Childcare organisations are among the community and voluntary groups across Northern Ireland set to benefit from nearly 7m in grants from the Social Inclusion and Community Regeneration Fund. More than 400 applications were submitted, seeking funding in excess of 19m, and allocations to 154 groups were announced last month. Siobhan Fitzpatrick, chief executive of the early years organisation NIPPA which helped to lobby for the grants, said, 'I am delighted that so many of our member groups, such as out-of-school clubs and early years organisations are to get this money'. But she warned, 'This is only short-term money and we are anxious that the taskforce gets working quickly to develop a sustainability strategy.' The long-term issue of ensuring adequate funding for these services is being considered by a Taskforce on Resourcing the Community and Voluntary Sector, set up by the Department of Social Development.
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