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Belfast Met Takes Residence in New North Belfast Community Hub
A new state-of-the-art community and leisure hub at Girdwood Park, was officially unveiled on Friday (15 January), with Belfast Met proudly taking up position as anchor tenant. The official opening kicks off a week of free events for everyone living in, or visiting North Belfast.
With a total value of £11.7 million, the hub is the first development on the former Girdwood Barracks site. Funding was provided by the EU’s PEACE III Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB), Belfast City Council and the Department for Social Development.Belfast Met will be delivering a range of courses from five dedicated classrooms within the hub. This includes the Prince’s Trust Team Programme and Essential Skills in numeracy, literacy, ICT and entry level ICT, and we are already working closely with community organisations to plan additional provision.
Speaking at the launch, Jonathan Heggarty, Belfast Met’s Director of Curriculum said: “We are extremely supportive of the ethos behind Girdwood and delighted to be part of the project. It is a wonderful facility and we are certain that, over time, it will develop into a valuable and vibrant community hub which will make a significant contribution to the ongoing regeneration of north Belfast.”
“We are the largest further and higher education college in Northern Ireland and are proud of our role in reaching out to, and into, communities. We have worked closely with the Council and our community partners, and look forward to offering more opportunities which help to put people on a pathway into further training or employment.”
The Girdwood Community Hub is open from 9am to 9pm (Monday to Friday) and 10am to 4pm (weekends). For membership options and programme information, visit www.better.org.uk/girdwood
Full details of all activities taking place during ‘Community Week’ are available from www.belfastcity.gov.uk/girdwood or by calling the hub on 028 9521 7870.