VIEW

Independent voice for community/voluntary sector

Issue 12, 2013

Website: viewdigital.org

VIEW

A mother with her child in war-torn Aleppo in Syria Image :Sam Tarling

Oxfam in plea as Syrian crisis worsens

SEE PAGES FOUR AND FIVE

VIEW

VIEW, issue 12, 2013

Food delivery

Website: viewdigital.org

CONTENTS

Page 2

Comment

Pages 6-7 Lucy Gollogly reports on FareShare, which delivers food to community and voluntary organisations

Pages 12 John McMullan, CEO of the Bryson group, looks at the ‘independence’ of the third sector

Social justice

My story

Pages 8-9 Clodagh O’Brien, from the Advocacy Initiative, reports on new research in the Republic into the issue of social justice

Pages 14 James McCullough (left) tells VIEW about his struggle to get better after he acquired a brain injury at work.

Comment

Big Picture

Pages 10 Harry Reid, campaigns manager for RNIB NI, talks about the role of the Digital i strategy in helping the visually impaired

Pages 16 The Welcome organisation, who help the homeless, sent VIEW a powerful image (above) to highlight the plight of some migrants

Editorial

VIEW, the online publication for the community/voluntary sector in Northern Ireland.

VIEW editor Brian Pelan

O

n pages six and seven of this issue we take a look at FareShare, which delivers food to a number of community and voluntary organisations in Northern Ireland.

There is no doubt whatsoever that FareShare is doing a remarkable job in ensuring that food, which may have ended up on a refuse tip, is distributed to groups, who in turn make sure that it is then targeted at those most in need, including the homeless.

The produce is all good quality and within its best-before-date. It’s just that it can’t be sold for trivial reasons, such as having damaged packaging or being from a seasonal line.

FareShare collects the food from a range of supermarkets who support the initiative.

The whole question of food distribution to the needy raises a number of other questions, though. Too many people in Northern Ireland, the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland are now dependent on charitable gestures to stop them from going hungry. In a society with

plenty, why are we still dependent on food donations? Also, in the present economic climate, the plight of the homeless and others will surely become worse. With the best will in the world, charitable food donations can only ever meet part of an ever-growing need.

Our streets are now filling up with more homeless people and many families are having to cut back on vital neccessities in order to make ends meet.

Adding to that scenario is the proposed implementation of the ‘Bedroom Tax’ as part of the Welfare Reform Bill in Northern Ireland.

This Bill, if passed, could lead to more people becoming homeless. We are facing an ever-growing reliance on charities to step in and crisis manage. In essence, a sticking plaster solution to a problem that needs a fundamental examination of the distribution of resouces.  On a totally different matter,VIEW is now holding a series of media workshops for the community and voluntary sector.

Full details on the workshops can be found

on our website at www.viewdigital.org.The classes have been designed to support organisations to both upskill and empower their employees in their outreach and communications work.

Arranged into stand-alone sessions or groups of related areas, our workshops cater for all levels of experience, from beginner through to those holding frontline media roles. Our team of established practitioners is geared towards equipping professionals with “best practice” skills to implement both in their day-to-day work and strategic planning.

So, whether you are new to social media platforms, simply want to fine-tune certain aspects, need to learn how to develop an integrated social strategy, prepare for a broadcast interview or even shoot your own in-house videos and create a portfolio of content at next to no cost, VIEW is on hand to ensure you use the media to your advantage.

Please contact Una Murphy, email: unamurphy@viewdigital.org for more details.

VIEW, issue 12, 2013

Profile

We talk to Ian Jeffers, Director of Prince’s Trust NI, about his role and the challenges facing the organisation. (www.princes-trust.org.uk)

‘ 1. How long have you been in your present position?

I joined The Prince’s Trust in early 2009, so I’m approaching my fourth birthday.

2. What attracted you to the position?

Helping young people. Until I joined the Trust I worked in the private sector and never really considered the third sector as a career opportunity. As a volunteer I have been involved with The Boys’ Brigade, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and Belfast Activity Centre, so I have a certain affinity to the needs of young people.

