Photos show Deputy Mayor Beth Adger and William Parkhill of the PUP with ACT members and PSNI.
The Seven Towers Community and Cultural Education Association (STCCEA) and the ACT Initiative continued their positive work in Ballymena today when they hosted a Community Safety Event.
The event was held in the Lantara Baptist Church and was well attended by local residents despite the poor weather conditions.
The STCCEA/ACT Initiative based in the Drumtara estate in Ballee had delivered more than 200 invitations to local residents and community groups prior to the event.
Organisations who hosted stands included the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, Youth Justice Agency, PSNI, MenCap and Advice NI among others.
Local PUP representative William Parkhill hosted the stand on behalf of the ACT Initiative and was kept busy giving out a number of Community Safety packs to residents and representatives from local groups who work with old and vulnerable people.
The ACT group in Drumtara also have some busy times ahead.
Work will be starting soon on four derelict flats the Housing Executive has signed over to the group. ACT Initiative Support Worker Mark Johnston who has been working with the group has already had discussions with representatives of Queen’s University in relation to student teachers volunteering in the flats to run homework clubs for local children and to support adults with numeracy and literacy classes.
Plans for Community Allotments in Drumtara are also at an advanced stage and a large number of residents have already shown interest in getting their own plots and put their names forward. Work will also be starting soon on a Play Park in Drumtara which the ACT group have been campaigning for. The Ballymena Council have agreed to help fund this park after local ACT volunteers made representation to them about the need for a park in Drumtara.
This is evidence if it was needed of the positive changes the ACT Initiative is making in local communities and shows how busy this small dedicated group of ACT volunteers have been.
All of the residents in Drumtara will benefit from the work the ACT Initiative volunteers have been engaged in over the last year and a half.
These ACT volunteers will also be delivering the remaining Community Safety packs they have to local residents who were unable to attend their Community Safety Event today.
Over the next few days these volunteers will hand deliver these packs ensuring residents who couldn’t attend their Community Safety Event don’t miss out.
