Long-standing local charity celebrates 30 years

Friends and staff of north west-based charity Developing Healthy Communities celebrated the organisation’s 30th anniversary at the Playhouse last week.

It was the culmination of a series of anniversary events that included a mental health summit at the Fir Trees hotel, Strabane and the Derry City & Strabane Healthy City and District Conference at UU Magee.

At the party, DHC Founder and former chair John Meehan spoke about the history of the organisation, which was founded as Derry Healthy Cities in 1992 to build health through community participation, cooperation and consultation in local decision-making.

Also in attendance were Chair of the DHC board Emma Kevitt, outgoing Chief Executive Erin McFeely, and incoming Chief Executive Edel O’Doherty who joins the charity in November.

Chair of the DHC board Emma Kevitt said: “Our 30th anniversary is a milestone that we can be rightly proud of.
“When I say we, I mean the huge cohort of people who have worked with and for the organisation, both in recent years and in its previous guise as Derry Healthy Cities.

“While we reflect on our past we’re also looking ahead at how we can continue to tackle the health challenges that exist within our community.”

DHC founder and former chair John Meehan

In its 30th year DHC achieved WHO Healthy City designation for Derry City & Strabane for the third time, delivered 260 workplace health checks through its team health social enterprise and administered almost £1m in funding and grants in the north west and across Northern Ireland on behalf of partners including the Public Health Agency and the British Science Association.