Background to the Research

• The social and economic impact of the eight Greater Belfast Women's Centres and their good practices post-ceasefire were investigated.
  

Research Approach

• Existing materials were used such as evaluations, annual reports and strategy and policy documents, surveys and interviews of employees and users of the Women's Centres and representatives from government departments, councils, the National Lottery Charity Board and the NI Voluntary Trust, and workshops.
  

Main Findings

Public Policy

• While government initiatives such as 'Strategy for the Support of the Voluntary Sector and for Community Development in NI' and 'Compact Between Government and the Voluntary and Community Sector in NI' commit it to providing support for the voluntary and community sector, and consider the effect of proposed policy changes on the sector, the Women's Centres have found that many of the policies which affect them, for example the replacement of ACE and CWP with New Deal and Worktrack, do not take into account their contribution to the area.
• Most of these policies also neglect to consider gender equality issues and, although some policies appreciate that particular groups of women are especially at risk, for example, members of ethnic minorities or young parents, there is no overall realisation that women as a whole are socially and economically disadvantaged.

Funding Issues

• There needs be improved communication between government and other funders as regards their priorities and respective responsibilities, although the report states that this should not be in the form of private funders being obliged to follow government spending priorities.

Funding of Women's Centres

• Taking all eight of the Women's Centres together, the annual turnover is £1.3 million. In 1995-2000 they had £1.5 million in capital funding, the majority of which came from sources outside the government, such as the European Union Peace Programme. This is a matter of concern as there appears to be an over reliance on such programmes to cover the costs of running the Centres.

The Paid and Unpaid Workforce

• The Women's Centres prefer the set up of the Enterprise Ulster scheme to New Deal as they feel it provides a better basis for encouraging women to return to work, and are therefore concerned that the T&EA are intending to bring Enterprise Ulster into line with New Deal.
• The 8 Women's Centres have a combined workforce of 106 paid employees, 58 of whom are full-time and 115 formal volunteers. The average salary is £10,000 and the total salaries for the 8 Centres amount to £893,175 per annum. The low rates of pay can be attributed to the funding difficulties experienced by the Centres.
• In a survey completed by 75% of the Women's Centres employees, it was found that between them they work 193 unpaid hours a week. 40% of the employees had previously attended the centres, either as a volunteer or as a user. 75% of the employees and 76% of the volunteers had received additional training, while 58% of employees and 50% of volunteers had gained additional qualifications.

Education and Training

• Women who wish to receive education or training encounter many problems, including the need for affordable childcare, and flexible training opportunities. This is understood by the Women's Centres whose own training programmes are geared towards women who have little or no qualifications or who wish to improve their employment prospects.
• The Women's Centres have established the Belfast Women's Training Services, which has set up several initiatives such as 'Women Moving On' which had 320 participants between 1995 and 1997. The BWTS had 8,000 women enrolled in its classes between 1995 and 2000, and has been awarded a number of adult learner achievement awards.

Promoting Health and Well-being

• The Women's Centres have been involved with promoting and improving health and well-being amongst women, in accordance with government policy to enhance community contribution to health.
• Although Ballybeen's 'Women's Health Programme' has been suggested as a model for similar programmes for other Centres in NI, the DHSS have said at the moment there is no suitable statutory funding for the project. Similarly, a research report for the Greenway Women's Centre has found that although local healthcare workers have recommended the Centre to significant numbers of women, there is a lack of statutory funding to develop their health programme further.

Information, Support and Advice

• Under the Community Services Programme, District Councils are responsible for providing advice services. 10% of Belfast City Council's funding for these services is awarded to independent advisors, of which the Women's Centres are a part.
• Although the Women's Centres work with women who have been affected by the Troubles, they are not represented on the EHSSB's Trauma Advisory Panel, unlike other community groups.
• Three of the Centres operate Advice Units, while the rest have more informal advice services. 47% of their advice is on Social Security matters, with 20% dealing with family or personal issues, as opposed to the Association of Independent Advice Centre which reports 82% of their total advice is on the former, while 1% deals with the latter.
• Some of the advice, information and support provided by the Women's Centres deals with mothers whose children have been abused. As the Centres have a confidentiality policy, they are concerned by the police guidelines on the subject of sexual abuse of children.

Work with Young People

• The Women's Centres provide help and advice for young women who do not receive support from other sources, in particular, young mothers.

Early Years Provision

• The government has recognised in its Childcare Strategy, that in terms of equality it is essential that there is childcare to enable more women to undertake employment or education. However, the Women's Centres are concerned about the need for resources in order to put this Strategy into practice.
• The Pre-School Expansion Programme provides £1000 pa for voluntary sector childcare places, and £600-900 pa per place in statutory nurseries, plus the unit head's salary. The Women's Centres have found that this is not sufficient funding, even with the additional childcare tax relief provided by Working Families Tax Credit and the Disability Working Allowance.

Community and Economic Development

• While there is government and local council recognition that this area is important, the Women's Centres are concerned because their initiatives do not take account of the fact that women as a gender are disadvantaged, for example, a breakdown of the council's Community Services Programme shows that only 3% of grants are given to women. This is despite the fact that the Women's Centres' various projects have meant that they have contributed greatly to this area generally over the years.

Celebrating Diversity

• All 8 of the Women's Centres have been involved in creating projects together. Although these were based on issues of gender rather than politics, their cross- community initiatives have worked.

Recommendations

• The report makes a number of recommendations, the majority of which revolve around the need for increased funding in order to enable the Women's Centres to not only continue their vital work for the Community, but to enhance and improve it. Further resources are needed in nearly all of the above areas in order to ensure that needs are met.
• The report also recommends that government develop affirmative action measures to ensure that gender inequality is addressed. Failure to recognise that all women are subject to disadvantages, both socially and economically, means that key policies often overlook the need to readdress the balance.
• The report frequently recommends that government, both nationally and locally, should take advantage of the wealth of experience and knowledge which the Women's Centres possess and should increase their involvement in the decision- making procedures which directly impact upon them, in particular in the areas listed above.