SDLP Foyle MLA Sinéad McLaughlin has said that Executive Departments cannot wash their hands of the impact of the loss of European funding.
She was speaking after convening a meeting between the Department for Communities, which is responsible for community and voluntary sector development, and some of the groups in Derry who were affected by the loss of European Social Funding.
Said the Foyle MLA: “The loss of European funding earlier this year was profoundly damaging to so many groups across the North, many of whom were forced to make devastating redundancies or reduce services as a result.
“The impact was felt particularly acutely in our city, which received a very small fraction of replacement funding while suffering some of the highest levels of poverty, unemployment, and economic inactivity anywhere in the North.
“The lack of provision for Derry has gutted essential community groups who provided core services in our city and swept away the support that so many people came to expect.
“Community groups and representatives sounded the alarm on this funding loss for months yet were repeatedly ignored by this government.
“I was pleased to be able to convene this meeting, which brought together some of the groups who were affected with the Department for Communities to discuss the challenges facing the sector following the loss of EU funding.
“We have no intention of giving up on this issue, with or without an Executive.
“The British government must be held accountable on their botched scheme and Permanent Secretaries must not be allowed to wash their hands.”
The meeting was hosted in the Women’s Centre Derry.
Speaking after the meeting, the centre director Catherine Barr said: “The loss of ESF funding has cut our centre’s overall funding income by over 50%, leaving us with no option but to cut education and employability services offered to women in Derry.
“Fewer services mean fewer women gaining qualifications, fewer women progressing to further education and fewer women securing employment, leaving more families living in extreme poverty in a cost-of-living crisis.
“The Women Centre Derry provides a safe, women only space with access to onsite childcare for children 8 weeks to 4 years old to break down the barriers of women’s participation on employability programmes.
“As an organisation, we stay positive and are still open, providing a range of services, and as a community, we are working together to raise awareness to ensure our city gets the funding allocation it deserves and that women are not left behind.”
Speaking after participating in the meeting, the Chair of the Training for Women Network Patricia Lewsley-Mooney said: “While I welcomed the meeting and was happy that the Department was in listening mode, we will wait and see what action is taken to move forward.
“They outlined what they are doing to help the sector but agreed that this crisis of funding is a cross departmental issue.
“I urged them again to have the organisations from the community and voluntary sector involved in those discussions as they know best the needs of the people they work with.”
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