Northern Ireland's Community Sector in Crisis

0:00You're at news today, powered by AI bringing you what matters across Europe. I'm Cory with the story. Unison is sounding the alarm on a funding crisis, hitting Northern Ireland's community and voluntary sector, hard. They're urging the Northern Ireland assembly to step up with immediate action, as hundreds of workers could lose their jobs from slashed budgets. This all stems from funding shifts after Brexit. Back in 2023, the European Social Fund dried up for charities and groups here. They got swapped for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, but that's ending, too, replaced by the local growth fund starting April 1st. That new fund flips the script with a 7030 split favoring capital projects over day-to-day revenue needs, gutting support for frontline services. These organizations prop up vulnerable folks, with health, social care, and community help services families, count on daily. Nowcash, jobs vanish, program shut down, and those who need it most, get left hanging.

1:00Piling pressure on public systems already stretched thin. The unions pushing the assembly and Secretary of State Hillary Ben to lock in stable funding now, before the damage spreads wider and hits everyone harder.