NIRWN staff and some rural members attended a Women’s Health Listening Exercise Engagement Event at the Europa Hotel, Belfast — helping shape the forthcoming Women’s Health Action Plan. For the past four years, we’ve been proud to be part of an initiative “Nothing About Us Without Us” alongside The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland (CFNI), […]
Campaigns: Guarantee our Essentials Siobhán is part of a campaign from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Trussell Trust calling for an Essentials Guarantee within Universal Credit. The Essentials Guarantee would embed in the social security system a principle that at a minimum Universal Credit should protect people from going without essentials. You can read […]
Joint inquiry on Government’s Child Poverty Strategy The Education and Work and Pensions Committees launched a new inquiry investigating how the Government’s new Child Poverty Strategy can meet its aims. The new inquiry will examine the Strategy’s ambition and potential impact and consider which policy measures could help the Government achieve its goal of reducing […]
Women’s Support Network’s Policy Worker, Siobhán Harding, has completed a series of focus groups with women across Northern Ireland for the next Consortium research paper ‘Mental Health Matters for Women’. The focus groups involved 67 women in total and 60 women completed questionnaire returns. The aim of the research was to highlight a number of […]
Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network (NIRWN) and Rural Community Network (RCN) are currently delivering a community-led research project exploring how women and girls living in rural Northern Ireland experience safety, support, and access to services in relation to Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). This research examines how rural life — including living in small […]
B\&Q Foundation – Home Improvement Fund & Home‑Starter Kits Amount available: Home Improvement Fund: up to £10,000 Home‑Starter Kits Fund: up to £10,000 (max £500 per kit) Who can apply: Registered UK charities supporting people experiencing homelessness. Deadline: 20 February 2026, 6pm. Kew Grow Wild Youth Grant Amount available: £500 Who can apply: Young people […]
You can read the latest update here Lobbying, Policy and Research Bulletin from the WRC
Nature is in decline across the world and DAERA has a duty to publish a Biodiversity Strategy to help the conservation of biodiversity in Northern Ireland. This draft Nature Recovery Strategy (which is the Biodiversity Strategy required by legislation) sets out how DAERA intend to meet international and national ambitions in Northern Ireland. The lifespan […]
NIRWN Executive Director Louise Coyle signed the open letter on behalf of our membership of rural women. Women Breaking Barriers rural team Leon Hughes and Jacqui Clancy, together with our Engagement Officer Paula McAliskey joined our urban Project partners WRDA, Women’s Support Network and Reclaim the Agenda on the steps of Stormont recently to stand […]
NI Executive Disability Strategy 2025-2035 The Northern Ireland Executive Disability Strategy 2025-2035 aims to improve the lives of people who are Deaf and disabled people, their families and carers so that they can play a full and active role in all aspects of society. There have been some issues around this consultation with some of […]
