T2571 PEACEPLUS Community Empowerment Programme – Ex politically Motivated Prisoners

The Ex Politically Motivated Prisoners Programme will build, improve and sustain relationships between and within communities through the engagement of the former political ex-prisoner community in this initiative. This will be achieved by increasing the capacity and well-being of participants to be positively active within their communities and between neighbouring communities.

It will also support families of the former political ex-prisoner community to express their story to challenge and change perceptions of what life was like during the period of the conflict. The programmes within this initiative will increase knowledge and understanding of individual and collective history and heritage through supporting those who were directly involved in the conflict and their families to speak about their experiences.

There will be 3 separate, but related elements to this programme: • A programme to improve the welfare and health & well-being of former politically motivated prisoners. o 225 Participants • A programme of interactive engagement activities that will assist in the consolidation of the welfare and health & well-being actions delivered in conjunction with a programme that engages the families of former politically motivated prisoners. o 460 Participants • Practical initiatives to support the inclusion, participation and equality of former politically motivated prisoners, such as advocacy, lobbying, documenting and raising cases where goods or services to former politically motivated prisoners and/or their families are refused, in cases involving employers, insurance providers, or the issuing of travel rights. o 65 Participants It is envisaged that an advisory group comprised of those groups involved in the planning phase of this project would oversee the development and delivery of the overall project throughout the delivery phase. The project will engage 750 participants from different communities from across the city, with 150 wider participants engaged.

The allocated budget for this project is £493,006 (excluding VAT). The Contract shall be effective from the date of award until December 2027. This project forms parts of the Belfast PEACEPLUS Local Community Action Plan, which is supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).