PHASE 1: Ballymena
Posted on Thu 19 June 2008
Project: Ballymena Community Forum - Youthbank's Financial exclusion project.
Involving stakeholders can aid the fair distribution of limited funds where it is needed most.
Summary
Priority: Programmes aimed at promoting the empowerment of marginalised young people and facilitating their active participation in civic society.
About
This project involves the preparation and delivery of a financial inclusion programme for marginalised young people in the area. It aims to build on the experience of Fair Share Trust in Ballymena and to increase the involvement of beneficiaries and other stakeholders in the process. This project highlighted that stakeholder engagement can be effective even where funding is becoming very tight and money is 'needed' by groups to continue their own existence.
At the outset of this discussion on how a small amount of money could build on the experience of the earlier consensual approach in Ballymena wards, it appeared that the time involved in gaining consensual agreements could be disproportionate to the benefits as groups competed for bits of the money to continue the work that they were already involved in doing.
The whole financial and funding environment was changing and options dramatically restricted. Through keeping the focus on 'making a sustainable difference' Fair Share Trust succeeded in moving to new ground by getting unanimous agreement to prioritise a project addressing the financial exclusion needs of more marginalised young people in the Fair Share Trust wards.
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