New St Patrick’s Community Hub to bring health, welfare and police support directly to Ballymena tenants

St Patrick’s housing development in Ballymena

A new community hub bringing health, welfare, housing and policing support directly to residents of Ballymena’s St Patrick’s development will officially open this week.

Radius Housing will launch the new St Patrick’s Community Hub on Thursday 13 August, creating a dedicated space within the 135-home development where tenants can access regular advice clinics and community services close to home.

The Hub has been developed following feedback from tenants and will involve organisations including the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, PSNI, Turning Point NI and Start360, alongside Radius Housing staff.

Support brought directly into the development

Located within the St Patrick’s development on the former St Patrick’s Barracks site, the Hub is intended to provide a safe and accessible base for services covering health, wellbeing and welfare.

Radius Housing said its Housing and Communities teams worked together and sought tenants’ views to establish the new facility.

Grainne King, Senior Head of Housing at Radius Housing, said:

“The Hub is a dedicated office space within the St Patrick’s development to ensure that support services and staff are available right on site for the tenants. Radius Housing staff and other partner bodies will be offering support and regular drop in clinics.

“We’re bringing a wealth of advice and support from a range of expert organisations directly to the tenants of St Patrick’s to support with health, wellbeing and welfare matters.”

Residents attending Thursday’s launch will also have an opportunity to discuss how they would like the Hub space to be used.

PSNI to hold sessions at new Hub

St Patrick’s housing development in Ballymena

Police will be among the organisations using the facility, following work between the PSNI, Radius Housing and other community partners aimed at reducing and deterring anti-social behaviour in the area.

Officers are encouraging residents to meet them at the launch and are expected to maintain a presence locally and through future Hub sessions.

The launch will also have a family focus, with Kidz Fun Farm, the PSNI Gaming Bus, face painting and balloon modelling among the activities planned.

Building a community at St Patrick’s

The opening comes just over a year after completion of the St Patrick’s development, which transformed part of the former barracks site into 135 social and affordable homes.

Loma Wilson, Director of Communities at Radius Housing, said:

“It’s just over a year since the St Patrick’s development was completed and it’s very rewarding to see hundreds of people building a new community there in brand new homes.

“This Hub is an investment in building safe shared communities for all our tenants. We hope it will be a space that will help to support the community and ground the development over the coming year.”

The St Patrick’s development forms part of the Housing for All Shared Housing Programme, supported by the Department for Communities and Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

A total of £15.5 million is being invested in the St Patrick’s shared housing development and its associated five-year Good Relations Plan.

The programme originated from the Northern Ireland Executive’s Together: Building a United Community strategy and is intended to support better community relations and shared communities.

Radius Housing currently has 14 shared housing developments across Northern Ireland.

At St Patrick’s, its Good Relations Plan also includes events involving the wider community, with work focused on areas including health and wellbeing, education, training and employment.

With the Hub opening on Thursday, the next stage will be shaped partly by the people living at St Patrick’s, with tenants being encouraged to help determine how the space develops and which services will be most useful to their new community.