3. What are the main areas of work that the Prince's Trust is involved in Northern Ireland?

Throughout the next year we will support 4,000 disadvantaged young people across Northern Ireland – young people who may have struggled at school, been in trouble with the law, been through the care system or who are facing longterm unemployment. Our role is to support them and give them the skills and confidence to get into employment, education or training.

4. Is it difficult to motivate young people to take part in the Prince's Trust?

The biggest challenge is to get young people through the door. After the first few hours on any of our programmes you can see a young person’s confidence starting to build. We now employ five young people who have completed a Prince’s Trust programme. They are now out directly meeting young people and encouraging them to take part in a programme.

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Throughout the next year we will support 4,000 disadvantaged young people across Northern Ireland

5. Do you think the name, Prince's Trust, is a help or a hindrance in promoting your work in Northern Ireland?

We have a great brand that is supported by everyone. For our young people they want to be part of a programme that people know and respect and for funders it gives them the confidence that we are a national organisation with the systems and processes to match.

’

and companies is always tough. We have a small number of individual patrons who make a real difference to our work each year. There is a real balance to be struck between private sector and public sector funding. We also seek to use our private sector income to leverage public sector support. It is a partnership that works and that delivers better value for everyone.

9. What do you like most about your role?

6. What projects have you lined up for the future?

I am blessed with a terrific team who have a real passion for supporting young people.

In March we will launch the Fairbridge programme in Northern Ireland. This is a very successful intervention for young people that other organisations struggle to engage with. We have been operating the programme in the rest of the UK for many years and thanks to funding from DEL and HSBC we are now close to opening a dedicated centre from which we will deliver the programme.

10. What do you like least about your role?

7. How much of a role does Prince Charles play in promoting the organisation?

Our Patron HRH Prince Charles is incredibly passionate and knowledgeable, not just about our work, but about the issues that young people face. He spends a considerable amount of time listening to young people and visiting our programmes. He uses his knowledge to ensure we are delivering effective solutions.

8. How difficult is it to attract funding in the present economic climate?

Generating unrestricted funds from individuals

Not being able to identify enough positive outcomes for our young people. We are investing considerably more of our resources into identifying and securing positive outcomes for young people but more can be done to encourage the public, private and voluntary sector to work in partnership to address this critical issue in our society.

11. Can you tell our readers the name of your favourite book?

I love Bevis The Story Of A Boy by Richard Jefferies. It is one of the few books I have read more than once.

12. What would you like to do if you could choose any job?

A few years ago I took a year out and went on the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. It would never pay the mortgage, but a life exploring the oceans would have an appeal.

VIEW, issue 12, 2013

Website: viewdigital.org

Page 4

Oxfam: Syrian families urgently need our support

T

he Syria refugee crisis is accelerating with a dramatic increase in the numbers of people flowing across borders, aid agency Oxfam Ireland warned as it launched an appeal to help up to 120,000 people.

In Jordan alone there has been a three-fold increase in the daily rate of people crossing from Syria in the last week. The agency said that extreme winter weather was compounding misery for refugees, with an increase in respiratory infections and pneumonia recorded in clinics in Lebanon and Jordan Oxfam and its local partners have been distributing blankets and mattresses, heaters and gas oil to help the new arrivals stay warm during the harsh winter. It needs to raise significant funds to reach more refugees before winter takes its toll.

An estimated 670,000 people have fled violence in Syria to neighbouring countries since the onset of the crisis in March 2011. Recently, there has been a sharp increase in numbers fleeing intensified shelling and fighting.

Francis Lacasse, Oxfam’s Syria crisis response manager, said: “Families have arrived exhausted and traumatised. Some have faced bombs and bullets to get here. Now, they are trying to get through one of the most brutal winters in the last two decades with almost nothing. Oxfam is trying to help thousands of families through this difficult winter period; but we could do much more if we had more funds.”

People wanting to donate to Oxfam’s Syria appeal can donate by calling 0800 0 30 40 55 (Northern Ireland) or 1850 30 40 55 (Republic of Ireland), online at www.oxfamireland.org or at any of Oxfam’s 50 stores around the country.  £25 can buy enough blankets for two families, keeping children warm at night;  £55 can buy a set of warm winter clothes for a whole family;  £75 can buy mattresses for four families so they don’t have to sleep on freezing floors.

