25 Jun 2025

John McCallister, CRC board; Claire Harris, CRC Board; Jacqueline Irwin, CEO, CRC; Martin McDonald MBE, Chair CRC; Sylvia Gordon, The Corrymeela Community; Nisha Tandon OBE, CRC Board; Rory Campbell, CRC Board.

Causeway Coast and Glens: Local Peacebuilding Group Receive Vital Investment

NI Community Relations Council’s Core Funding Awards 2025/26

In a period where community relations across the Region is facing renewed challenges, dedicated peacebuilding efforts in Causeway Coast and Glens are receiving a significant boost. Over £63,000 in crucial funding has been directed to an organisation operating right here in Causeway Coast and Glens, empowering them to strengthen reconciliation and foster stronger community ties.

The Community Relations Council (CRC) is delighted to announce that this local organisation will receive vital support from its Core Funding Scheme for the 2025/26 year. The group was among 28 organisations across the Region to receive support, with the total investment exceeding £1.25 million.

This Core Fund organisation in Causeway Coast and Glens is strategically positioned to address the key themes of the T:BUC (Together: Building a United Community) strategy, promoting understanding, respect, and shared spaces within our local community. This investment serves as a beacon of hope, empowering grassroots efforts that are more critical now than ever.

The Core Funding recipients were officially announced at a special event at Belfast YMCA on Tuesday 24 June 2025, where the crucial role of local peacebuilders in navigating complex community dynamics was celebrated.

Spotlight on Causeway Coast and Glens’ Peacebuilders:

The organisation in Causeway Coast and Glens receiving CRC funding is The Corrymeela Community.

The Corrymeela Community, through their programmes in the community and through the lives of their community members and volunteers, enables thousands of people from different backgrounds to actively contribute towards a more cohesive and hope–filled society which deepens respect for each other so we can live well together.

Sylvia Gordon, The Corrymeela Community, said: “Corrymeela’s work is about building peace and reconciliation through experiences of genuine community. Such work requires us to create relationships of trust that withstand setbacks and surprises. Only with Core Funding can we free and support our experienced staff to build durable relationships with those we partner with, to learn and adjust to emerging trends, and to provide continuity in an ever–changing context.”

Speaking at the official launch of this year’s scheme, CRC Chair, Martin McDonald MBE, said:

“In these turbulent times, with recent tensions a stark reminder of the continuous work required for true peace, the Community Relations Council’s Core Funding stands as a vital investment in your community’s resilience. This funding empowers the extraordinary grassroots organisations right here in Causeway Coast and Glens who are the bedrock of reconciliation. Their courageous and transformative work, carried out in the heart of our communities, is more than just about healing past divisions: we’re actively building a more inclusive and hopeful future for all.

“These local peacebuilders are the shining lights in our communities, proving that, even in difficult circumstances, a shared and reconciled future is not only achievable, but is being actively forged through their dedication and resolve.”

The CRC Core Funding Scheme supports organisations considered of strategic importance in promoting community relations work across the region. This work includes, for example, peace and reconciliation centres; those involved in mediation and conflict transformation training; community arts; church–based work on reconciliation themes; cultural organisations and interface projects.

Find out more about the Community Relations Council here: www.community-relations.org.uk

Notes

1. The Community Relations Council (CRC) was established in 1990 to lead and support change towards reconciliation, tolerance and mutual trust. 

2. CRC is an Arm’s–Length Body of The Executive Office (TEO), and a catalyst for good inter–community and inter–cultural community relations work in the region. 

3. The core aim of the Community Relations Council (CRC) is: “Promoting a peaceful and shared society based on reconciliation and mutual trust.”

4. For information about the Core Funding as a whole and its impact throughout the region, visit here: https://www.community-relations.org.uk/news-centre/ps125-million-investment-peacebuilding-organisations-core-funding-awards-202526

5. For media enquiries please contact Peter Day by email on PDay@Nicrc.org.uk.