Looking for a new role after a long week? 👀 We are #hiring a Part-Time Organiser for the Kind Economy campaign, a network of friends, neighbours, organisations, and businesses who believe in responding to the UK’s ‘hostile environment’ with kindness and solidarity 💛

🚨The social housing waiting list has just hit 50,000 households!🚨 Millions spent on temporary accommodation in hotels while acres of public land lie empty… 🤔 Something isn’t adding up, but the waiting list certainly is. 📈 takebackthecity.ie

Mental distress doesn’t happen in a vacuum. For many asylum seekers and refugees, trying to build a new life for their family in Northern Ireland can be a struggle. Violence, fear, and trauma in their old homes are compounded by poverty and homelessness in their new one.

In March 2025, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons told the Northern Ireland Assembly that he had approved funding for the Housing Executive to purchase 600 homes to use for temporary accommodation 🎉🏠 14 months on, how many of these homes have been purchased…? takebackthecity.ie

We had a great meeting yesterday with activists from the @gmb.org.uk GRASP Programme, chatting to them all about our anti-racism work, the Kind Economy, and the Anaka Women’s Collective! Looking forward to working together in the future! ✊

Great turnout at today’s protest action organised in collaboration with CATU, BRC and Anaka. We took our protest to the DfC, the government body with responsibility of building social housing. This protest was symbolic of our cross-issue unity. From Housing, access to work and Language rights.

We dived a wee bit deeper into the latest hate crime statistics from the PSNI, and what they tell us (or don’t) about the state of racist hate crime across the north… Read the full blog here 👉 www.werisetogether.ie/analysis/24/what-does-the-psnis-new-set-of-hate-crime-statistics-have-to-tell-us?

PPR joins 76 organisations across the UK in signing a joint letter marking #ICESCR50 Everyone should be able to rely on the foundations of a decent life, housing, food, health, and work. @justfairuk.bsky.social is calling on the UK Govt to make these rights real. justfair.org.uk/wp-content/u...

“Trying to start a different conversation about mental health is something that is needed around the world…” Join us to keep the conversation going, and show the government that urgent action must be taken to tackle the mental health crisis, at Stormont on Tuesday 16th June from 1-2pm!

Racist violence is at a crisis point, as PSNI’s most recent hate crime statistics show racist hate crimes and incidents spiralling out of control. @irishnews.com www.irishnews.com/news/norther...

Would you stay at a hotel with reviews like this for one night, let alone several weeks or even months?

Great turnout at our event last night with @catubelfast.bsky.social as part of Féile na gCloigíní Gorma 🏠 🩵 This event took place at the home of Catríona’s family home, just over a week since she was evicted. We spoke about the importance of language, culture and organising to protect our homes.

⏰ It’s time for a New Script for Mental Health. ⏰ It’s time to tell Stormont to stop ticking boxes. Watch this space… 👀

“They have found their own solutions over the years, looking to one another for solidarity and that’s what I’m seeing here in the community groups.” Thanks also to @irishnews.com for covering Dr Pat Bracken’s conversation as part of Féile na gCloigíní Gorma 👇 www.irishnews.com/news/norther...

“Yes, we need more money, but let’s have a debate about where the extra resources are going to be directed and what should be prioritised when it comes to funding mental health services.” Thanks to @viewdigital.bsky.social for covering our event this afternoon viewdigital.org/we-need-a-de...

“The home secretary’s position is that her policy will deter small boat arrivals, and will ensure that only people who genuinely need protection will have leave as refugees in the UK. Our clients argue that the home secretary’s policy is flawed and discriminatory."

Many thanks to @irishnews.com for covering the launch of the RISE tool last week, and as always to our amazing activists for bravely sharing their stories 💛 These powerful testimonies are not just isolated incidents, in recent years racially motivated hate crime has increased dramatically.

Something really creative is happening in this city… and you can be part of it this Monday 11th May at Newhill Community Centre! 🩵 As part of Féile na gCloigíní Gorma, Dr Pat Bracken will be speaking with Dr Feargal Mac Ionnrachtaigh about creating alternatives to our broken mental health system.

In the middle of launching a hate crime monitoring tool and organising against evictions, our superstar #KindEconomy chefs still found the time to cater for our friends at Glór na Móna! 🍽️ If you want to find out more about having the Kind Economy cater your event, contact [email protected] 💛

New Script activists were honoured to take part in Corrymeela’s 60th anniversary at the Linen Hall Library. Not a “safe space” — a brave one. Where silence , stigma and shame were pushed aside for connection, communirty and solidarity.