Jim Clarken, Chief Executive of Oxfam Ireland, said: “We cannot put an end to the fighting. But with the right determination and resources, we can help make things better for the many Syrian families who have lost almost everything.”

‘

I can’t stop thinkin

Samira (above) arrived in Lebanon from Syria recently. She is living in a self-made shelter with just one room, which she shares with 12 other people.

She has made an appointment to register with UNHCR but could wait months between registering and receiving any aid.

In the meantime she has no food, barely any blankets and is living in squalid conditions.

Samira’s home is made from one wall of breeze blocks and finished with plastic sheeting and cardboard boxes. The floor is wet and icy cold, outside snow melts into the ground creating icy mud.

“ thinki Some mone “ and th “ and o “ was t

VIEW, issue 12, 2013

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’

g about how to feed my children

“I cannot get any sort of sleep at night. I just can’t stop ing about how to feed my children and how to protect them. etimes I try and sell things that I have in order to get some ey for food for the children.

“I am 45 years old and a widow. I have eight children, five boys hree girls. My eldest child is 31 and my youngest is 13.

“All of my boys are here but two of my daughters are in Jordan one of my daughters has stayed in Syria with her husband.

“We decided to come to Lebanon because of the fighting that aking place.

“The shelling and the shooting were happening whilst we were trying to live peacefully in our homes.

“It has been eight months since I left my home.

“I have no idea what happened to it; we just had to leave it behind and escaped because of the fighting.”

“At first I was very reluctant to move to Lebanon, I changed my mind a lot but finally I decided to come here.

“We couldn’t get any food anymore, we couldn’t live our lives, we lost our jobs and we worried that we couldn’t stay alive.”

Image: Luca Sola/Oxfam

VIEW, issue 12, 2013

Website: viewdigital.org

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Fare way to Share food w Lucy Gollogly reports on the FareShare organisation which delivers food to the charity and community sector

D

espite rising food prices, as much as half the world’s food is simply thrown away. Now a Belfast-based organisation is putting some of that ‘surplus’ food onto the plates of those who desperately need it.

FareShare (Island of Ireland) diverts food away from the rubbish tip and delivers it to charity and community organisations working with homeless people and other vulnerable groups throughout Northern Ireland.

Based in Weavers’ Court in south Belfast and managed by the Council for the Homeless in Northern Ireland, it’s one of 17 depots across the UK. When VIEW visited on a cold, wintry morning, the warehouse was crammed with a huge variety of fresh and frozen food, including rice, pasta, soup, vegetables, meat, and even ice lollies.

But as Méabh Austin, the project’s Strategic Development Officer explained, the warehouse is actually relatively Spartan on a Monday morning, as they wait for deliveries from food producers and supermarkets to come in. The food is all good quality and within its best-before-date. It’s just that it can’t be sold for trivial reasons, such as having damaged packaging or being from a seasonal line.

Established in March 2011 and partly funded by the Food Standards Agency and the Public Heath Agency, FareShare currently supplies food to 61 organisations – and that number is growing all the time. Recipients include the East Belfast Mission, the Methodist City Mission, Mindwise in Carrickfergus and Lighthouse in Ballymena.

Méabh said: “In the first year we diverted 154,000 meals from landfill. We were able to work that out using Food Standards Agency guidelines, so if you lined up all the plates they would stretch from Belfast to Bangor.”

‘

The more food producers that we can get on board, the more food we can get out to community food members

’

The food comes from around 40 local producers, including Avondale, Gilfresh, Premier Bakeries and Dale Farm, and supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s. The organisation is in talks with Asda, and has also taken food from Tesco and Lidl.

The benefits to businesses are obvious – FareShare takes food that they would otherwise have to pay to dispose of as landfill, saving them money, reducing their carbon emissions and doing their public image no harm either.

Méabh said: “The more food producers that we can get on board, the more food we can get out to community food members – the charities that benefit from the food.”

As well as Méabh and Operations Manager Simon Geddis, there is one other paid staff member, but the project depends on volunteers who receive training in forklift truck driving, food hygiene and health and safety.

