Eddie is 'Community Champion of the Year'

In case you missed it the first time around - October 2022:

Local man, Eddie Breslin, has scooped the prestigious ‘Community Champion of the Year’ award at the glitzy Advancing Race Equality Awards 2022.

The event, which was organised by the North West Migrants’ Forum (NWMF), took place in the Waterfoot Hotel.

The citation on Eddie’s award said: “Eddie has worked tirelessly to make housing accessible to all. Eddie has worked with organisations such as North West Migrant Forum, Migrants NI, Kabalikat, North West North Islamic Association and others across the city and district to help integrate and build community relationships.

“As the community relations officer he ensures that housing issues are addressed and also connects local community groups such as Creggan Neighbourhood Partnership, Waterside Neighbourhood Partnership, and others with minority ethnic people and groups within the housing executive remit.

“Eddie has also ensured that housing executive policies are reviewed to address racial equality issues raised.

“He is not only a community relations officer but also a community race relations champion.”

Based in Richmond Chambers in the City, Eddie is the NI Housing Executive Good Relations Officer.

Congratulating him on his ‘Community Champion of the Year’ award, Housing Executive West Area Manager, Eddie Doherty said: “Congratulations to Eddie on winning the North West Migrants Forum Community Champion of the Year award.

“Our vision of ‘putting good relations into the heart of social housing’ is being realised in the Derry/Strabane area."
Speaking to Derry News, a modest Eddie said he had been working in the community delivering good relations programmes and projects for 12 years.

“This involves going out and meeting community groups throughout the Housing Executive’s West Area, which involves Protestant / Unionist / Loyalist (PUL) and Catholic / Nationalist / Republican (CNR) communities, as well as race relations.

In 1998, under the Good Friday Agreement, Section 75, social housing landlords had to engage in trying to create more shared spaces. To do that, we would go out and meet with groups and try to encourage them to meet with each other, to deliver good relations programmes between one another and to encourage engagement with one another.

“We are also engaging, in terms of race relations, with people from ethnic minorities, the travelling community and people from all different countries across the world.

“We have two groups in the West area with whom I would engage on race relations: Strabane Ethnic Community Association and the North West Migrants’ Forum. I was nominated for the award by a member of the NWMF,” said Eddie.

Eddie said he had encouraged Forum members to feel confident when dealing with the Housing Executive.

“Sometimes, people from ethnic minorities might be apprehensive about going into a public agency.

“However, as a result of our engagement, people have now started to come in about housing issues. We also have contacts in the Housing Executive who meet with the NWMF and discuss housing needs.”

“I was delighted when my name was read out on the night,” said Eddie. “I was actually over the moon to receive the award. You’d have thought I won an Oscar from the reaction of my family and the Housing Executive members who were there too.”

Eddie explained that as part of his work he had taken part in a residential where people from different cultures and traditions met with representatives of the different statutory agencies.

He said: “There were facilitators there and we attended workshops around all the different cultures and traditions.

“I find that if you are aware of other people's traditions and you sit down and talk to them you have a lot more respect for them.

“The residential was funded through the Cohesion Fund in the Housing Executive.”

Eddie said he was committed to his good relations work.

“It is all about signposting people and helping them go forward.

“As a social landlord, NIHE is doing a lot more of that nowadays. We do it to create a shared space and to make areas more welcoming for people from all communities.

“This has a big advantage in terms of our houses. On the social housing side, it means our houses will be fully occupied and there will be less turnover in tenancies.

“Areas become quite quickly highly sought after and people have pride in their areas and ownership of them. In addition, all the neighbours try to get on, which is a big plus for the Housing Executive. Also, we have no void properties,” said Eddie.

Eddie believed maximum housing occupancy in an area helps to build good relations in estates.

“In my role, I work with 65 groups all together on the housing community network in the West area.

“Going forward, the community groups are there to help the community and we are there to help the community groups.

“The executive has always done that and will continue to do it, although there are other issues about repairs and schemes,

“We work to get to know people on a one-to-one basis, working on the ground, that way you can be a lot more helpful.

“You hear a lot more when you are on the ground. Presence and engagement at a local level, will always be the key factor in helping support the tenants.”