Communities and Covid - From community response to long term recovery

HOW has Covid impacted on the work of community organisations? How did they respond to the crisis, what did it tell them about those most disadvantaged and vulnerable in our communities, and what does all of this mean for the future?

SCI, the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland and the St Stephen’s Green Trust wanted to engage further with the groups being supported through our peacebuilding and social justice programmes to listen to their lived experiences as the pandemic unfolds.

Communities and Covid - From community response to long term recovery is the latest in a series of publications which record the perspectives of community organisations and examine the longer term recovery of communities as we seek to build back fairer. The report is attached to this article and is also available here: Communities and Covid - From community response to long term recovery..pdf

The latest report follows:

• Our first Covid and Communities story-telling publication, which featured a diverse range of groups and drew lessons from their experiences. See here.
• As the pandemic prompted a new level of collaboration between the public, voluntary, community and business sectors, we explored the positive developments which could be sustained into the future. Read Back to Normal or Back to Better? here.
• SCI also held a valuable public discussion on the way forward, with international and local perspectives on building a fairer future. Find video and an article here.

As part of an SCI Fellowship documentary maker Seán Murray also produced a new film which recorded experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic across the peaceline in west Belfast.