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Author: DOJ Team

Detectives hand over cheque for more than £1,500 to the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice

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From left: Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Hill; Rodney McCurley, Northern Ireland Hospice Trustee; and Detective Chief Inspector Avine Kelly.

The Police Service have presented a cheque for over £1,500 to the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice. The money was raised from the auctioning of vehicles, which were seized by officers from the Paramilitary Crime Task Force (PCTF).


Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Hill, Head of Organised Crime Branch, said: “Paramilitaries make a living from crime, using a regime of fear and violence to exercise control over the most vulnerable in our society.


“We, along with our partner organisations, are committed to tackling such criminal activities, from money lending to drug dealing, and their harrowing effects. We had a heartening opportunity to turn something negative, in the form of assets linked with crime, into something really positive.”

Phase Two Developing Women in the Community Programme organisations announced

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The second phase of the Developing Women in the Community is underway following the award of contracts to organisations from across five Council areas.

 

Tony Murphy, DfC Fresh Start team, said: “I’m delighted to announce an award of contract to eight successful organisations following a rigorous and competitive process.

 

“Each of the organisations will deliver training, personal development programmes and volunteering opportunities for women. This will be through individual and collective projects to support the development of the skills, knowledge and confidence to enable participants to take on leadership and decision making roles in their communities.”

 

 

Phase Two builds on the achievements of the pilot programme led by DfC involving 14 organisations from across Northern Ireland in the delivery of bespoke projects based on the needs of local communities.

 

The pilot organisations adopted different approaches resulting in a range of benefits including increased confidence and self esteem, promoting community safety, greater awareness of community support in the local area, leadership, increased collaboration and networking between the groups and participants.

 

The Department has extended the original programme to the end of March 2023, providing additional investment to the groups to support continued delivery. The programme was assessed by an Independent Advisory panel with all learnings informing the design of Phase Two.

 

The details of the successful organisations and the areas the Phase Two programme will be delivered in are listed in the table below:

 

Programme Team and delivery partners host the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee

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Work has been underway for a number of months now by the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (NIAC) who are carrying out an inquiry into the effects of paramilitarism in Northern Ireland. The Programme’s then lead Minister gave evidence to the Committee as well as submitting written evidence.

 

NIAC Chair Simon Hoare MP addresses delivery partners from the Fresh Start Through Sport programme at Windsor Park

The Committee visited Northern Ireland and spent some time with projects that receive investment from the Programme. It gave them an opportunity to listen to those who deliver the initiatives and to talk to service users about the difference that the Programme has made.

 

Committee Chairman, Simon Hoare MP said: “It was valuable to see the work of various projects funded by the Programme during our time in Northern Ireland, and certainly helped our considerations on how to effectively tackle paramilitarism as part of our ongoing inquiry. It underlined the scale and range of paramilitary activity confirming we are dealing with child groomers, drug dealers, abusers and extortionists. They all need to be stamped out.”