Over £8 million in funding secured for Derry and Strabane

DERRY City and Strabane District Council is celebrating becoming the first local authority in the North to secure funding under Peaceplus.

Revealed at the weekend, the council secured £8,047,327, monies which will fund 58 local projects.

Mayor Patricia Logue welcomed the news, saying, “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.”

Martin Duffy, of Derg Local Growth Partnership and also 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,” she said. “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 maximise the benefit from Peaceplus funding together.”

Anyone wishing to receive information about future tendering opportunities under council’s 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 peace@derrystrabane.com.