AQW 46964/11-15


Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry


Tabled Date: 09/06/2015
Answered On Date: 22/06/2015
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (i) to outline the ways in which new clients can access the Maximising Access to Services, Grants and Benefits in Rural Areas project; (ii) what is the eligibility criteria; and (iii) to define rural in this context.


Answer:
The Project has been very successful with over 14,500 households visited to date and a further 2,600 scheduled to be visited in this financial year.
(i) The Project is delivered on the ground by 13 local community based organisations and they utilise a wide range of methods to penetrate their local areas in seeking out those most in need including: flyers, community engagement, church and community notices, talks to various community groupings, engagement with local GP’s, District Nurses, delivery personnel, Councillors and MLA’s. In recent times more people are self referring for a MARA visit and potential new clients can do so using the list in the table below.
List of MARA Lead Delivery Organisation
Zone
District Council Areas
Organisation
Project Manager Contact
Contact Numbers
1
Banbridge
Tyrone Antrim Down Armagh (TADA)
Siobhan O’Neill
028 3839 8888
2
Cookstown
Magherafelt
Cookstown and Western Shores Area Network (CWSAN)
Nuala Kildunn
028 8773 8845
028 7963 7865
3
Down
County Down Rural Community Network (CDRCN)
Nuala McElroy
028 4461 2311
4
Derry, Strabane
Limavady
Rural North West Community Support (RNWCS)
Patricia McNulty
028 8166 2588
5
Moyle, Antrim
Larne, Ballymena
North Antrim Community Network (NACN)
Susan McLaughlin
028 2177 2100
028 2177 1155
6
Omagh
Omagh Forum for Rural Associations (OFRA)
Carol Conway
028 8225 1559
7
Ballymoney
Coleraine
Causeway Rural Urban Network (CRUN)
Lorna O’Neill
028 7034 4934
8
Dungannon
Armagh
Community Organisations of South Tyrone and Areas (COSTA)
Clare Davidson
028 8555 6880
9
Newry & Mourne Craigavon
South Down Family Health Initiative (SDFHI)
Anouska Kenny
028 3083 5764
10
Ards & Castlereagh
County Down Rural Community Network (CDRCN)
Wendy Campbell
028 9182 8884
12
Lisburn
Tyrone Antrim Down Armagh (TADA)
Lycrecia McGeary
028 3839 8888
13
Carrickgergus & Newtownabbey
South Antrim Community Network (SACN)
Anne Thompson
028 9447 8645
11/14
Fermanagh
Fermanagh Rural Community Network (FRCN)
Rachel Elliott
028 6632 7006
(ii) MARA is targeted at all vulnerable rural dwellers.
(iii) MARA continues to be implemented across all 286 rural super output areas, as defined by NISRA, when this phase of the project commenced in 2012.