VCSE Panel News (October 2021)

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Consultation has concluded

Email Newsletter (October 2021)

Welcome back to another edition of the VCSE Sectoral Advisory Panel Newsletter. 

Over the coming months we will be running a series of insights into a number of the advisory boards which feed into the Belfast Agenda. This series in intended to give you, the sector, an insight into the work and priorities of the various boards.

As part of the Belfast Agenda, the city’s first community plan, four ‘delivery focused boards’ have been established to drive collaboration across partners and deliver the agreed priority areas for focus. Each delivery board has the ability to form Task and Finish Groups to give focus and drive forward specific priority areas, seek to problem solve, innovate and develop focused action plans.


Living Here Board

This month we will focus on the work of the Living Here board which VCSE Panel members Natasha Brennan and Paula Powell sit on (you can find out more about them here). The purpose of the Living Here Board is to manage and monitor progress and performance against a number of Belfast Agenda outcomes and the Board have identified four main priorities as seen below. As outlined later in the newsletter a review of the Belfast Agenda is currently underway and these priorities will be reviewed as part of this process.


Sectoral Engagement – Health and Wellbeing session

As part of our sectoral engagement outreach, we convened a session on 29th September to bring together VCSE organisations working in the Health & Wellbeing sector. This session provided the opportunity to:

  • Introduce the Panel, their role, and work to date
  • Explain more about the Living Here Board and its initiatives
  • Allow the sector to tell us about their Community Planning priorities

What you told us:


We are planning a number of sessions in the coming months, some of which will focus on sectors whilst others are targeted at specific communities of interest. The aim of the sessions is to allow the Panel to introduce their role and work to date and allow discussion space for you to tell us about your priorities within the context of Community Planning.

Childcare, Family Support Services and Young People's sectorWednesday 24th November 2021 @ 10:30
Community Development, Restorative Justice and Community Relations sectorWednesday 15th December 2021 @ 10:30
Communities of InterestWednesday 19th January 2022 @ 10:30
Environment sectorWednesday 16th February 2022 @ 10:30
Education and Training sectorWednesday 16rh March 2022 @ 10:30


At present we envisage these sessions to take place virtually on Zoom. To register early interest for any of the sessions please get in touch with Róisín Burns at roisin@stratagem-ni.com


Belfast Agenda Update

The Belfast Community Planning Partnership have now completed five initial engagement events which covered the four areas of the city and ‘Communities of Interest’. While a full report on the feedback collated at the events is set to be published soon, it’s still not too late for you or your organisation to submit to the call for evidence here. The Partnership are welcoming any data or research that your organisation may have carried out which could inform future priorities for community planning.

Whilst the call for evidence is ongoing, the next major phase will be Action Planning and Delivery to help shape plans which will contain a range of actions, designed to deliver meaningful impact to people's lives. It is expected that this phase of engagement will be undertaken for the rest of 2021 and into the new year. You can keep up-to-date by visiting the Belfast Agenda Review hub on Your say Belfast.


Annual Conference

We are excited to announce we are holding our 2nd annual VCSE Community conference:

“Enabling Change: People and Communities at the heart of Community Planning
How we deliver shared prosperity and sustainability through partnership”

The Conference will be held on Wednesday 17th November 14.00-16.30 via Zoom. We have an exciting line up of speakers and workshops planned including our three keynote speakers:

  • Chris Birt, Associate Director for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Joseph Roundtree Foundation, speaking on the issue of Poverty
  • Debbie Caldwell, Belfast Climate Commissioner, Belfast City Council, speaking on the issue of Sustainability
  • Sarah Meekin, Head of Psychological Services, Belfast Trust, speaking on the issue of Behavioural Change

Click here to find out more information and register for the event.


Get in touch

Have a question for the panel or want to comment on some of the work to date? Follow the link here and submit your question at the bottom of the page.


Archived Newsletters

Email Newsletter (October 2021)

Welcome back to another edition of the VCSE Sectoral Advisory Panel Newsletter. 

Over the coming months we will be running a series of insights into a number of the advisory boards which feed into the Belfast Agenda. This series in intended to give you, the sector, an insight into the work and priorities of the various boards.

As part of the Belfast Agenda, the city’s first community plan, four ‘delivery focused boards’ have been established to drive collaboration across partners and deliver the agreed priority areas for focus. Each delivery board has the ability to form Task and Finish Groups to give focus and drive forward specific priority areas, seek to problem solve, innovate and develop focused action plans.


Living Here Board

This month we will focus on the work of the Living Here board which VCSE Panel members Natasha Brennan and Paula Powell sit on (you can find out more about them here). The purpose of the Living Here Board is to manage and monitor progress and performance against a number of Belfast Agenda outcomes and the Board have identified four main priorities as seen below. As outlined later in the newsletter a review of the Belfast Agenda is currently underway and these priorities will be reviewed as part of this process.


Sectoral Engagement – Health and Wellbeing session

As part of our sectoral engagement outreach, we convened a session on 29th September to bring together VCSE organisations working in the Health & Wellbeing sector. This session provided the opportunity to:

  • Introduce the Panel, their role, and work to date
  • Explain more about the Living Here Board and its initiatives
  • Allow the sector to tell us about their Community Planning priorities

What you told us:


We are planning a number of sessions in the coming months, some of which will focus on sectors whilst others are targeted at specific communities of interest. The aim of the sessions is to allow the Panel to introduce their role and work to date and allow discussion space for you to tell us about your priorities within the context of Community Planning.

Childcare, Family Support Services and Young People's sectorWednesday 24th November 2021 @ 10:30
Community Development, Restorative Justice and Community Relations sectorWednesday 15th December 2021 @ 10:30
Communities of InterestWednesday 19th January 2022 @ 10:30
Environment sectorWednesday 16th February 2022 @ 10:30
Education and Training sectorWednesday 16rh March 2022 @ 10:30


At present we envisage these sessions to take place virtually on Zoom. To register early interest for any of the sessions please get in touch with Róisín Burns at roisin@stratagem-ni.com


Belfast Agenda Update

The Belfast Community Planning Partnership have now completed five initial engagement events which covered the four areas of the city and ‘Communities of Interest’. While a full report on the feedback collated at the events is set to be published soon, it’s still not too late for you or your organisation to submit to the call for evidence here. The Partnership are welcoming any data or research that your organisation may have carried out which could inform future priorities for community planning.

Whilst the call for evidence is ongoing, the next major phase will be Action Planning and Delivery to help shape plans which will contain a range of actions, designed to deliver meaningful impact to people's lives. It is expected that this phase of engagement will be undertaken for the rest of 2021 and into the new year. You can keep up-to-date by visiting the Belfast Agenda Review hub on Your say Belfast.


Annual Conference

We are excited to announce we are holding our 2nd annual VCSE Community conference:

“Enabling Change: People and Communities at the heart of Community Planning
How we deliver shared prosperity and sustainability through partnership”

The Conference will be held on Wednesday 17th November 14.00-16.30 via Zoom. We have an exciting line up of speakers and workshops planned including our three keynote speakers:

  • Chris Birt, Associate Director for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Joseph Roundtree Foundation, speaking on the issue of Poverty
  • Debbie Caldwell, Belfast Climate Commissioner, Belfast City Council, speaking on the issue of Sustainability
  • Sarah Meekin, Head of Psychological Services, Belfast Trust, speaking on the issue of Behavioural Change

Click here to find out more information and register for the event.


Get in touch

Have a question for the panel or want to comment on some of the work to date? Follow the link here and submit your question at the bottom of the page.


Archived Newsletters