COLIN Neighbourhood Partnership (CNP) is an award-winning Neighbourhood Renewal organisation based in the Colin area of West Belfast. The Partnership consists of local people and organisations, elected and community representatives, and government bodies.
CNP was set up by local people living and working in the Colin area who wanted to see positive change in their community.
Today, all these organisations work together in partnership to address issues that affect people living in the Colin area.
CNP provides a range of health and wellbeing initiatives including family support, parenting programmes, suicide prevention, services for older people and young people with disabilities, drug and alcohol assistance, and mental health support. The foundations of what was to be Colin Neighbourhood Partnership can be traced back to the early 1980s.
Current Manager of CNP, Annie Armstrong moved to Twinbrook in 1974 and became a community worker in 1981. At the 1993 Northern Ireland local elections, she was elected for Sinn Féin to represent Dunmurry Cross on Lisburn City Council.
Reflecting on her early days in the area, Annie said: “1981 was a difficult year for Twinbrook with the Hunger Strike and the fact Bobby Sands lived in Twinbrook. It was a sad and worrying time. People were out on the streets every night praying and saying the rosary,” she explained.
“Twinbrook Tenants and Community Association were funded by the government to run advice centres. The funding was then withdrawn and the advice centres were closed which people were dependent on.
“I was working part-time and I decided to do a bit of voluntary work. We opened the advice centre and opened it for about four or five hours a day. It was an essential service for people.
“We became the voice for the community, even more so as funding and services disappeared due to Lisburn City Council.
“There were several community groups in the area but no sense of coming together to address what was needed in the community.
“There needed to be some sort of forum, which would involve statutory agencies, government departments and others. There were major issues in the community – lack of recreational facilities, lack of youth facilities, jobs and litter.
“People felt abandoned by Lisburn City Council. The leisure centre was miserable.
“The Department for Social Development at the time then started talking about Neighbourhood Renewal and we secured some funding to do a major community-based consultation on what was needed. Colin Neighbourhood Initiative was then set up to deliver on this plan that the community had signed up for, with the help of all community groups, statutory agencies and government departments.”
In 2004, Colin Neighbourhood Partnership was officially formed and has been the driving force behind the transformation of the Colin area ever since. Annie explained that their work evolved from a master plan, which is still ongoing today.
“The changes have been amazing over the years,” she continued.
“We needed to bring the community together, Twinbrook, Lagmore, Poleglass and Dunmurry Lane. The Stewartstown Road was like a big barrier between it all.
“There was no sense of identity in the community. Colin was the name for an old townland so that is where that brand name comes from. We came up with an idea to create a master plan, for Colin to be like a town centre, which the Colin Connect transport hub is the first bit of. There was also a lack of recreational areas, apart from a small play park at the back of Twinbrook. The new £5 million park on the Stewartstown Road will open in a few weeks.
“There are also plans for a community hub near the square. We need all our facilities in the one place.
“I want to see the rest of the masterplan completed. We want to see a new post-primary school. St Colm’s is located in the back of Twinbrook but it is not in the right place. The school are doing an amazing job, but not under the best conditions.
“Our health centre is also located off the Stewartstown Road, away from view. There is horrible fencing around it and is shaped like a H. I call it our very own H Block.”
As the Andersonstown News prepares to mark its 50th anniversary in November, Annie praised this newspaper for their work in promoting the positive stories from the Colin area.
“The Andersonstown News was and still is an important newspaper for this community,” she added.
“Throughout the years, many journalists were only interested in negative stories when you could come to me any day and I will tell a good story from the area. The Andersonstown News always printed positive stories for us. It became an important platform for telling what it is really like to live in the area and all the good work that goes on.”
If you would like to find out more about the work of the Colin Neighbourhood Partnership or to volunteer for one of their numerous projects, call 028 9062 3813.
