About Creggan Enterprises
We believe that future success depends on investment in people, especially the young.
Co-operation and Partnership
We at Creggan Enterprises Limited (CEL) are working to address the social and economic needs of the local community. It is our belief that inclusive community economic development and the promotion of humanitarian and social justice principles is vital to enable the creation of a sustainable and healthy neighbourhood.
If areas such as Creggan, Bogside and surrounding districts are to have any meaningful economic opportunities, we must operate as a unit with all sectors supporting and sustaining the community. Experience has shown that it makes little sense to build houses or create a new housing development scheme that is isolated from supporting services, infrastructure and employment opportunities. We must develop a common understanding of the nature of a community and its problems, and create a vision based on the premise that local development should be community-led.
The regeneration of economically depressed areas like Creggan must combine economic, physical, social and human development through local ownership of initiatives within their localities.
Through its activities, and through local ownership of redundant land at Bligh’s Lane, CEL has created the successful Ráth Mór Business and Community Enterprise Centre, and ensured that all of the benefits from this Social Economy initiative are reinvested in the local community and its people via the organisation’s charitable activities.
Spirit of Self-help
Success is dependent on effective co-operation in which all social partners share a common goal and vision. They must target resources and use their skills, expertise and collective power to build a sustainable local economy and community.
The future lies with our children and with those groups who have the foresight to see what fundamental changes in policy and thinking are required to address the needs of communities such as Creggan. CEL believes that future success depends on investment in people – especially the young. Many of the current policies for promoting job creation and tackling unemployment and social exclusion fail to meet the real needs of families and the unemployed. Because of such failures, many communities can become disaffected and excluded. However, over the past 50 years, local groups, schools and the people of Creggan have shown the determination and the vision to promote and fight for their area. Many lessons can be learned from the residents of Creggan, and the spirit of self-help and resilience which best describes their endeavours.
We believe that our success will further help to place Creggan on the agenda of government agencies, city council, policy makers and planners. We will continue to argue for what we believe to be the best strategies for targeting resources and building equality of opportunity for the local community.
Creggan Enterprises as a social economy initiative (and more recently a charity), established in 1991, has attracted in excess of £14 million to the area through the various projects and programmes it has initiated through a process of local ownership of knowledge, land and resources now located at the Ráth Mór Community and Business Centre.
Creggan Enterprises has since its inception:
• Created 300 jobs to date within Creggan as a direct result of the 60 various enterprises and projects located at Ráth Mór, with an estimated £5 million per annum in wages being earned, spent and circulated within the local community.
• Allocated £300,000 surplus profits to local groups, charities and projects.
Creggan Enterprises is not just about financial profit – it is about the common good, which seeks to strengthen the economic and social infrastructure of the community that actively helps to promote progress towards a more socially just and inclusive society. CEL are firmly invested in the improvement of the economic, health and social wellbeing of Creggan and surrounding environs.
Mission
CEL seeks to contribute to the common good, strengthen the economic and social infrastructure of the community, and promote progress towards a more socially just and inclusive society.
Values and Principles
• Creating a community structure for economic and social renewal in an area of high unemployment and low income, which previously had poor service provision
• Involvement of local people in the process of social and economic renewal
• Generating profits for the common good
• Creating a vehicle for partnerships and a channel for investment
• Promotion of greater community ownership
• Stimulating community renewal and sustainability
• Provision of innovative services for the community
• Being a pathway to peacebuilding, economic and social inclusion
Aims & Objectives
CEL’s core aims and objectives are as follows:
“The promotion, for the benefit of the public, of urban regeneration in areas of economic, physical and social deprivation (and in particular the Creggan area) by all or any of the following means:
(a) the relief of financial hardship
(b) the relief of unemployment
(c) the advancement of education, training or retraining, particularly among unemployed people, and providing unemployed people with work experience
(d) the provision of financial assistance, technical assistance or business advice or consultancy in order to provide training and employment opportunities for unemployed people in cases of financial or other charitable need through help: (i) in setting up their own business, or (ii) to existing businesses
(e) the creation of training and employment opportunities by the provision of workspace, buildings, and/or land for use on favourable terms
(f) the provision of a wide variety of programmes / services which support economic and social inclusion
(g) the provision of trauma support services, counseling and wellbeing programmes
(h) the provision of intermediation, peace-building and reconciliation support service and programmes
(i) the provision of personal development programmes and dedicated support activities for young people
(j) the provision of wellbeing, educational, heritage and cultural support programmes and activities for older people and the general public
(k) the provision of a neutral community venue, providing access to a range of free cultural, heritage and digital activities and events for all ages and backgrounds.
(l) such other means as may from time to time be determined subject to the prior written consent of the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.”
Core charitable Work
Since its inception, in addition to our economic regeneration remit, CE has been at the forefront of intercommunity mediation and peace initiatives in the area and beyond. To meet the changing needs of the Creggan (and broader Derry) community, CE has developed and delivered a range of innovative community development programmes focusing on good relations, peace-building and reconciliation; social and digital inclusion; youth engagement, family support and engagement; education/training, skills development and social enterprise support; creativity, mental health and wellbeing development.
Board of Directors / Staff
Creggan Enterprises Board of Directors/Trustees and senior executive staff have been recognised for being proactive and innovative and are drawn from members of the local community, private and social economy sectors, including:
• Garvan O’Doherty (Chairperson)
• Joe McFeely (Secretary)
• John Bradley (Treasurer)
• Pauline McClenaghan (Director)
• Brendan McKeever (Director)
• Anne Molloy (Director)
• Conal McFeely (Development Executive)