“Our purpose is to create empowered, confident, and cohesive communities.”

Since our previous three-year plan ended, the Supporting Communities team has been reflecting on our past work and how we can take things to the next level.

Over the past three years, we have strengthened the core work of the organisation delivering services to community groups in Northern Ireland and maintaining the smooth running of the Housing Community Network in partnership with the Housing Executive. We began to diversify our offerings and brought in new partners to reach new areas. We dealt swiftly and effectively with the effects of the pandemic, moving our operations online, and began a journey of business transformation to make us a more streamlined and efficient organisation.

Our trading arm, Empowering Communities Enterprise Ltd, grew in leaps and bounds by shoring up membership from the major housing associations in Northern Ireland and adding more members to our ranks from the Republic of Ireland. We also launched a new product, the Tenant Participation Standards & Accreditation, to help housing providers raise the bar on their engagement practice. We also successfully raised our profile through both our online presence and through recognition from others in the form of awards and accreditations.

Our board has now approved this new three-year strategic plan that builds on the successes of our previous strategy while acknowledging the many challenges and changes of the past few years and the political and economic uncertainty we find ourselves in now.

We have identified six strategic objectives for the coming period to strengthen SC so that it can grow, improve, and meet the needs of tenants and communities throughout Northern Ireland and expand our reach and influence further in the Republic of Ireland.

We are thinking bigger and better to create a more sustainable organisation!

Our Vision:

Vibrant, inclusive, sustainable communities.

Our Mission:

To champion community participation by developing groups, supporting active citizenship, and building cohesive communities.

Our Values:

Trusted: We are open, transparent, and accountable in all that we do.
Passionate: We love what we do and believe in doing the right thing.
Empathetic: We recognise and understand the communities we serve and our stakeholders.
Inspiring: We encourage everyone to find and use their voice.
Innovative: We continue to review and improve what we do.
Inclusive: We are committed to being open, fair, respectful and diverse.

Six Strategic Priorities

1. Empower communities to create diverse and inclusive places where people are proud to live.

What we will do:

Support the continuity of existing groups, Community Champions, Village Voices and representatives.
Encourage and develop representation in existing and new communities.
Continue to promote and develop digital skills within communities.
Support community sustainability.
Improve tenant engagement and community development practices.

2. Continue to drive performance and transformation.

What we will do:

Fully understand and be able to demonstrate the value of our work to all stakeholders succinctly.
Safely and securely manage Supporting Communities.
Develop digital platforms to meet the needs of those using our service.
Appropriately resource Supporting Communities to deliver stakeholder expectations.
Ensure Supporting Communities and its subsidiaries continue to be governed in line with the Code of Good Governance.

3. Increase visibility and presence across society.

What we will do:

Be recognised as the leading tenant participation and community engagement experts in Ireland.
Promote our services and demonstrate our impact.
Influence policymakers.
Build links and work collaboratively with others.
Improve our online presence.

4. Improve financial sustainability.

What we will do:

Create a robust financial plan.
Use resources effectively and efficiently.
Secure existing income streams.
Maximise income generation from our trading arm.
Develop Environmental, Sustainable and Governance (ESG) standards.

5. Cultivate talent for the future.

What we will do:

Invest in providing the skills and experience required for the future.
Develop strategies to attract and retain high performers.
Equip leaders with the skills and experience to nurture talent.
Create the climate to think bigger and better to create a more sustainable organisation.
Be representative of the communities we serve.