Volunteers Liam McCarville from Belfast and Jim Hamilton from Comber were working in the warehouse when View visited. Liam said: “I’m a volunteer with Volunteer Now. I make up the food parcels for those who need them.” Jim Hamilton, a former government press officer, said: “My last job was in the DoE so I knew a bit about FareShare and I was interested in doing something that helped people.”

Méabh said that FareShare is making a real difference to charities and community groups struggling with budgets.  For more information on FareShare, email: meabh.austin@fareshare-ioi.eu or call 02890 246440.

A team of workers getting the food ready for delivery from Fare

VIEW, issue 12, 2013

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with those who need it

Share’s depot in Weaver’s Court, Belfast, to charity and community organisations

Image: Kevin Cooper

VIEW, issue 12, 2013

Website: viewdigital.org

Shining a light on the need for social justice

Page 8

Clodagh O’Brien, from the Advocacy Initiative in the Republic of Ireland, looks at new research it carried out

S

ocial justice advocates strive to influence policy to create a more inclusive and equitable Ireland. Often this work is done quietly and without fanfare. With this new research we wanted to shine a light on the diverse range of advocacy being carried out across the country and celebrate the many successes that can go unnoticed.

The Advocacy Initiative’s new study ‘Mapping of Social Justice Advocacy in Ireland’ revealed that social justice advocacy is alive and kicking in Ireland, but faces significant challenges in 2013 and beyond.

For the first time this research shows the breadth and depth of social justice advocacy in Ireland; who is doing it, how they are doing it and what strategies are most effective for change.

The research was carried out in two phases. The first used a postal survey of a representative sample to measure the breadth of advocacy, while the second utilised an online survey of organisations identified in Phase 1. This was complemented by five case studies of effective social justice advocacy by a range of organisations.

The Initiative is grateful to the authors of the research, Candy Murphy and Patricia Keilthy of CMAdvice, for all their work.

The authors discovered that 39% of non-profit organisations surveyed are engaged directly in social justice advocacy, the majority doing so at local level followed by 30% at national level. “This was an interesting figure for us, as often we see advocacy through a national lens. This shows that there is a lot of activity at a local level that is quite different to the work being done nationally,” said Anna Visser, Director of the Advocacy Initiative.

The advocacy being done across Ireland is very diverse with activities ranging from insider strategies to protests and public awareness campaigns.

There is a 50/50 split between internal and external advocacy with the same for unplanned and planned. However, planned advocacy is on the rise, with 44% conducting information and awareness raising work, 19% focusing on policy implementation and 18% on developing new policy. Public awareness activities were identified as the dominant activity followed by networking, participation in local committees and lobbying.

The main targets of advocacy are the general public followed by local committees and city and county council structures, while the key methods to mobilise the public were information meetings and media engagement.

“When we asked respondents about the policy making processes in Ireland today, the picture that emerged was not a particularly positive one. 84% stated said it was fragmented, 89% disagreed that values underpinning policy making was explicit, just over half said there was no evidence base in decision making and 68% believe there are few specialists in the process. In addition, over the past three years for most people their workload has increased and become more difficult, particularly in rural areas and for those working in community development and social services,” Ms Visser added.

A recent forum in Dublin, attended by more than 70 social justice advocates, focused on what works in social justice advocacy and gave an opportunity to share experiences and learning with others. Key lessons that came from the forum included: keep the message ruthlessly simple, clear and compelling stories are essential, risks need to be taken in campaigns and there is value in creating strong political alliances.  You can read the full report and view photographs and cartoons from the event on the Advocacy Initiative website at: http://www.advocacyinitiative.ie/learn/tools/executivesummary-mapping-study-of-social-justice/  The Advocacy Initiative is a project involving organisations, such as The Wheel, St Vincent de Paul, Trócaire, the Irish Cancer Society and the Disability Federation of Ireland. It was founded three years ago to promote social justice advocacy in Ireland and is funded by Atlantic Philanthropies.

