£148,000 awarded to local projects tackling violence against women and girls across Mid & East Antrim
Sunday 20 September 2026
More than £148,000 has been awarded to eight projects working across Mid and East Antrim to help prevent violence against women and girls, with initiatives involving young people, families, schools, sport and community organisations.
The latest round of the Local Change Fund will support grassroots work aimed at challenging harmful attitudes and behaviours, promoting healthy relationships and addressing some of the root causes of gender-based violence, abuse and harm.
Eight projects receive funding
Successful organisations include Start360 in Ballymena, Carrickfergus YMCA, Larne YMCA, Larne Well-Being Hub and Women’s Aid ABCLN, alongside projects being delivered by WayMaker Child Therapy CIC, the Irish FA Foundation and Voice of Young People in Care (VOYPIC).
Individual grants range from £1,000 to £25,000, with the overall funding allocation increased by almost 50% compared with the previous round following agreement with The Executive Office.
The eight projects receiving funding are Start360, Ballymena, for Rise Together; Carrickfergus YMCA for its Safe, Seen & Respected Youth Action Programme; WayMaker Child Therapy CIC for Safe Futures – Breaking the Cycle of Domestic Abuse through Therapeutic Play and Family Education; and Larne YMCA for Respect Starts Here.
Funding has also been awarded to the Irish FA Foundation for Fair Game for Respect: Power to Change through Football; VOYPIC for Safe Vibes; Larne Well-Being Hub for Athena – Breaking the Cycle; and Women’s Aid ABCLN for its Heading for Healthy Relationships Schools Programme.
Focus on prevention and changing attitudes
The Local Change Fund forms part of the Northern Ireland Executive’s seven-year strategic approach to Ending Violence Against Women and Girls, known as EVAWG. The programme places an emphasis on prevention as well as addressing the attitudes, behaviours and wider conditions that can contribute to violence and abuse.
The funding was open to community and voluntary organisations operating locally within Mid and East Antrim, including groups working in the arts, sport, youth and faith sectors.
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said the projects will deliver community-based interventions contributing to the prevention outcomes set out in the EVAWG Strategic Framework.
Mayor welcomes increased funding
Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Alderman Thomas Gordon, welcomed the additional funding secured for the latest round.
“We are delighted to have been able to secure additional funding to support the projects delivering such important training to change attitudes, behaviours and culture. Through awareness raising amongst the communities here in the Borough, we can promote healthy, respectful relationships.
“The Council is committed to addressing the major issue of ending violence against women and girls to ensure they feel safe everywhere in our community. The importance of collaborating with community groups to deliver this work and create the opportunities to positively influence the lives of our young people cannot be overstated; and it allows the key messages of the EVAWG initiative to reach as many as possible.”
Part of a longer-term programme
This is the second round of Local Change Fund awards in Mid and East Antrim. The funding sits within a wider programme of work intended to support communities in preventing violence against women and girls and creating longer-term changes in attitudes, relationships and behaviour.
For local communities, the latest £148,000 investment means that prevention work will be delivered through a range of settings — from schools and youth programmes to football, therapeutic support and community-based initiatives — with the aim of reaching people before harmful attitudes and behaviours become entrenched.
