Mary McFetridge (Ballymena District)

Mary was a founder member of the Cullybackey Residents Association which started in 1997 and was Chairperson from then until she stood down in 2011. She has been a member of the Ballymena D.H.C.N. since 1997 and chairperson for the past 3 years.

 Margaret Cox ( Newtownards District)

Margaret was one of the founder members of the Glen Ward Community Development Association, Newtownards which was formed in 1989. She has been a member of the Housing Community Network from its earliest days and was a meber of the first Community Advisory Group. She was also a member of the N.I.T.A.P. Board and a member of working groups with N.I.H.E. and N.I.T.A.P.

 Alessie McCrossan (Belfast Shankill District)

Alessie worked on a voluntary basis in the Lower Shankill and was a founding and long-standing member of the Lower Shankill Residents Association. She was one of the original members of the Community Advisory Group and has been a member of the Housing Community Network at Central, Area and District levels since its formation. She was awarded the MBE in 2001 in recognition of her selfless and unstinting commitment to her local community.

 Sam Lockhart (Armagh District)

Sam Lockhart has been at the forefront of community development in the Loughgilly area for the past seventeen years. He was one of the key drivers in the establishment of the Loughgilly Together Residents Association. Sam represents his community on the Armagh Housing Community Network and the South Area H.C.N. and sits on the Rural Resident's Forum.

 Teresa McDonough (Collon Terrace District)

Teresa has worked in the Community for over 30 years. She works voluntarily with the R.N.I.B., an organisation which supports blind and partially sighted people. She is Chairperson of the Disability Equality Group (D.E.G.N.I.), raising awareness and fighting for equal rights for those with a disability.

Teresa has been involved with Collon Terrace Housing Community Network and the West Area H.C.N. Most recently Teresa has been nominated to sit on a province wide Disability Forum.

Built in the 1950's for mostly Protestant working class people from inner city Belfast, the Suffolk Estate was initially a much sought after place to live. In the early 1970's at the height of "the troubles" when an estimated 550 families were forced to leave their homes, the area became a demoralised, deminished community- ' a place without hope.'

Despite the ongoing violence, intimidation and people living in fear, the Suffolk Community Services Group was set up and in 1983 a cross community A.C.E. scheme developed to deliver local services and employ local people.

Over a perio dof almost 40 years the community of Suffolk has undergone many social and physical changes. Homes were demolished, young people moved out of the area, many difficult public meetings were held to gain community support and interface work with the neighbouring Lenadoon Estate commenced when the Suffolk Lenadoon Interface Group was formed.

For its ensurance and achievements throughout these troubled times the Suffolk Group has received many awards. The most recent being the Stewartstown Road Regeneration Project which is the first of its kind in Northern Ireland and is used as a model for community regeneration and transforming interfaces. This project has completely transformed the physical interface area, created jobs and is generating an income.

Bernie Burns presented a ptted history of the Srumellan Community Association which spans 35 years and represents residents of the Drumellan Estate in Brownlow, Craigavon.

Drumellan Community Association was established virtually as soon as the Estate was built in 1976 and tenants moved into their new homes. Many of the estates in the New Town of Craigavon were linked to a District Heating System that was difficult to operate and more importantly extremely costly to run. Thus, the community felt they needed a voice to try and address these concerns.

Once the heating system crisis was resolved, Edenbeg (as Drumellan was then known) faced its most challneging period. In the Community's view, poor allocations to torublesome families, attacks or arson and vandalism meant a lot of people moved out of the estate and the number of voids steadily increased. The increase in the number of empty properties was matched in an increase in levels of serious anti-social behaviour which left devastation and blight in the community.

An Estate Based Strategy was developed in conjunction with the Community Association and from the early 1990's a number of demolition schemes took place that removed the physical blight from the area, However, as with many areas that have problems, a stigma was attached to the Estate and due to its reputation no one wanted to live in the area. A fundamental part of the estate strategy was a collective agreement from the community to change its name. Every resident was balloted and Drumellan was born.

Following alot of successful fundraising over many years Drumellan residents now benefit from the establishment of 3 major facilities in the Estate, a Children's and Young Peoples Centre, a Family Learning Centre and a Youth House.