Derry City and Strabane District Council and the PEACEPLUS Partnership Board are celebrating being the first Council in Northern Ireland to secure funding under PEACEPLUS.
The Local Co-Designed Action Plan has successfully secured £8,047,327 which will fund 58 council area projects.
Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council Cllr Patricia Logue welcoming the news today said: “Reaching this point has been the culmination of a long process working with, listening to, and empowering local communities across the entire geography of our city and district.
“It has involved designing, costing and detailing 58 projects under three themes – Community Regeneration and Transformation, Thriving and Peaceful Communities, and Celebrating Cultural Diversity. Congratulations to everyone involved and for the dedication and team effort throughout this process.”
Catherine Cooke (Foyle Women’s Information Network / Chair of the PEACEPLUS Board.) said: “We’re thrilled at the announcement.
“Getting to this stage has taken huge commitment and partnership working between the local community and voluntary sector, the Local Growth Partnerships, council and statutory agencies.
“The Board are thankful for the momentous energy and patience invested by everyone engaged in that process. The 58 projects will be tendered and will pour much needed funding into local communities.
Martin Duffy (Derg Local Growth Partnership / Co-Chair of the PEACEPLUS Board) added: “This welcome announcement marks a key milestone for our council area.
“The funding will make a significant difference to cross-community engagement, peace and reconciliation and meeting key needs articulated by the community sector in the co-design phase of the bid.”
Sue Divin is Derry City and Strabane District Council’ s PEACE Manager. She explained the significance of the announcement.
“The funding is under a specific part of the PEACEPLUS Programme for local councils to bid for.
“We will be encouraging local community groups to look at the opportunities and tender to win the contracts.
“We will also be highlighting how there are 21 other parts of the PEACEPLUS programme, including Theme 1.2 Small Grants opportunities up to €100,000.
“Further information is expected to be issued by SEUPB on those in the next few months, so interested groups should watch for those opportunities on the SEUPB website.
“We would strongly encourage groups from our Council area to apply to maximize the benefit from PEACEPLUS funding together.”
Anyone wishing to receive information about future Tendering opportunities under DCSDC Local Co-Designed Action Plan should visit the website and sign up for direct email updates on: https://www.derrystrabane.com/community/peace-plus
The Peace Team in Council can be reached via [email protected]
The PEACEPLUS Programme is a funding partnership between the European Union, the Governments of the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the Northern Ireland Executive and will be administered by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
Match-funding for this element of the PEACEPLUS Programme has been provided by the Executive Office in Northern Ireland and the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government in Ireland.
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