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16 March 2006

£42,000 BOOST FOR LEARNERS IN NORTH BELFAST

People from North Belfast's New Lodge can get basic computer skills at the Ashton Community Trust thanks to a grant from the Department for Social Development (DSD).

The Department's Belfast Regeneration Office has provided £42,556 from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund to the Trust which offers classes four nights a week. The funding will enable 160 people to take part in the certified computer courses. The Trust also operates a drop-in centre which saw over 1700 people visit last year for advice on education, training and employment opportunities and progression routes.

Minister for Social Development David Hanson MP said: "Ensuring that people who live in deprived areas have access to services and opportunities which make for a better quality of life and prospects for them and their families is a key goal of the Government's Neighbourhood Renewal strategy.

"The Ashton Community Trust is helping to build the self esteem of people with poor numeracy and literacy, those who left school with few qualifications and people with no computer experience to get the skills they need to find work."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. The Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy 'People and Place' was published in June 2003 to close the gap between the quality of life for people in the most deprived neighbourhoods and the rest of society.

2. The Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy has four interlinking strategic objectives:

  • Community Renewal - to develop confident communities that are able and committed to improving the quality of life in their areas.
  • Economic Renewal - to develop economic activity in the most deprived neighbourhoods and connect them to the wider urban economy.
  • Social Renewal - to improve social conditions for the people who live in the most deprived neighbourhoods through better co-ordinated public services and the creation of safer environments.
  • Physical Renewal - to help create attractive, safe and sustainable environments in the most deprived neighbourhoods.

3. For further information, contact the DSD Information Office on 028 9082 9496.

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