Back row, Johnny McShane, LCDI Grants Coordinator; John Gordon, Stream Street Residents’ Accociation; Doris Noe and Bill Corry, Lecael Conservation; Linda Baker, Good Morning Down; Liam Rafferty, St Miquel Youth Band, and Roisin Doran, County Down Rural Community Network. xa0Front row, xa0Fiona Patten xa0with Lorcan and Cian Toner of the Down Chinese Martial Arts Association; Cllr Maria McCarthy, Chair of Down District Council, and Sally Burch, Newry & Mourne ME/Fibromyalgia Group.[/caption]
The first of the local groups who successfully applied for a NI Small Grant for Volunteering have been presented with their cheques by representatives of the Association of Independent Volunteer Centres (AIVC) and the regional assessment panel.
The scheme is funded by the Department for Social Development (DSD) and delivered by Limavady Community Development Initiative (LCDI) as lead partner for AIVC. xa0The Chairman of the AIVC, Damien Corr, xa0said that he is “delighted at the success of the first tranche of the fund, our whole team are galvanised by the demand created not only in this community but right across Northern Ireland.
The original budget for the first year was £600k, but in response to the demand DSD Minister Nelson McCausland was able to increase this to just under £1m. Mr. Corr said that it is heartening that the Minister recognises the hard work and commitment of local Volunteers and their ability to enrich society”
AIVC Small Grants Officer Johnny McShane said: “It is humbling to see the amount of innovative volunteering going on at grass roots level in this area. There has been much hard work by the regional assessment panel who gave up their time to process each of the applications received for this area.
“O would also like to remind all groups in the area that the second Tranche of small grants is now open for application. Full details of how to apply and criteria etc are available at:
