NORTH Belfast-based social enterprise Happy Days has been awarded a share of £60,000 of funding from Belfast City Council’s Bank of Ideas scheme, supporting creative projects city-wide between August and November.
Based in the Ashton Centre, the group will use their grant to deliver an ‘all-ability Olympics’ for young adults with learning difficulties next month.
The group were among the projects to receive the most votes from visitors at a recent voting day at Belfast City Hall.
Susie Vint, manager of the Happy Days project, said: “Last year’s Happy Day Olympics gave us a taste of how competitive our group can be, and this makes for some great fun.
“Thanks to the funding from the Bank of Ideas, we’re delighted to take it to the next level this year – so it will be bigger, better and even more exciting.”
Other awarded projects include:
- Moon Gardens and Meadows (Ulster Wildlife Meadow Ladies and Community Garden) – Creating a garden for nocturnal pollinators and a sensory setting for storytelling, art and wellbeing workshops.
- Clonard Community Garden (Clonard Neighbourhood Development Partnership) – Developing a shared community space where people can come together to grow fruit, veg and flowers and paint rocks and other artworks.
- Parent and Child Music Fundamental (Laoise Curtis) – Interactive music classes to introduce children aged 3-6 to basic music concepts, song and dance.
- It’s a Jungle Out There! (Spectrum Centre) – A summer school for children and teenagers with autism and ADHD, designed to help participants negotiate the change of routine during the school holidays and the return to the classroom in September.
- The People’s Pages: Sharing ‘Our Belfast’ (The Duncairn Writers’ Hub) – Writing and shared reading workshops, supporting local people who don’t always engage with literature to create their own book of true and imagined stories.
- The Woodland of Wonder (Ligoniel Improvement Association) – Transforming Ligoniel Park and exploring the Belfast Hills with stories, music, dance and art.
