The Irivinestown Community Partnership is receiving �315,575 to develop an innovative project in a deprived area of County Fermanagh.

There is a real need for this project in Ardoyne, particularly among young people, and the grant will help us to develop and sustain the counselling service

Sister Kathleen Savage

The grant will be used to transform four derelict terraced houses into the Arc Healthy Living Centre over the next nine months.

It will provide a range of programmes to improve the health needs of the community, including the development of an addiction unit, employment skills and training programmes.

Ryan Williams, the project's development co-ordinator, said: "The centre will make such a difference to the quality of life in our community.

"It will be based in the Sallyswood area of Irvinestown which has become a dumping ground over the years for a range of social problems."

Expanding services

The fund has also awarded The Passionist Youth and Parents' Resource Centre �179,497 to develop a counselling service for people in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast.

The grant will be used to expand existing counselling services for the local community, tackling issues such as depression, bereavement, bullying, sexual abuse and drug abuse.

Project co-ordinator Sister Kathleen Savage welcomed news of the grant.

She said: "There is a real need for this project in Ardoyne, particularly among young people, and the grant will help us to develop and sustain the counselling service."

Roisin McDonough, the New Opportunities Fund's Northern Ireland Board Member, described the grants as an "excellent beginning" for the Health Living Centres programme in Northern Ireland.

She said: "These innovative projects will promote health in its broadest sense, improving the mental, social and physical well-being of local people.

Bairbre de Brun: Welcomed news

"Both areas have experienced high levels of deprivation and these projects have been designed to give local people the best opportunities and information to improve their health and quality of life."

Monday's funding announcement was also welcomed by health minister Bairbre de Br�n who said the grants highlighted the fact that disadvantage was experienced in both rural and urban areas.

"Healthy Living Centres bring the benefits of partnership to tackling the root causes of inequalities in health," she said.

"The coming together of organisations across all sectors is essential if we are to achieve long-lasting improvements in health and social well-being."