Work due to begin shortly on Fermanagh House extension

Progress on the extension and new facilities for Fermanagh House have moved a step further following discussions with funders OFMDFM.

Last year First Minister Peter Robinson and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness announced the first projects to be funded through their department’s Social Investment Fund programme. The announcement included £0.9 million being awarded towards an extension for Fermanagh House, the social enterprise owned by the Fermanagh Trust. The OFMDFM funding is aimed at tacking poverty and deprivation through improved community based services and facilities.

Fermanagh House has proved to be an effective one stop shop for the community and voluntary sector, making services more accessible for local people. Currently the building hosts over 45 different user groups each month meeting the needs and demands of a wide range of interests. The extension (due to be ready June 2016) will ensure additional services coming to Fermanagh. Income generated from the facility is utilised to support the Fermanagh Trust’s work to reach even more local groups and charities with grant making and development support.

The new space will also enable the Fermanagh Trust to continue to focus on creating linkages between locally based groups and voluntary/statutory service providers. The proposed project will provide a Centre which has at its core the linking and people and communities across Fermanagh with regional and voluntary sector service providers.

Lauri McCusker, Director of the Fermanagh Trust said “We’re extremely thankful to OFMDFM and Fermanagh District Council for their support and delighted that progress is being made. We’re hopeful of having contractors on site early summer.  As well as providing a hub for a range of services this project will also provide a strategic focal point for the Fermanagh Trust’s other areas of work including; foundation building, grant making, community and voluntary sector development work, shared education and community energy.”

If you are interested in hearing more about how we can work with your organisation to deliver its services in Fermanagh either now or in the future please don’t hesitate to contact us – 028 66 320 210 / hazel@fermanaghtrust.org