Northern Ireland children's charity sets up GoFundMe page to fill £492,000 shortfall for a new HQ

A Belfast charity for children with special needs has set up a GoFundMe page to help raise a £492,000 shortfall to build new headquarters in Northern Ireland.

Launched only 24 hours ago the Sólás funding site has already raised nearly £1,500 with over 44 people making donations.

The building project on Ormeau Road was originally earmarked for a £800,000 funding boost from Belfast Borough Council. But a political row over cutting the amount by 97% to £24,744 and sharing the rest among other community groups delayed the allocation.

However on Monday night Belfast Borough Council agreed to give Sólás around £308,000.

The issue was debated in Council behind closed doors and the proposal to reinstate the original £800,000 was voted down. But a majority backed the proposal by the DUP to award £500,000 to both the Market Development Association and the Greater Village Regeneration Trust, and around £308,000 each to three other groups - Sólás, Lower Ormeau Residents' Action Group (LORAG) and Fitzroy Presbyterian Church.

The money is part of the council's £10m Neighbourhood Regeneration Fund aimed at helping groups deliver capital projects in their communities.

In response, Joan Henderson, the organiser of the GoFundMe page for Sólás, is appealing to the public to help raise the nearly £500,000 deficit.

It states: “Sólás is a special needs charity in Belfast, which supports children, young people and their families with a broad range of additional needs.

“We have a number of social development, educational support and parent support programmes. Some of our current programmes include, early years intervention services, afterschool clubs, youth clubs, respite services, homework clubs, back on track school support, home support, therapeutic services, play and art therapy, adult and children's counselling services, siblings club and SONA, a young adult support service.

“Sólás have grew substantially over the past few years and our goal is to keep up with the demand placed on our service and grow with it. In order to do this, we require a new building on our main HQ site at 284a Ormeau Road, which will give us more room and capability to continue to provide our programmes.

“As you may be aware from recent media coverage we have managed to secure £308,000 from the Neighbourhood Regeneration Fund to contribute to the first phase of building. We had originally been earmarked for £800,000, leaving us with a shortfall of £492,000 which we are hoping to raise through additional pots of funding that we may be eligible for, however, we are also asking for the wider public to consider fundraising on our behalf or alternatively you can make a small donation.

“We do recognise the financial struggle that some may face so please be reassured that every single penny, no matter how small, will go towards helping us achieve our goal of having a purpose built facility that can meet the needs of the children and families across our community."

In a post on social media, Sólás, added: “In response to numerous requests from service users and the wider community, we have set-up a GoFundMe page to help us achieve the shortfall for phase 1, of the build. We would appreciate if you could share this link with friends and family. Every pound raised really will make a difference!”

The GoFundMe page can be found online here.