Belfast City Council: Less severe cut for charity after row

A Belfast charity for children with special needs has had its proposed council funding increased after facing a potential cut of 97%.

Sólás is set to receive about £308,000 for a building project following a decision on Monday night.

It was originally earmarked for £800,000.

However, there was a political row over proposals to reduce its allocation to £24,744 and share the rest among other community groups.

Other parties on Belfast City Council branded the plan by Sinn Féin and DUP councillors a "shameless carve-up", but Sinn Féin said not all funding applicants can be successful.

The issue was debated on Monday night at a meeting of Belfast City Council behind closed doors.

A proposal to reinstate the original £800,000 was voted down.

But a majority backed a DUP proposal to award £500,000 to both the Market Development Association and the Greater Village Regeneration Trust, and about £308,000 each to three other groups - Sólás, Lower Ormeau Residents' Action Group (LORAG), and Fitzroy Presbyterian Church.

The money is part of the council's £10m Neighbourhood Regeneration Fund, aimed at helping groups deliver capital projects in their communities.

Two of the parents with children who access Sólás services addressed Monday evening's council meeting.

Jean, whose son has special needs, told the chamber Sólás had been a "major turning point for her son," where he was able to make friends, go to summer and weekend clubs and be with "people like him," and that it was vital for her family.

Speaking before the meeting, Belfast's deputy lord mayor, Green Party councillor Áine Groogan, said the original proposals to reduce funding to £24,744 was "utterly reprehensible" and one of the worst political "carve-ups" she has witnessed on the council.

"A charity like Sólás is a lifeline for so many families and this was an opportunity for Belfast City Council to recognise that," she said.

"Instead, Sinn Féin/DUP have insulted them by saying it's only worthy of £24,000. They need to get their priorities straight."

Speaking after Monday's meeting, Alliance councillor Micky Murray he said he was disappointed that the debate on the funding decision for Sólás had been "restricted to a closed session".

Twenty-one projects were shortlisted for neighbourhood regeneration funding, with £1.92m due for six schemes in south Belfast.

Its area working group - a sub-committee made up of local councillors - recommended Sólás should be allocated £800,000 to develop a three-storey building and outdoor space for the charity.

The rest of the funding was to be divided equally (£224,949 each) between the other five groups - the Market Development Association; Greater Village Regeneration Trust; Hearth Historic Buildings Trust; Lower Ormeau Residents' Action Group (LORAG); and Fitzroy Presbyterian Church.

But at a council committee in December, Sinn Féin and the DUP overturned the plan.

Their councillors instead proposed more than doubling to £650,000 the funding allocated to both the Market Development Association and the Greater Village Regeneration Trust.

The new plan also increased to £300,000 the funding earmarked for LORAG and Fitzroy Presbyterian Church.

Originally Sólás had its funding cut to £24,744, while the Hearth Historic Buildings Trust - which wants to redevelop Riddel's Warehouse on Ann Street - had its share reduced to zero.

Joan Henderson from Sólás said they were "absolutely astounded" by the initial proposal.

She said it was "an insult and an affront to children and young people with disabilities and their families".

"It seems very, very strange to have been the priority project in the area, to then become the fifth priority," she said.

"Anybody looking at that, regardless of what background they come from, would say that just doesn't look right. That looks very unfair, and it feels very unfair."

Ms Henderson said if councillors were committed to "equality and inclusion", they would reinstate the £800,000 for Sólás and expand the funding available for other south Belfast projects.

Speaking earlier, Sinn Féin said it "supports and values the work of Sólás and the dozens of other groups in the city which applied for funding".

A party spokesman said applications to the fund totalled £49m but "unfortunately not every group was going to be successful".

He said there was "cross-party agreement" at the council committee "for 14 out of 15 projects from right across the city".

Emily Gallagher, whose son Oisin has been with Sólás since 2009, said that there is "nowhere else other than Sólás" for her son and his peers to go.

She told BBC NI's Talkback programme that the money was needed for a new building, as the organisation is currently operating out of temporary buildings that are "not suitable".

Louise Conville, a former service-user at Sólás and the sister of a current service user, agreed that the new building was needed.

"I fear if this building that they're planning is not sorted out then there will not be that service for my younger brother who greatly needs it," she said.

The Neighbourhood Regeneration Fund is aimed at projects to "develop neighbourhood tourism, improve environmental sustainability and support the city's social economy", according to the council's website.

It said projects progressing to the third and final stage of the application process would look at procurement and detailed costings.

"Once this information has been received and carefully considered, councillors will make a final decision on which projects will go ahead under the fund," the council added.

"Construction is likely to begin on the successful projects from 2024 onwards."