PLANS for a community enterprise project in the Cliftonville area of North Belfast have moved a step closer after it was successfully approved for vital funding.
Belfast City Council have granted £1.4m of Neighbourhood Regeneration Fund money to Cliftonville Community Regeneration Forum, based in Cliftonpark Avenue.
The group are using the money to complete their Cliftonville Community Enterprise project, consisting of a social enterprise centre with a two-storey childcare facility and eight enterprise units. It will be built on a piece of land, close to Girdwood Community Hub.
The project aims to use the enterprise centre to create a pathway for disadvantaged residents into the labour market through childcare employment and through a process of learning, making and selling.
Local people will be helped to learn new skills in a supported, confidence-building environment which will allow them to access employment and small-scale enterprise.
Manus Maguire, from Cliftonville Community Regeneration Forum, said the project has been a long time in the making and will be a huge boost to the local community.
"The first business plan we had was in 2013 so the project has been a long time in the making," he explained. "We are in the most deprived ward in the whole of Belfast. We work with young people from eight-25 and older people as well.
"The Cliftonville Community Enterprise is for the local community. There will be a childcare facility which will provide jobs for people.
"There will be eight units in total. We want to fill it full of local businesses which can benefit the community such as a hairdresser, a nail bar, a barber and things like that.
How the new Cliftonville Community Enterprise building will look when completed
"We want to target disadvantaged young people, women living in poverty and long-term unemployed males and try and get them into the world of work.
"The primary focus is to get people out of poverty. It will be the first capital investment in this area in 20 years since a community centre in Manor Street.
"It is a very exciting project. I am not sure there is another community group like ourselves who is working out of a three-storey building. This is not about CCRF but the local community. They deserve a project like this and they are our primary focus."
The project will now go out to market and construction is likely to begin from late 2024 or early 2025.
"We also have an application into the Department for Communities since 2019 to help with costs so we are hoping to be successful with that too," added Manus.
Other North Belfast projects that will receive funding as part of the Neighbourhood Regeneration Fund are:
- AYE Youth and Community Hub (applicant Ardoyne Youth Enterprise) – shared youth hub, creative learning centre and office space.
- Green Growth and The Circular Economy project (applicant Ulster Supported Employment Ltd) – extension of premises to add a 600sq metre, purpose-built processing unit with storage.
- Belfast Orange Hall refurbishment project (applicant Belfast Orange Hall) – refurbishment of Grade B-listed building.
- St Joseph’s restoration project (applicant Sailortown Regeneration Group) – restoration of Grade B+ church and parochial house.
