“May God bless you with love and health, for those are the true measure of joy and wealth.”

Read the latest news from Northern Ireland and Conway Mill Trust – Conway Mill Trust Newsletter, Volume 3, Issue 4 December 2010 To view past editions, visit our Media page.

Also, Check out this Special Report:
Thursday, November 25th, 2010 marks the official launch of the newly refurbished Conway Mill in West Belfast! Click Here for More Information

At the moment all of our services are secured until March 2011 as we have retained all of the full-time and part-time posts associated with each project. This is fantastic and will ensure the same level of delivery as previous years.

However, we have limited running and programme costs attached to each of the projects and this in itself can be difficult due to the amount of funds necessary to keep things ticking smoothly. We have been fundraising to help build up a reserve at this time which can be used for running and programme costs; this, however, is not exhaustive and we continually need to keep fundraising.

Aside from the funding pressure of the last few months, everything has been great here at Dove House. We are presently in the process of planning for the summer months and also the feile 2010 which Dove House plays a central role in delivering.

More recently we have employed six new members of staff through the step ahead government funded programme for unemployed people. This has helped six people gain employment and furthermore has enabled Dove House to put community support services in place for older and vulnerable individuals throughout the local community. This includes services such as gardening, painting, decorating, respite support, befriending, listening ear, etc.

Deborah

The GCSE students are in the middle of their exams at the moment, with the last Mathematics exam having taken place on the 11th of June. The results will not be known until mid-August, so it’s a bit of a wait for them!

With regards to our own funding, we are still unsure. Our current contract for our core costs finishes in March 2011 and we are currently conducting a review of all our services and examining different options for improvement. The review will contribute to the development of Conway Education Centre’s strategic development plan 2010 – 2015.

Because we will be in competition with other organizations in the voluntary sector to obtain core funding, we need to ensure that the organization and its services are the best that it can be, that we know where we want to be in 5 years time and that we have support and a sound strategy in place to get there.

A busy couple of months are coming up, but it’s exciting as well. Please give our regards to all our friends and supporters in Conway Mill Trust.

Pauline