Community Dialogue and TIDES Training worked in partnership to deliver a Peace IV funded programme of capacity building for church, faith and religious groups on behalf of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council. The programme involved needs-based leadership training and mentoring as well as providing a resourced and supported opportunity to engage in practical inter church collaboration, community outreach and engagement.
The programme provided an opportunity for local church and faith leaders to identify local community needs and how capacity building could address those needs. It enabled participants to action plan, build confidence and enhance their capacity to engage effectively with the wider community and the issues it faces, providing the opportunity to develop a more impacting civic leadership role. As a result of the project, various community-based initiatives, established by local faith and church leaders are well embedded within the local community and involved inter church cooperation which had never taken place before. These include initiatives such as a babybank that enabled struggling families to access donations of baby items and receive information and advice on other services.
This project was supported by the European Union’s peace IV Programme.
