About Us - Introduction
Cohesion, sharing and integration in action. Suffolk Lenadoon Interface Group (SLIG) is an award winning community development, regeneration and peace building organisation based on the Suffolk Lenadoon interface in West Belfast.
SLIG is owned by the two main community organisations in the area - Lenadoon Community Forum and Suffolk Community Forum. The two community fora act as the pillars on which SLIG and SRRP are built and neither organisation would be in existence without strong and inclusive community for a Suffolk Community Forum.
The Suffolk community is a small, protestant / unionist, interface community of aproximately 900 residents, 350 homes, situated in the middle of catholic / nationalist outer West Belfast. It has all of the characteristics recognised as symbolic of enclave interface communities and also suffers from high levels of deprivation in terms of the economy, health, education, access to services and the environment.
Suffolk Community Forum was formed in 1994 to act as the umbrella group for community activity in the Suffolk area. It has a strategic role and is made up of representatives of most groups in the area including: Suffolk Community Centre Committee; Upper Falls Protestant Boys Flute Band, Suffolk Football Team; Suffolk Residents Association; Mothers and Toddlers Group; Youth Forum; Highland Dancers and Pensioners Groups.
Lenadoon Community Forum
Lenadoon Community Forum's vision is that by 2015 its area will be:
- a community in which people of all ages and abilities participate in opportunities for volunteering and personal development and develop their skills and capacity to play their full role in social and economic activity
- an environment which is safe and healthy for all and provides a range of social, recreational, community and enterprise facilities; and
- a model for inclusion, partnership, co-ordination and cross-community collaboration.
The Forum's mission is "to provide the framework and community infrastructure for planning and co-ordinated action by residents, community and voluntary groups, service providers and statutory agencies in pursuit of a shared vision".
SLIG, which counts the prestigious Community Relations Practitioner of the Year award, amongst its accolades, focuses its work on social justice issues that impact on the lives of people living in each community.
SLIG and our property and urban regeneration arm Stewartstown Road Regeneration Project are based in communities that have borne the brunt of the conflict. Lenadoon is a mainly catholic/nationalist community of 10,000 people while Suffolk is a small protestant/unionist community of around 700 people. Both communities suffer from high levels of deprivation and are characterised by
- High unemployment
- Low incomes
- Poor health
- Poor housing
- Poor services
- Poor skills and levels of educational attainment
- Sectarian division and community polarisation
- High levels of stress, trauma and poor mental health
- High levels of anti-social behaviour and sectarian violence
There had been no contact between communities for over 20 years until community leaders from both communities began meeting to discuss common problems in 1996 - a brave and innovative thing to do at the height of Northern Irelands conflict. The vision and resilience of these founding members cannot be underestimated as they worked against a background of 27 years of ongoing violent conflict, deeply held suspicions and mistrust. Their determination to create a better future for their communities lead to the establishment of SLIG and SRRP.
SLIG and SRRP are grounded in the communities in which they operate and carry out their work in full consultation with local people - they present a true community based solution to questions around social justice, equality, regeneration and conflict transformation.