AQW 46964/11-15 Written question to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
To ask the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (i) to outline the ways in which new clients can access the Maximising Access to Services, Grants and Benefits in Rural Areas project; (ii) what is the eligibility criteria; and (iii) to define rural in this context.
Asked by Claire Sugden MLA on 9 June 2015
- Answered
- Written
- Tabled
- 9 June 2015
- Answer due by
- 24 June 2015
- Answered
- 22 June 201513 days after tabling
- Priority question
- No
Answer
The Project has been very successful with over 14,500 households visited to date and a further 2,600 scheduled to be visited in this financial year.
(i) The Project is delivered on the ground by 13 local community based organisations and they utilise a wide range of methods to penetrate their local areas in seeking out those most in need including: flyers, community engagement, church and community notices, talks to various community groupings, engagement with local GP’s, District Nurses, delivery personnel, Councillors and MLA’s. In recent times more people are self referring for a MARA visit and potential new clients can do so using the list in the table below.
List of MARA Lead Delivery Organisation
| Zone | District Council Areas | Organisation | Project Manager Contact | Contact Numbers |
| 1 | Banbridge | Tyrone Antrim Down Armagh (TADA) | Siobhan O’Neill | 028 3839 8888 |
| 2 | Cookstown Magherafelt | Cookstown and Western Shores Area Network (CWSAN) | Nuala Kildunn | 028 8773 8845 028 7963 7865 |
| 3 | Down | County Down Rural Community Network (CDRCN) | Nuala McElroy | 028 4461 2311 |
| 4 | Derry, Strabane Limavady | Rural North West Community Support (RNWCS) | Patricia McNulty | 028 8166 2588 |
| 5 | Moyle, Antrim Larne, Ballymena | North Antrim Community Network (NACN) | Susan McLaughlin | 028 2177 2100 028 2177 1155 |
| 6 | Omagh | Omagh Forum for Rural Associations (OFRA) | Carol Conway | 028 8225 1559 |
| 7 | Ballymoney Coleraine | Causeway Rural Urban Network (CRUN) | Lorna O’Neill | 028 7034 4934 |
| 8 | Dungannon Armagh | Community Organisations of South Tyrone and Areas (COSTA) | Clare Davidson | 028 8555 6880 |
| 9 | Newry & Mourne Craigavon | South Down Family Health Initiative (SDFHI) | Anouska Kenny | 028 3083 5764 |
| 10 | Ards & Castlereagh | County Down Rural Community Network (CDRCN) | Wendy Campbell | 028 9182 8884 |
| 12 | Lisburn | Tyrone Antrim Down Armagh (TADA) | Lycrecia McGeary | 028 3839 8888 |
| 13 | Carrickgergus & Newtownabbey | South Antrim Community Network (SACN) | Anne Thompson | 028 9447 8645 |
| 11/14 | Fermanagh | Fermanagh Rural Community Network (FRCN) | Rachel Elliott | 028 6632 7006 |
(ii) MARA is targeted at all vulnerable rural dwellers.
(iii) MARA continues to be implemented across all 286 rural super output areas, as defined by NISRA, when this phase of the project commenced in 2012.