Guinness Gifted

Diageo Northern Ireland has announced that it has awarded Lough Neagh Rescue and St Brigid's GAC £4,500 each in funding to help support their activities. Both awards have been made through Diageo's 'Gifted' programme, which is now in its second year. The programme, which runs on an annual basis, allows the famous firm's employees who volunteer with local community groups or charities to nominate these groups for a donation from the company, whose brands include Guinness, Bushmills, Baileys and Harp. The applicants had to provide details of how a donation would be put to good use by their respective group or charity. All of the nominations were then considered in detail by Diageo, with Business in the Community independently assessing the applications. Finally, a total of 18 groups were chosen receiving a total grant of £44,000.

Fraud Found Out

A man was convicted at Limavady Magistrates' court this week for claiming benefits he was not entitled to. Robert McIlmoyle (54) of Anderson Crescent, Limavady claimed Housing Benefit totalling £11,322 while failing to declare capital. He was given a conditional discharge for two years and ordered to pay court costs of £25. He will also have to repay any outstanding money wrongfully obtained to the Social Security Agency.

HSENI Board Focus

The Stormont Enterprise Minister, Arlene Foster has announced four re-appointments to the Board of the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI). Serving a second, three-year term on the Board will be Lyn Fawcett, Crosby Cleland, Pat Lyons, and Gerard Campbell. Commenting on the re-appointments, the Minister said: "I would like to thank each of the Board Members for the contribution they have made and the commitment they have shown during their first terms of office. They have a broad range of skills and their re-appointment will provide continuity in taking forward the important work of HSENI," she said, adding: "I also want to recognise the contribution and commitment of the current Chairman, George Lucas, and the other existing Board members."

Ethnic Health Under Microscope

The NI Health Minister Edwin Poots has highlighted the challenging circumstances faced by some people from an ethnic minority background when accessing healthcare services in Northern Ireland. Speaking at a conference in Belfast, Mr Poots said: "We have seen a significant increase in our immigrant population in recent years and a number of health issues for ethnic minorities arriving here have been identified and these barriers are being addressed by Health and Social Care organisations. Adequate access to healthcare services because of language barriers, lack of information and difficulty registering with GPs are among the issues that have been identified and our health service must be sensitive to the particular needs of ethnic minorities," he said. "My Department has recently launched a review of the policy and legislation governing access to healthcare for overseas visitors which will, in due course, produce a comprehensive framework for the entitlement of overseas visitors to healthcare." The conference was organised by the regional, inter-sectoral Minority Ethnic Health and Social Wellbeing Steering Group, and was led by the Public Health Agency.

(BMcC/GK)