General News

07 December 2023 Simplified renewal process launched for Blue Badge holders with life-long mobility issues The Department for Infrastructure has announced a change in the renewal application process for Blue Badge holders with life-long mobility issues. The Blue Badge is a lifeline ‎enabling many people with life-long mobility issues to integrate in the community and go about many of their …

13 December 2023 Launch of ‘Don’t do it. Don’t tolerate it’ public awareness campaign for new sexual offences The Department of Justice has launched a campaign to raise awareness of new offences in the Justice (Sexual Offences and Trafficking Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 which it recently brought into operation. The new offences seek to address specific acts commonly referred …

13 December 2023 Suicide Statistics in Northern Ireland, 2002 – 2022 Figures published today by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) show that there were 203 suicide deaths registered in 2022. While this represents a decrease of 34 (14.3 per cent) from the 237 suicide deaths registered in 2021.  It is important to note that annual fluctuations in …

Princes Trust programmes Please see the flyers on our programmes “Explore” and “Explore +” Next programme starts 4th December, induction next Wednesday 29th If you know ANY young people who might be interested in a six week programme doing some fun stuff to get them ready for their next steps, please let us know, we’d love to just have a …

The DfC have updated their policy in respect of acceptable ID for new refugees to open UC claims. People have been prevented from opening a UC claim, or have had their claim closed, because they have not received their BRP (Biometric Residence Permit) due to Home Office Delays. DfC have now confirmed that their new policy is; where there is …

Department for the Economy publishes 2023/24 budget consultation final response The Department for the Economy has published the final response to the 2023/24 budget consultation. The response follows assessment of responses received during the consultation period between 7 June 2023 and 30 August 2023. DfE has carried out extensive work to consider options to ensure the Department lives within its …

  There are two funding streams that fund work with children and young people age 0-18 Core funding ( for core costs, overheads, utilities, support staff/admin/management) Project Funding ( for staff directly working with children and young people, other project related costs and equipment costs) Within each stream you can apply for up to 3 year grants  – under 45k …

05 December 2023 NI pupils perform well in mathematics, reading and science in International Survey A major international survey of educational achievement of 15-year-olds shows that young people in Northern Ireland continue to perform highly compared to young people in other education systems across the world. The results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022, which is co-ordinated …

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