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07 September 2010

The work of the Community Relations Council (CRC) in supporting victims and survivors of the Troubles has been praised in an independent report being launched today in Belfast’s Grosvenor House in front of 60 victim support organisations. The review was commissioned by the Community Relations Council but carried out by consultants Deloitte and independently managed by a review panel chaired by John Hunter, former Permanent Secretary in the NICS.

PRESS RELEASE

7 September 2010

Review of Victims Funding

To download the report - please click here

Michaela Mackin, Director of the Victims and Survivors Programme at CRC, and a former associate member of the pilot Victims Forum, spoke about the value of the Report that the Council had commissioned.

“This report is significant in that it reveals the extent of the victim support work that has been financially supported over the last 5 years by CRC and points towards the needs of individual victims and survivors and the services that have been used to help them deal with their trauma. We are now more informed about how such services have benefited and made a difference to victims’ lives. We are also more clearly aware of the needs of those impacted by the conflict and the services that must be safeguarded as we move towards the new Victims & Survivors Service.

“This report has already been of assistance to the Commission for Victims & Survivors and OFMDFM in capturing the need for services and it is anticipated that this will also be helpful in designing the key arrangements for the Victims & Survivors Service to support those in our society that have already suffered most.

Ms Mackin continued:

“The Council is proud of the work of its funded groups and the support that has been offered to help people in their journey of recovery towards healing and in meeting the breadth of needs. Dealing with the legacy of the past is clearly an important part of the healing process for many individual victims and survivors that we are engaged with. It is the Council’s view that work with victims and survivors needs to be strongly represented in the government’s CSI strategy for building a more cohesive, shared and integrated society. The Council has stood firmly beside those who are working towards creating a better future for those that have been affected by our troubled past. We hear about their trauma experiences on an everyday basis and it is vital that individuals who have at times felt forgotten or overlooked are looked after as we try to create a stable, shared and inclusive future for all.”

John Hunter in speaking about the report said “However, it is in regard to the future that the report is most important. It points to the continuing importance of the programmes run by the Council on government’s behalf in meeting the needs of Victims and Survivors. It is the wish of the review panel that Government should build on the report in designing its new Victims and Survivors Service. Victims and survivors have paid a heavy price for our “Troubles”. They deserve all the help and support we can give them”.

The work of some of the victim support groups will be showcased at the launch of the report.

Heather Johnston, a member of South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) and a frequent user of the organisation's respite service, says:

"Respite support has literally been a lifeline for my family and myself. We have had many traumas visited upon us over the years but respite support has given us something to be positive about. When you are at a particularly low ebb, the thought of going away somewhere different, sharing fellowship with others is something that no monetary value can be placed upon. From being a beneficiary of the SEFF Befriending service, I am now a trained befriender, lead on respite trips and also a member of SEFF's Managment Board. The organisation has aided my personal recovery and has assisted me to become a survivor - no longer do I feel a "trapped victim."

For further information contact Ray Mullan 90-227500 (office hours 9-5)

Notes to Editor:

This event is a closed event and but media will be permitted to attend. Interviews with groups and individuals, if agreeable can be taken after proceedings.

1. The following 6 categories of need were identified within the report.

These 6 main areas of need, identified in consultation with CRC, have been used as the categories by which groups delivering services to individual victims and survivors have outlined their key work plan areas for the Strategic Support Fund that the Council has been commissioned to administer on behalf of the Victims Unit.

1. Counselling & Therapy

2. Befriending, Respite and Social Support

3. Organisational Development

4. Education/Training/Employment and Welfare Advice

5. Truth, Justice and Acknowledgement

6. Transgenerational/Young People

2. The current CRC ‘Strategic Support Fund’ is part of the 2 year transitional funding arrangements for groups delivering services to victims and survivors in advance of the Victims & Survivors Service becoming operational by April 2012.

3. CRC currently core funds 46 groups and in addition also supports up to 130 groups in their project/programme work. Since 2003, CRC has acted as the Intermediate Funding Body administering the Core Funding Scheme and Development Grant Scheme for groups working with victims and survivors. This role, in particular, has made CRC acutely aware of the sensitivities and extreme difficulties associated with addressing the legacy of the past.

4. There are still many isolated people that do not receive care, support or assistance and who find the current structure of attaining individual support demeaning and undignified.

5. At the launch, the following groups were represented with some speaking about the value of work funded through the Council’s grant schemes and other displaying some of the creative work of groups:

a. WAVE

b. South East Fermanagh Foundation

c. Derry Well Women

d. Cunámh

e. VAST

f. Tyrone West Phoenix

g. Bridge of Hope (Ashton Centre)

h. West Tyrone Voice

i. Relatives for Justice

j. Firinne

k. Ely Centre