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ONSIDE stands for Outreach, Navigation, Social Inclusion and Digital Engagement. ONSIDE was a cross-border project (2020-2022) aiming to improve the health and well-being of disabled people living in Northern Ireland and the border regions. The project was led by Disability Action NI in partnership with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, the Independent Living Movement in Ireland, and Supporting Communities.

The project was supported by an award of €5.56m by the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).

About the Project

A wealth of evidence shows how positive relationships and shared activities contribute to our overall health and well-being. Evidence also shows how physical and attitudinal barriers created by society towards disability can create loneliness and social isolation. ONSIDE aimed to address these issues and empower disabled people to become socially engaged. 

The ONSIDE team identified disabled people seeking to improve their health and well-being through increasing their social networks both in the community and online.  

It fully supported participants through a tailored development plan suited to their wants and needs, identifying and addressing the barriers that make it harder for disabled people to access social networks in the community and online. The personal development plan offered participants independence, choice and control. 

Read more about the ONSIDE Project: https://onsideproject.org

Our Role

Supporting Communities delivered a digital skills programme which trained, equipped and supported participants to become socially connected online. 

 

“I am pleased to be working on a project which has the potential to remove many of the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from making full use of technology and look forward to seeing how the project develops over the next few years.” 

- Onside Trainer

COVID-19 has affected every workplace and ONSIDE is not different. As a team we had to adapt to meet the needs of our pariticpants whilst reamining COVID com...

The ONSIDE Project ended in October 2022.

See their online resources for legacy materials: