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Status
Received: 3 days late
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Income
£126.1K
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Spending
£131.1K
Public benefits
Purpose of VAST: To advance education, to provide relief to persons who have been directly affected by the conflict within Ireland, who have been bereaved or injured or have suffered from posttraumatic stress as a direct result of the conflict, to relieve need and hardship and to preserve and protect the health of such persons, their immediate
family and carers and other persons who have been affected by the conflict and sectarianism. Advancement of Education: Participants/beneficiaries learn new skills or enhance their education. This builds confidence and self-esteem and has in some cases enhanced employment opportunities and lead to employment. The skills gained through our education programmes can also indirectly benefit participant’s family and friends as they share their new skills and/or pass on the benefits. Provide Relief to Persons directly affected by conflict: Beneficiaries receive support that helps to give relief to trauma and mental health problems which improves their quality of life and this in-turn improves the wellbeing of those that come into contact with them – family members and friends/community. We provide a range of services aimed at improving mental health problems and this has a public benefit to the individual receiving support but also to the wider community as this frees up resources within the NHS as we are dealing with these individual’s needs. Relieve Need and hardship & Preserve and protect Health: We provide assistance and advice to people who need to access financial assistance or welfare support through our drop in and advice services and we provide one to one tailored befriending support to relieve other social and isolation related need. We aim to preserve and protect individuals health by providing a holistic response to the person’s need including a range of health related intervention and referrals when appropriate. The public benefit of this is less victims and survivors of the conflict suffering in silence within our community. This improves their quality of life and their families but it also helps us to move closer to integrating them back into the wider society. Advancement of human rights: We provide assistance in terms of dealing with the past, specifically in relation to engaging with bodies aiming to determine the truth regarding historical murder investigations. The public benefit of this is that individuals and families who are affected by this issue are supported through this process and are less vulnerable or at risk. This support makes the process easier and more likely to be a successful one for those involved thus helping to maximise the possibility of people getting closure and being able to move back into a shared society. This has a wider impact on the community in that it helps to give communities the right version of events of the past and provides better opportunities for a reconciled society. These benefits are evidenced by regular monitoring and evaluation, both quantitative and qualitative. VAST keep records of the number of people accessing our services and what type of service they are accessing. We keep records of attendance and cancelation to monitor if the individual is committed or regularly using the service. We also use questionnaires, evaluation workshops and feedback sessions to understand qualitative and the personal benefits felt by individuals accessing our support. Beneficiaries are adults who have been directly affected by the conflict in Ireland. These individuals have been bereaved, injured or carers of the injured. Beneficiaries come from Belfast or the surrounding areas of Lisburn, Crumlin and Glengormley. No harm flows from VAST’s purposes. There are no private benefits flowing from the organisations purposes.
... [more] [less]What your organisation does
Our organisation provides specialist support to individuals and families affected by the conflict in Ireland. We offer an array of interventions and these will be tailored to suit the needs of those accessing them. We offer counselling, befriending, complementary therapies, legal support with truth and justice and dealing with the past, education
and training programmes and health and well-being activities as well as creative arts and story telling (psycho-education programmes).
... [more] [less]The charity’s classifications
- The advancement of education
- The advancement of health or the saving of lives
- 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
- Adult training
- Carers
- Ex-offenders and prisoners
- Men
- Mental health
- Older people
- Victim support
- Voluntary and community sector
- Women
How the charity works
- Arts
- Community development
- Counselling/support
- Cultural
- Education/training
- Human rights/equality
- Volunteer development
