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Status
Received: on time
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Income
£73.9K
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Spending
£52.1K
Public benefits
The advancement of citizenship or community development SBA will advance active citizenship and community development through the facilitation and delivery of services that contribute towards increased social cohesion and improved community safety within the South Belfast area. It will work alongside local residents in order to enhance their
understanding of the harm caused to vulnerable people and the wider community by criminal activity and anti-social behaviour, and to identify issues and needs arising from such negative behaviours. It will also work with the community to develop schemes, programmes and services that contribute towards building a safer community for all where local people can feel empowered to take responsibility for supporting their most vulnerable neighbours. SBA will work in partnership with local residents, community groups, voluntary organisations and the statutory justice sector in order to promote engagement between the formal justice system and the local community. By doing so it will help to create the conditions where local people can experience heightened confidence in the administration of justice by enabling them to influence service delivery in a way that fulfils local needs. Examples of its approach include the development of links with the South Belfast PCSP, the establishment of Youth Safety Partnerships, and the delivery of the ‘Street by Street’ model of community engagement and volunteering. The advancement of conflict resolution or reconciliation SBA will promote non-violent approaches to the resolution of disputes and conflicts which arise at community level, such as interpersonal disputes, neighbourhood disputes, interface disputes, and housing disputes. It will do so by encouraging those involved in altercations at whatever level to work alongside it to seek other non-adversarial and restorative means of recourse. SBA will provide a range of services that include the delivery of mediation/arbitration services in interpersonal disputes, neighbourhood or territorial disputes, restorative conferencing where a victim and offender are identified in circumstances of criminal activity, enabling victims of crime to obtain reparation or restitution where possible, working to promote the inclusion of those marginalised or excluded from community life, supporting those committing offending behaviours or ‘at risk’ of offending to recognise the harmful consequences of their actions and to change their lifestyle to avoid offending, and to help to defuse situations that may result in public disorder. The relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage SBA mainly works within those areas of South Belfast that are recognised by government as being amongst the most deprived in Northern Ireland. Many residents suffer from the effects of financial hardship, unemployment, poor health, lack of educational attainment and so on. Communities are also prone to experiencing the effects of anti-social behaviour and low-level crime. SBA provides support for victims of crime, many of whom number among the most vulnerable section of the community through circumstances of age, social isolation, poor health, etc. This is achieved through practical support, crime prevention advice, liaison with statutory justice services and counselling. It also works extensively with marginalised young people and their families who are regarded as being ‘at risk’. It does so by providing intensive youth/family support programmes, preventative awareness programmes, detached youth engagement services, youth safety partnership meetings to enhance youth participation in the promotion of safer communities and counselling sessions. All of this helps both victims and offenders to feel better connected to their community. There is neither any private benefit nor potential harm arising from the objects of South Belfast Alternatives.
... [more] [less]What your organisation does
The charity's objects are to promote for the public benefit and for the better preservation of public order, the provision of services directed to mediation, arbitration, conciliation or reparation in disputes and conflicts between persons, organisations or groups arising from criminal activity or interpersonal conflict. South Belfast Alternatives
bases all its work upon a model of restorative practice, which it uses to alleviate the effects of low-level crime and anti-social behaviour through non-violent means. This approach involves attempting to fix the fragmented relationships that give rise to offending behaviour through support for victims, offenders, and the wider community. Victims are helped to understand why they have been on the receiving end of criminal behaviour. Offenders are encouraged to understand what has led them to become involved in criminality, and to consider the harmful consequences that their actions have upon their victim, the wider community and upon them and their families. They are encouraged to 'put things right' with those that they have harmed through restitution or making amends. In practical terms this means the delivery by the organisation of a range of practical services that include victim support, intensive youth support, family support, preventative group work, detached street work, mediation services, restorative conferencing, anti-sectarianism and anti-racism programmes, and community safety awareness schemes. SBA also works alongside the community to develop engagement and collaborative partnerships with the formal justice system in response to issues of crime and anti-social behaviour.
... [more] [less]The charity’s classifications
- The advancement of education
- The advancement of health or the saving of lives
- The advancement of citizenship or community development
- The advancement of human rights, conflict resolution or reconciliation or the promotion of religious or racial harmony or equality and diversity
- The relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage
Who the charity helps
- Community safety/crime prevention
- Ethnic minorities
- Ex-offenders and prisoners
- Interface communities
- Parents
- Victim support
- Volunteers
- Women
- Youth (14-25 year olds)
How the charity works
- Community development
- Counselling/support
- Criminal justice
- Human rights/equality
- Volunteer development
- Youth development
