Celebrating 20 Years Making Our Mark on East Belfast

We are delighted to be celebrating a special anniversary this year!

Over the past 20 years we have developed and delivered a range of exciting regeneration projects across health, education, tourism, property, arts and community, which have brought huge benefits and have made our mark on the east of the City and we are committed to delivering our mission ‘to make East Belfast a better place’ .

EastSide Partnership has delivered projects and programmes, big and small, over the last 20 years, which have focused on creating healthier communities, improving relationships within and between communities, addressing poverty, dereliction and lack of opportunities. Undoubtedly this has made a positive impact on east Belfast with highlights including

  • Neighbourhood Renewal- supporting the most disadvantaged communities in east Belfast to develop project and programmes to improve the quality of life in the area
  • Developing buildings- including; Bridges Family Practice, EastSide Visitor Centre, Avalon House, Enler Centre, George Best House, Bloomfield House, 278 Newtownards Road and Lagan Village Tower
  • Leading the Regeneration of the Newtownards Rd- securing resources for the Environmental Improvement Scheme, new paving, tree planting and shop frontage improvements
  • Developing Public Art & Open Spaces- including; Starlings, Urban Meadows, Yardmen Sculpture, The Searcher, Connswater Pocket Park, Tower Street Pocket Park, Pitt Park and Grampian Avenue Play Park
  • Connswater Community Greenway- a £43m project which is transforming the landscape of east Belfast by creating a 16km linear park for walking, cycling while connecting places and communities
  • Education- developing programmes to support better education outcomes for children and young people in the most disadvantaged areas
  • EastSide Arts- developing the arts in east Belfast by establishing EastSide Arts, delivering three annual festivals- EastSide Arts Festival, C.S. Lewis Festival and Woodstock Rhythm and Blues Festival.

With a 20 year foundation in place EastSide Partnership is very much looking forward to the future and to building on successes to date. EastSide Partnership will focus on:

  • Contributing to the regeneration of east Belfast by developing key properties
  • Completing the construction of Connswater Community Greenway and making it a destination for all, locals and visitors
  • Delivering festivals, developing an annual EastSide Arts programme including community arts projects and supporting local arts groups
  • Helping schools and communities to work together more effectively and delivering better opportunities for children and young people through EastSide Learning
  • Enhancing and developing the EastSide Tourism product to encourage more visitors to the area

Maurice Kinkead, Chief Executive of EastSide Partnership, said:

“Over the past 20 years we have been committed to delivering projects and services with the aim ‘to make East Belfast a better place’ at the core of our activity. We are very proud to have been the key instigator of some very significant and major regeneration opportunities right across east Belfast. Key to our success has been our relationships and especially those relationships within the local community. Without these partnerships our projects could not have made the same impact as they have. Under our new brand EastSide Partnership we are focused and committed to continuing our work. With many exciting projects well under way and alongside our work on building new partnerships, encouraging and influencing investment, we are set to continue to make our mark over the next 20 years"

Mervyn Gibson, Chair of EastSide Partnership, said:

“Throughout this milestone year we hope to celebrate and thank everyone who has been with us on our journey to date. With this in mind, on behalf of EastSide Partnership I would like to acknowledge the support of our staff, past and present, our dedicated Board members, not just the Partnership Board but the subsidiary company boards, our local community and business partners and also our elected representatives. Many of our projects and programmes would not have taken place if it weren’t for our funders and sponsors so we also thank them for their support”.

Gavin Robinson, MP for East Belfast, said:

“On behalf of the people of east Belfast I would like to take this opportunity, to not only congratulate EastSide Partnership on their 20 years of service but to thank them for their dedication, commitment and vision which has helped to make east Belfast a better place. All around the EastSide you can see the mark of this fantastic organisation; from transforming public spaces to providing better services for our community. We look forward to celebrating future projects with them and hope that they continue with their wonderful work for years to come.”

To celebrate their 20 year milestone EastSide Partnership will, over the next few months, host a range of events and competitions #ESP20