2022 has been a bumper year for the Colin area and with 2023 set to be even bigger, we sat down with Annie Armstrong from Colin Neighbourhood Partnership to reflect on the year that has passed and look forward to what has yet to come.
 
The year began with the launch of a new heritage project which looks back at the history of the area from the penal days right through to the Troubles.

Discussing this, Annie said: “We have been working on this for quite a number of years by organising tours and talks with the assistance of the late Dr Eamonn Phoenix.
 
“Eamonn was putting everything together and the group who were involved in organising that learned so much about the area that we didn’t know.
 
“We thought that it was really important to talk about the history of the area so we decided to run the project and eventually got a bit of funding to run the tours.”
 
In March 2021 the Department for Communities offered out funding to groups to launch heritage projects which assisted CNP with the installation of information totems across the area.
 
“We had an amazing launch with actors portraying the historic people of the area like Belle Steele, Pantridge, General Ford and the Teelings which made it feel a bit more real.
 
“We were blown away by the number of people who turned up to the launch and it was great to even hear from people who worked in DeLorean about their memories of the factory.”
 
Annie said that the interest in the project has been overwhelming and the plan to take it further in the coming years.
 
“Without Eamonn Phoenix it would never have happened because he was so passionate about it and never said no to anything when we asked him.”

Dr Phoenix was not the only extended member of the Colin Neighbourhood Partnership to pass away in recent months with Michele Strong from the Ulster Orchestra, who assisted with the Crescendo project, passing away earlier this month.
 
“Michele was great with the kids and she was a really nice person who was dedicated to the work that she was doing with schools here and in the Shankill,” Annie said.
 
“Crescendo started in 2013 with one school in the orchestra and what we called a paper orchestra which involved the Ulster Orchestra coming in to the school to help the children make paper instruments.
 
“That is based on a programme which is run in Venezuela called El Sistema. It runs throughout the whole time that kids in Venezuela are in school. We had previously dedicated the area as an early intervention community in 2011 which was about working with families before children were born right through to adulthood.

“We went to visit areas in Scotland and the south which are doing something similar and we could see the difference it makes to kids.
 
“It impacts on their speech and language, it impacts on children working as a team and the days that the music programmes are in the schools, the attendance goes up.”
 
Through the project, the schools perform an end of year concert in the Ulster Hall which Annie says people from the community never really felt comfortable going to.
 
“The first year we had seven busses go down and for the vast majority that was their first time in the Ulster Hall so it broke down some of those barriers.
 
“People from the community have learned more about classical music and now go and attend some of the concerts that the orchestra have.”

Crescendo now operates from primary one to seven with 1200 pupils involved. Each June, the project also put on a performance in the local community.
 
Out of Crescendo, a community choir was born which is always looking for members.
 
“In Scotland they set up an orchestra helps people with dementia and choir for adults. We decided to launch our own community choir and we hope to get more people involved in that.”

One of the big projects this year has been the opening of Páirc Nua Chollann after a number of delays.
 
“The park is part of the Colin Town Centre Masterplan which we have been working on since 2009,” Annie continued.
 
“Back then there was a lack of recreational facilities within the community and we were under Lisburn City Council who only provided one small park in Twinbrook.
 
“People in the community told us they needed more recreational facilities and between 2011 and 2013 we had a major community consultation which the park was a major part of.
 
“We secured the funding from Urban Villages and the Department for Communities allocated the land.
 
“It took three years to complete with Covid, Brexit, rising costs and the first contractor making a mess.
 
“We had many heated conversations with Belfast City Council who were to oversee the construction then take ownership of the park.
 
“Eventually, we got McQuillan’s contractors in to take over earlier this year. The previous contractor had made a number of mistakes and a lot of stuff had to be dug up and redone which is why it took so long.”
 
Annie said the park is something she has dreamed of after fighting for it for around 25 years and she is delighted to see it come to fruition.
 
“It is extremely well used, and we held our Winter Wonderland with the help of Belfast City Council there earlier this month which thousands attended. We even had a family from Omagh travel down for it!”

LEAP OF FAITH: The sculpture was designed by Scottish artist, Gordon Moore
2Gallery

LEAP OF FAITH: The sculpture was designed by Scottish artist, Gordon Moore


 

A major aspect of the park has been the return of the Leap of Faith sculpture which was originally designed as part of the Stewartstown Road Gateway Project in 2010.
 
“The Leap of Faith was designed by Scottish artist Gordon Moore, and it is about young people going through adolescence and the difficulties with that.
 
“Young people from a class in St Colm’s stood on a platform and jumped off while a photographer took photos.
 
“What you see in the Leap of Faith is real young people from the area but the sad this about it is that one of the boys who was involved in that died through suicide so it is a reminder for many people that there is still more to be done to make sure that suicide isn’t an option for anyone in our community.”

Looking ahead to next year, Annie said that she is looking forward to progressing a community hub which will be located beside the Transport Hub with the business case about to be signed off.
 
“This was always about bringing organisations to where people can see them and putting them under the one roof so that people know where they can go to get help or access a service.
 
“The important thing about the community hub is that we have a disability day centre for adults at the back of the Diary Farm.
 
“It is in a building which is unfit for purpose, and we have people who use wheelchairs and rollators who have to go in the back door which is absolutely ridiculous.
 
“I am passionate about making sure they get a fit for purpose building so they will be going into the hub on the ground floor. The library will also be coming out of the Diary Farm and going and the Housing Executive are giving up their space so that it can be built and some of their staff will be moving in.
 
“We will also have People1st training going in along with the counselling service and we will also be moving into it,” she said.

Annie told us that they are still battling for a new health centre but in the meantime, the Department for Communities have agreed to carry out more work to make the current centre look more inviting.
 
In addition to this, Annie and her team are also fighting for a new building for St Colm’s High School. “St Colm’s should never have been built where it is. It is 50 years old and has never had any refurbishment. We need a new school as their numbers and achievements are constantly on the up.
 
“There Department for Education need to get their act together because this is what our community deserve.
 
“Our young people will get a good education in St Colm’s but they desperately need a new building.”