Social Investment Steering Group members named

DETAILS have been unveiled of the new Derry/ Londonderry Social Investment Zone Steering Group which was established to help local communities.
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Oct 2012, 12:17 BST

The nine members of the Steering Group are:

Alison Wallace voluntary/ community

Charles Lamberton voluntary/ community

Darren Kirby voluntary/ community

Noel McCartney voluntary/ community

Cllr Ann Donnelly political

Cllr Drew Thompson political

Cllr Paul Fleming political

Marion Quinn political

Tina Gillespie Council.

The Social Investment Fund (SIF) has been set up to deliver social change. It aims to make life better for people living in targeted areas by reducing poverty, unemployment and physical deterioration. The fund will run until 2015 and has been allocated £80 million by the Northern Ireland Executive.

The Social Investment Fund is focused on supporting communities to:

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• increase employment opportunities by addressing things such as educational underachievement, lack of skills, access to jobs and making it appealing for businesses to start up in areas which have suffered deprivation

• tackle issues such as mental and physical health, use of drugs and alcohol, becoming young mothers, young people’s involvement in anti-social behaviour and the ability of communities to work together which can be associated with deprivation

• increase services in the community by improving existing facilities, making the environment better and providing additional facilities where needed and possible

• address dereliction in order to make areas more appealing for investment and for those living there

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The steering groups for each zone will identify areas which are eligible to seek funding to take forward projects related to poverty, unemployment, increasing services and dereliction. It has been agreed that the following measures will be used to decide which areas are eligible:

• areas within the top 10 per cent of most deprived Super Output Areas on the Multiple Deprivation Measure 2010

• areas within the top 20 per cent of most deprived Super Output Areas on the key domains of income, employment, education and health

• areas which can provide independently verified and robust evidence of objective need linked to the four strategic objectives of the Social Investment Fund.