McCausland welcomes funding for Cathedral Quarter

Social Development Minister Nelson McCausland has welcomed the announcement from Finance Minister Sammy Wilson that an additional £200,000 is being made available for one year to continue grant assistance to the Laganside Events Grant.
~ Thursday, 16 February 2012

The DSD Minister recently had to inform groups previously funded through the Laganside Events Grant that funding had to be discontinued due to the requirement on him to make savings and redirect funding to Urban Regeneration and Neighbourhood Renewal projects.

Minister McCausland said: “I welcome the announcement from the Finance Minister that he is prepared to make £200,000 available to my Department to enable grant assistance to Laganside Events Grant scheme to continue for one additional year. In addition to this funding I have made £50,000 available, also for one year.

“It is important that those groups who have received this grant previously now work to achieve long term financial sustainability and move away from reliance on public funding. I hope to engage in the coming weeks with the Cathedral Quarter groups to explore how best to achieve this necessary objective, given the current economic climate.

“As part of my reprioritisation of the budget, in the coming weeks I hope to be able to announce further assistance for local community groups operating in the Laganside area.”

Notes for editors:

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