Participants in discussion at the recent 3rd Knowledge Exchange

VIEW, issue 12, 2013

e Forum which was held in Dublin

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Image: Paula Geraghty

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VIEW, issue 12, 2013

Page 10

Comment Harry Reid, campaigns manager for the RNIB in Northern Ireland, writes on the efforts to secure funding for the Digital i strategy

‘

The future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed

’

Digital future: Young partially-sighted children gaining confidence through technology at a recent RNIB NI Digital Arts Summer School at the MAC in Belfast

T

rudging recently through the powdered blanket covering Karl Marx Allee in the former eastern sector of the now unified German capital of Berlin, it’s hard to imagine anywhere else in Europe either more redolent with historically vivid ghosts or pivotal to the Continent’s uncertain future.

Later, the chill twists into a sub-zero grip, when, near the Brandenburg Gate, the slabs hove into view that combine to form the city’s stark memorial to the victims of the Holocaust in World War Two. I make a mental note to check out if the city houses any kind of memorial to the victims of the Nazis’ T4 programme, that saw the murder of hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities, labeled ‘useless eaters’, whose lives were systematically terminated for their crime of physical, mental or sensory imperfection.

Such thoughts are for a future visit. The purpose of this sojourn was to secure European partners for Digital i, an embryonic Belfastbased initiative, with global reach ambitions, focused on harnessing the potential of the creative use of digital technology to enable blind

and partially-sighted people to meet a wide range of their needs.

The aspiration of the initiative’s creators is that, once the funding is secured, Digital i will emerge this coming autumn as an independent entity guided by a board of trustees drawn from a wide spectrum of organisations.

The recent cross-party endorsement by members of the Assembly’s All Party Group on Visual Impairment augurs well for hopes for the swift establishment of this initiative.

So, too, does the momentum across government departments to seek out and support true innovation in the disability field that is expected to follow in the wake of the upcoming launch of the Executive’s Disability Strategy Action Plan.

Such support will assist Digital i to fulfil its mission to:  Provide blind and partially-sighted people with training designed to create high levels of digital literacy amongst a constituency that has largely been excluded from the digital revolution that is gathering ever more importanc.;  Seek to encourage sustainable selfemployment by nurturing digital entrepreneurs

amongst those with visual disabilities.  Promote more informed and positive attitudes concerning blind and partially sighted people’s capabilities.  Establish a regular world-class podcast providing information and analysis designed to encourage participation in all walks of life by those with sight difficulties.  Engage in international collaborations including Eye Openers: The International Festival of Ideas; Creativity; Digital Arts & The Spoken And Written Word.  Undertake research into the benefits to blind and partially-sighted people’s mental health of access to digital technology as a vehicle to consume and create digital content.

The Berlin trip yielded a dozen partner organisations from a range of EU member states who join a number of North American ones previously attracted by the possibilities opened up through collaboration in the approach Digital i seeks to pioneer.

While cyper-punk novelist William Gibson was surely correct in observing that ‘the future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed’, it seems that Digital i will play a key redistributive role.

Practical advice and a sensitive personal approach. We pride ourselves on our unrivalled commitment to clients’ needs.

Edwards & Co. solicitors advises charities and the voluntary sector in Northern Ireland on a wide range of legal issues including charity creation, charitable status and constitutional matters, trading and commercial arrangements, employment law, finance, fundraising and property law, as well as dealing with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.

Our team offers a full range of legal services including mediation, criminal law, clinical negligence and personal injury claims, as well as family/matrimonial work.

Contact Jenny and Teresa: Edwards & Co. Solicitors, 28 Hill Street, Belfast, BT1 2LA. Tel: (028) 9032 1863 Email: info@edwardsandcompany.co.uk Web: edwardsandcompany.co.uk

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VIEW, issue 12, 2013

Page 12

Comment John McMullan, Chief Executive of the Bryson Group, looks at the argument that funding may inhibit charities from speaking out

The independence of the third sector – fact or fiction?

I

read with interest two web articles published in recent weeks by the Guardian (22/1/13) discussing the weakening of voluntary organisations’ independence and their willingness to challenge government.

These are not new issues and have been reflected by many commentators as the unwillingness to ‘bite the hand that feeds’.

Perhaps the difference this time is the suggestion that the growth in contracting by voluntary organisations, with government to deliver public services, increases governmental control, thereby eroding independence of action, or voice.

It is clearly a point that needs debate, but in a context that compares the nature of grant aid and contracted earned income. While both may result in similar outcomes; ie work carried out; they are fundamentally different.

