vocational qualifications in Northern Ireland).  We work with national and local organisations to develop and widen access to high quality and flexible education, training and learning. Our mission is to offer the best possible learning programmes and resources, and to put these opportunities in the hands of as many people as possible.  We are a not for profit organisation and plough all of our resources back into the development of existing products, services and new qualifications.

 For more information on this qualification as well as for any other of OCN NI’s products and services, please visit our website at www.ocnni.org.uk or telephone us on 028 9046 3990

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The Big Picture Solo percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie will be performing at The Venue, Derry, on May 14 as part of the City of Culture celebrations. Dame Glennie, who lost her hearing when she was 12, is the star attraction in a line-up of performers who have a hearing or sight impairment.

The event, titled Sensonic, is the finale of a three-year project, called the Sensory Engagement Programme.

Photographer: If you would like your community/ voluntary organisation to be selected for The Big Picture in the next issue of VIEW, send images to editorial@viewdigital.org

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My story For many deaf people, English is their second language, sign language their first. Youth worker and translator Adam McCormick, 25, leads book groups in Belfast and Banbridge that help deaf people improve their English literacy and develop a passion for reading. He is also one of only three deaf people in the UK to have completed EGSA’s Teach Me and Teach Others money management training

Roisin McGonagle from Action on Hearing Loss with Adam McCormick

I

was born deaf – they think it was genetics. I went to a partial hearing unit school, which meant that there were hearing people in the school and then there was a deaf unit.

I then went to a boarding school for deaf students in England for seven years. I was meeting deaf people every day and I was able to sign. I didn’t really know what I wanted to be when I was growing up. In school I loved art and design but the school followed the oral method of education so it wasn’t really accessible for me – I had to lip read all day long so I would say I was only acquiring maybe 20 to 30% of the information.

Most of the information that I’ve acquired has been through reading and just picking it up myself.

The book club participants’ first language is British Sign Language. Their own language is so rich, it’s beautiful – but in every day life unfortunately you need English.

There’s very little accessible information out there for deaf people in their own language.

In the past we were educated orally, and I

‘

I class us as being in a linguistic minority group. I think it’s society that disables us – we’re not disabled ourselves

’

have to question, does that actually help? I don’t think it does. There is no history of bilingual education here.

But I am teaching the participants – I’m translating into their first language and I’m also explaining the English second language, so they

understand both.

The book group’s knowledge of English has definitely improved.

Now sometimes when I ask them, ‘do you know what that word means?’ they’ll say, ‘yes, because you taught us that last week’. It’s brilliant hearing that.

I don’t really see myself as disabled. I’m sure maybe some people think, ‘what?’ I know I can’t hear but my life is like anybody else’s and I’ve achieved like anybody else would. I can’t hear but I have another way of communicating – in sign language. I class us as being in a linguistic minority group. I think it’s society that disables us – we’re not disabled ourselves.

The book clubs in Belfast Central Library and Banbridge Library are funded by the Big Lottery as part of the Healthier Lives for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People Project, and led by Action on Hearing Loss.For more information, see actiononhearingloss.org.uk

VIEW, issue 14, 2013

Page 19

Website: viewdigital.org

Out and about Images: Kevin Cooper

Beth Elliott celebrates with her 10-month-old son Bradley after completing Youth Works, an education programme for 16 and 17 year olds, through East Belfast Alternatives

Deborah Burns, Youth Works Co-ordinator, welcoming guests to the recent Youth Works Certificates Programme in Belfast

Some of the young people at the recent Protect School Counselling Services event in The MAC Theatre, Belfast

Jenny Ebbage (left), partner at Edwards & Co Solicitors, and some of the audience at the recent Preparing for Charity Registration conference at the Law Society NI in Belfast

Website: viewdigital.org

VIEW, issue 14, 2013

Page 20

Shirley Graham (left) with her father Jimmy McDowell, Bernadine McCrory, Director of Alzheimer’s Society in Northern Ireland and Colin MacLaughlin store manager at the launch of the new alliance between Argos, Homebase and the Alzheimer's Society, which took place at Boucher Road Homebase store in Belfast Image: Kevin Cooper

People with Alzheimer’s get assistance to stay at home

M

ore than one in 10 (nearly 57,000) people currently living with dementia at home will go in to long term care too early due to a lack of support and awareness of where to go for help.

Argos, Homebase and the Alzheimer's Society have joined forces to tackle the problem and help thousands of people stay in their own homes and enjoy life in the community.

The new partnership recently launched a new set of tips for living well with dementia at home. With the majority of people (83%) wanting to live in their own homes, the group is calling on people living with dementia to seek support early in order to stay living in the comforts of their own home and their community.

The tips cover everything from contacting social services to ways to make everyday life easier. People can find their nearest support service and read the top tips at alzheimers.org.uk/hometips.

Richard McCourt, Alzheimer’s Society Ambassador, actor and presenter said: “I'm so pleased my mother was able to be cared for at home but it was only possible with help from dedicated services. If you or a loved one have recently received a diagnosis or just don’t know where to turn, I urge you to find your local service and read the Alzheimer's Society’s top tips on living with dementia at home.'

Over the next two years, Argos and Homebase will help Alzheimer’s Society by

‘

For my daddy Jimmy to be still living at home means the world to me and my family

’

raising millions to help transform the lives of thousands of people living with dementia.

The money raised will fund much needed services including; Singing for the Brain® therapy groups, Dementia Cafes and Dementia Support Workers all around the UK. Argos and Homebase staff will also help to improve the lives of people with dementia by volunteering and getting involved with the work of their local dementia services.

Bernadine McCrory, Director of Alzheimer’s Society in Northern Ireland said: “Home means something special to all of us.

Many people living with dementia have been forced to leave their safe-havens which is unacceptable.

“By seeking support early, people living with dementia may avoid reaching a crisis point unnecessarily which results in them moving in to long term care.

“The money raised through this partnership with Argos and Homebase will help us enable them to live at home for longer, maintaining the lifestyle and independence which makes them who they are.

“Shirley from Bangor said: "For my wee daddy Jimmy to still be living at home with his loving wife, my Mum Marlene or as he calls her Kirky! means the world to me and my family.

He's in familiar surroundings and he is independent enough still to make a cup of tea, even if he has asked you half a dozen times if you want one.

“He knows he’s safe, secure, comfortable, in his own wee home."

Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive at Alzheimer’s Society said: “Home means something special to all of us. Many people living with dementia have been forced to leave their safehavens which is unacceptable. By seeking support early, people living with dementia may avoid reaching a crisis point unnecessarily which results in them moving in to long term care. The money raised through this partnership with Argos and Homebase will help us enable them to live at home for longer, maintaining the lifestyle and independence which makes them who they are.”