THE Falls Community Council (FCC) is dedicated to improving the lives and well-being of the entire West Belfast community through programmes, initiatives and assistance.
Based in the wonderful regenerated St Comgall's, FCC seek to build a resilient and empowered community in West Belfast, harnessing and enhancing the existing community spirt in the west of the city.
They offer a range of services and programmes created and maintained to assist the community including help and advice on education, housing, benefit entitlement and employment, community-first enterprise and regeneration, drugs education programme, community safety initiatives and cultural awareness, conflict resolution and good community relations.
One big part of their services is their advice service to assist individual members of the community on a range of issues and areas.
Welfare advisor Nichola Boyle said: "We offer advice on a range of advice associated with benefits including housing, childcare, Universal Credit, PIP, legacy, disability as well as pensions and overpayments.
"We go through each step with the client so they are not alone. We look at their circumstances and find out what they could be entitled to.
Gearoidin Burke, Welfare advisor at Falls Community Council
"It is about helping people through the process and if they need further help we can point them in the right direction. For example, we don't do debt advice but we can signpost them to other organisations that we have built up a strong relationship with.
"We also do some outreach work – in Sally Gardens on a Tuesday morning and Woodbrook Health Centre in Twinbrook on a Tuesday afternoon. We also do home visits for disabled people in need.
"Our service is vital for people. Our door is open to everyone. People come from far and wide. They call the office and come in and have a chat with us. We are known for our reliable and professional service and many of our clients know about us through word of mouth."
Fra Stone is the manager of the Community Drugs Programme at Falls Community Council.
"The main two areas of my work are education for young people and adults and one-to-one support," he said.
Fra Stone, Falls Community Council drugs programme manager
"I work in schools, youth clubs and community centres delivering an educational programme and it is particularly important for young people who are the ones who make the choice over drugs.
"There is no escaping drugs now for young people. This is the reality of the world we live in and it is a changing picture all the time.
"For the one-to-one support, we are not a counselling service but we can refer clients on to further support."
Stevie Corr has been Project Manager at Falls Community Council for over 20 years.
"I have worked on different community projects from housing-led regeneration to interfaces, health, community safety and development and much more," he added.
"Our projects have quite often been reactive and pro-active with our campaigns to focus on what is the need around us.
"I am currently working on a PEACEPLUS programme for West Belfast around building community capacity. Our work is never complete. It is a constantly changing role."
Gerry McConville, who is the director of Falls Community Council, believes their work is as important as ever.
"Falls Community Council is as relevant today as it always was. We deliver a lot of services across the community which many people rely on.
"As for the future, we will continue to deliver those services which are much needed within the area and continue to provide advocacy on behalf of the people of West Belfast.
"We want to continue to provide leadership to issues that are relevant to people on the ground."
Falls Community Council
St Comgall's Ionad EIleen Howell
Divis Street
Belfast
BT12 4AQ
Tel: 028 9020 2030
Email: info@fallscouncil.com