Grant aid is and remains, until fully spent, public money and is completely restricted on how and what it is spent on. Payment for a contracted service begins as public money, but changes to earned income when payment is made for a service delivered. Earned income enjoys much less restriction and flexibility in application than understandably public funds must have.

Essentially, grant aid, which is not spent on the purpose it was awarded for, remains public money and is subject to ‘claw-back’, while payments for services delivered that have been contracted or tendered may provide income above the cost of provision.

For charities this income is known as ‘Net Incoming Resources’ (profit), with the flexibility to deploy for other charitable purposes – the essence of social enterprise. This second approach allows the service commissioner, ie the government, to concentrate on outputs and outcomes whilst using competition (tendering) to provide best value for money.

I am not suggesting a hierarchy of funding, just that they are different, are appropriate in different circumstances and impact differently on independence of action.

I am not sure either method restricts independence of voice or action, as suggested in the Guardian articles. To take a recent local example: the National Trust seemed willing to pursue a judicial review to a DoE planning decision that it thought was wrong, while still in receipt of at least some government grant aid. I suspect the Guardian articles were more concerned that the new contracting relationships and possible gagging clauses in contracts would, or could, act as impediments to independence.

A specific example used in one of the articles was the potential unwillingness to report possible underperformance of the GB Work Programme.

I find that argument somewhat selfdefeating as the significant public awareness of

Grant aid, which is not spent on the purpose it was awarded for, remains public money and is subject to ‘claw-back’ performance issues suggests that any such However, in strengthening independence, restrictions have not been effective. greater independence is a function of selfAdditionally, the strong legislation and financing and resource generation. That is the clarity of binding rights around contracts allow essence of the enterprise element of social for more formal challenges and greater enterprise. protection than is the case with the greater Becoming more enterprising and selfsubjectivity associated with grant aid sufficient is not something the Third Sector applications and awards. should fear, but should embrace and strive Personally, I am more concerned about an towards. emerging development in respect of public In my view it provides significant freedom, service delivery, which may be more likely in N flexibility and importantly, greater social Ireland than other UK regions. To be specific, leverage that will become even more important the potential for protectionism, ie the inas we face a less certain and turbulent social sourcing of service rather than out-sourcing, or and economic future. the in-housing of services previously contracted out. Having discussions with public sector  Follow John on Twitter: officials on the implementation of new @johnatbryson programmes and being told that their view was in-house delivery, means it is at no cost, or challenging public bodies that bring a service in Guardian articles house, claiming better value without competing 1, Charities afraid to challenge public to demonstrate such, fills me with apprehension policy amid retribution fears – that this will only worsen as significant public www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jan/22/charifinance cuts, on a par with other UK regions, ties-public-policy-funding-fears eventually bite locally.

In summary, the point I would like to make 2, Voluntary sector independence in this short article is independence is only 'under direct challenge' eroded if we allow it to be and my experience www.guardian.co.uk/voluntary-sector-netwith the Third Sector in N Ireland is that we are work/2013/jan/22/voluntary-independence-diskilled at not letting that happen. rect-challenge

He thinks the way he drives is impressing you.

What he’s actually doing is putting your life at risk.

Fact: Most female deaths and serious injuries are caused by male drivers.

So next time you’re in the passenger seat put your foot down, tell him you’re not impressed. Because more often than not it’s a case of he drives - she dies.

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VIEW, issue 12, 2013

My story Former long distance lorry driver James McCullough had his whole life in front of him when he acquired a brain injury. He tells VIEW how getting involved with the Cedar Foundation helped to turn things around for him

I

am 46 years of age, living in Larne and married with two girls and one boy. I was a long-distance lorry driver before my injury occurred. I drove all over Europe and I really enjoyed it. It was a good life.

It did affect family life but we always made up for it at the weekends by doing things together. We have an interest in horses and we went regularly to show-jumping events.

I thought life could not get any better.

Everything was going so well. We were making a good living and had a great future ahead of us with holidays every year.

I changed jobs from doing European work to working for a local firm in Mallusk, Co Antrim. I was delivering goods to shops. I was in the back of a trailer loading it one day in 2005 when I was hit on the side of the head with a steel beam.

