Bloomfield Community Association

Bloomfield Community Centre is based on the periphery of the Bloomfield ward, but a high percentage of users come from the adjacent ward of the Mount.  Bloomfield itself ranks 143rd on the Noble indicators overall, but in the Health domain it ranks 79th, in Education 82nd and in Social Environment it ranks 88th, averaging within the top 15% of the most deprived wards in Northern Ireland.  Despite the fact that the Bloomfield ward includes a more affluent area of middle class houses that mask this pocket of deprivation.  The Mount ward however is ranked 9th in the Noble indicators with Social Environment ranked 1st, Education 3rd, Health 12th, Employment 15th, Housing 28th and Income 53rd, both Wards are within the Pottinger Electoral Ward in East Belfast, the only Ward in Belfast that does not have a City Council facility of any kind to provide the type of activities our Playgroup does, and in general has been ignored by the Government for any type of economic development.

 

This and the conflict within our society have resulted in the residents in the area to become inward looking in their attitudes and to not become active members of their community.

 

By addressing these problems through the Governments Children First Policy, we are targeting individuals and families who suffer from multiple social problems and are effectively excluded from the social and economic life of our community, by providing good quality appropriate care for children in their earliest years, who will benefit socially, physically, intellectually, culturally, creatively and emotionally.

 

Cross-community elements are in place within our groups with  neighbouring communities and also within the local childcare partnership and will increase when parents become more confident within their own communities.

 

With limited funding we provide a wide range of Community Development by involving the local community and those socially disadvantaged target groups, such as single parents, families on low incomes, unemployed and socially deprived at the project start by, convening a Management Committee with representatives of Community and Voluntary organisations working for and with the target groups.  As well as representatives of the local community through an initial open meeting publicly advertised in the area.  Publication of the project targets and annual meetings to update the local community and election/re-election of representatives to the management committee.