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Rosemount Neighbours keeping in touch

Community cohesion Community groups Grants
The organisers photographed at the Thanksgiving event
The organisers photographed at the Thanksgiving event

The local saying ‘up a tree in Rosemount’ locally means avoiding trouble or running away.  Not so anymore, as Rosemount Resource Centre and the Housing Executive are helping residents from the Rosemount area talk about their past and process events in a positive, supportive environment.

The Rosemount community was decimated in the 1970s as a result of the Troubles, and thousands of residents moved from the City side to the Waterside.  At the time it was one of the biggest post-war migrations of its type in Europe.  The exodus of people across the River Foyle at the time meant neighbours and friends lost touch with people who remained in the Rosemount area.

Rosemount Resource Centre has been working alongside other community groups, to reconnect former and current residents from the area.  Feedback from previous events was overwhelmingly positive, so it was decided to host a Thanksgiving Day dinner to encourage friends and neighbours to keep in touch.

Elaine Power from Rosemount Resource Centre was really pleased they were awarded funding from the Housing Executive to bring the residents together.  She said:

“We are delighted the community of Rosemount has been given the opportunity to get together again.  It’s been a pleasure organising this Thanksgiving evening to bring our neighbours and friends in one place again.

“Thanks must go to the many volunteers who helped make this event happen, and to the Housing Executive for funding the dinner.”

The Thanksgiving dinner was also a chance to inform everyone about events that had happened throughout the year, with an oral history/storytelling round up, a history trip to Belfast and photos exhibited around the hall of neighbours and residents from the 1970s.

Housing Executive Patch Manager for the area, Donna Kelly, was at the dinner with Good Relations Officer for the area, Eddie Breslin.  Eddie said:

“It was great to see so many people coming together that maybe hadn’t seen each other in years.  The people from Rosemount are to be applauded that they’ve reached out to keep in touch and build new friendships across generations and the City.”