My life changed so much after I had that accident. It was unreal. I went from someone who was kicking life in front of them to someone who was needing help all the time. I had memory problems, balance issues. I lost my job and my driving licence. I just seem to be going through so much. Every corner I turned I seemed to be losing something, including my independence. At the time it was horrendous.

Everything was a struggle – both financially and coping with family life. I was also constantly battling with serious headaches. I couldn’t

‘

My life changed so much after my accident. It was unreal. I went from someone who was kicking life in front of them to someone who was needing help all the time

’

deal with noise or bright lights. I found it hard to deal with family life and would often end up sitting alone in a room in our home.

Thankfully, things started to change when I was put in contact with the Community Brain Injury Team and referred to Cedar’s Brain Injury Service in 2008. With the support of my keyworker, Rhona, I began to rebuild the confidence that I had lost and to think about a better future. I was encouraged to gain qualifications in Maths,English and IT, while trying out various work placements as I realised I would not be able to return to driving HGV lorries.

During my time with Cedar I was supported to become a volunteer with the National Trust at Patterson’s Spade Mill. I began leading tours.This experience proved crucial when I went for a job interview and successfully gained paid seasonal work at the mill.

A further boost to my confidence came in 2010 when I regained my driving licence. This increased my independence and reinforced that my life was improving despite being unable to

New hope: James McCullough is now helping other people return to my previous driving career. I believe that my new skills and interests have given me hope for a different future.

Before leaving Cedar I was referred to their social networking programme to help me meet new people and try new activities. I was put in contact with other Cedar service users in my area and we began to plan activities and meet up regularly, which I really enjoyed.

If I have learnt anything since acquiring my

brain injury; it’s to be open to new opportunities. Without this attitude I wouldn’t have progressed to where I am today. This is something I hope to share with those I support through the Peer Volunteer Programme.  Cedar delivers a range of services that enable people with disabilities to get the most out of life. Contact them at (028) 9066 6188

Give life to someone you don’t know!

Someone like Joshua.

He’s 7, but when he was born blood transfusions saved his life.

Text T ext B Blood lood tto o 60081 60081 o orr Call 534 C all 0500 0500 5 34 666 66 6 w ww.nibts.org www.nibts.org

Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service

VIEW, issue 12, 2013

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The Big Picture An image in a derelict building in Northern Ireland which depicts the issue of migrant workers ending up destitute, trapped in poverty and homelessness. The image was commissioned on behalf of the Welcome organisation which helps homeless people.

Photographer: Donal McCann If you would like your community/ voluntary organisation to be selected for The Big Picture in the next issue of VIEW, send images to editorial@viewdigital.org

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VIEW, issue 12, 2013

PHoToLinE Photographer Kevin cooper has more than 25 years experience in Press and Pr photography. Kevin works to a wide range of clients in community and voluntary sector organisations as well as the trade union movement.

For quoTaTions conTacT Kevin cooper E: photoline@supanet.com T: 028 90777299 M: 07712044751

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Babies head to theatre for day of Babble THEATRE company Replay is to open the curtains on a show aimed at babies at this year’s Belfast Children’s Festival.

Babble, for babies, aged up to18 months old, and their grown-ups called is performed inside a portable performance space. It’s on at the MAC in Belfast on March 9 to March 12.

Tickets are available to purchase at http://www.themaclive.com or the Belfast Children’s Festival site at www.belfastchildrensfestival.com" .

Other dates for Babble are: Roe Valley Arts Centre, Limavady, April 2; Marketplace Theatre, Armagh, April 4, and Down Arts Centre on April 6.

Please contact Anna Newell at Replay on 028 90 454 562 for further details.

The Belfast Children’s Festival is run

by Young at Art, a not for profit children's arts organisation.

Set up in 1998, its mission is to bring artistic brilliance and adventure to children today and inspire creativity and curiosity for their future.

Alongside the festival,Young at Art is working with communities, artists and schools to help children and young people to experience the arts .  If you interested in the arts, and aged 14 years or over, you could sign up as a festival volunteer. Visit youngatart.co.uk for more details Drama: Babies and minders invited to Babble show at MAC

For more details, click on: http://ocnni.org.uk/files/Leaflet%2815%29.pdf