We’ve turned distress into disorder — and called it treatment.” — Dr Pat Bracken What if the problem isn’t you… but the story you’ve been handed about what’s “wrong” with you? Medication. Labels. “Take a bath.” Meanwhile, what people actually need gets sidelined: community, connection, creativity.

“We are moving from being ‘victims’ of a system, to being the authors of our own safety.” Thank you to everyone that came along to the Black Box yesterday to help us launch werisetogether.ie - a new community developed tool to monitor racist hate crime across NI.

Bígí linn to hear this vital conversation with Dr Pat Bracken, as part of Féile na gCloigíní Gorma and NI Mental Health Arts Festival! Register here 👉 pprproject.wufoo.com/forms/snvw3h...

Huge thanks to Lisa Gorman at JMD Training for hosting a Food Hygiene Training for 22 of the Anaka and Kind Economy chefs! This important training will help our chefs continue to provide delicious food to the community of Belfast 💛

New Script are delighted to be welcoming Dr Pat Bracken back to Belfast on Monday 11th May as part of the Mental Health Arts NI Mindset Festival & Féile na gCloigíní Gorma. Keep an eye out on our social media for booking information next week, spaces will be limited! 👀

Great chats on the doors during our leaflet drop around the Mackie’s ‘W Site’, where we’ve been organising to build homes and community spaces. As a community led campaign, engagement is key. You can always contact us at [email protected] with any input and queries you have about the campaign!

The community garden at Mackie’s is in full swing! 🌱 Raised beds that were built at our recent workshop at Gairdín an Phobail are now planted with potatoes 🥔, radishes 🫜, lettuce 🥬, calendula 🌼, strawberries 🍓, and onions 🧅! All thanks to the detoxifying work of the local primary school kids!

On Friday, Kind Economy activists gathered at @unisonni.bsky.social for a “Creating a Different Story” workshop, part of the Collaboration for Change series. We were joined by the 16+ Education Campaign, DAR Men’s Group, @actnowcampaigns.bsky.social, and others working for positive change.

#NewScript were delighted to be at the launch of the 2026 Mental Health Arts Mindset Festival yesterday, taking place across NI from 8-15th May ❤️ Huge congratulations for your new look, and a fantastic programme of events!

There are nearly twice as many homeless households across the north as there were in 2016, but the government has started construction on 1,000 fewer homes… 🤔 The Department for Communities keep missing their own targets, while families live in temporary accommodation for months or even years 🏡

How much is NI spending on suicide prevention? We asked. DoH: ask the PHA. PHA: ask the DoH. The truth? No central budget. No oversight. People are dying preventable deaths while the system can’t even track its response.

Did you catch #TakeBacktheCity on the radio last weekend? 👂📻 PPR’s Assistant Director Marissa spoke to Radio Ulster about the development of the Take Back the City campaign, for an episode of Consumer Fight Back on housing. Listen to the full episode here 👉 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

A High Court challenge brought by two doctors who were banned from working in the NHS while waiting for an asylum decision, has led to the UK Home Office lifting the ban on working for doctors and some other NHS jobs. But why did it take a high court challenge to fill these shortages in the NHS?

Trump has announced plans to bring back ‘insane asylums’ in the US. As psychologist Dr. Jessica Taylor explains, we’ve been here before and it did not end well 👉 bit.ly/4tybmfS We know only too well the harm caused by systems that prioritise control over care.

Take Back the City activists were getting their hands dirty again this week, establishing the St Clare’s Primary School tree nursery as part of our collective fight in replenishing our land 🌳 These trees will be looked after and cared for by the kids, before being planted on Divis Mountain!

Powerful event on Candour and Communities yesterday in St Comgall’s. Families at the coalface of accountability and justice campaigns shared valuable insights: Cover-ups aren’t rare. They are systemic.

We got together this afternoon with #TakeBacktheCity activists, some old and some new, to talk about the campaign… It was great to hear from people about what the campaign has meant for them, and how we can keep pushing for change in the future 💛🏡 Keep up to date at takebackthecity.ie

On Monday, #TakeBacktheCity held a great workshop with some of the young people from @springboardopps.bsky.social, chatting to them about the campaign, and their own knowledge and experience of housing issues in their areas 🏡 Lots of future leaders and campaigners in the room! ✊

Maith sibh everyone who joined our woodworking workshop with Gairdín an Phobail on Friday! A great morning learning the basics of measuring, cutting, and assembling wood, and even making some new planters to go up on the new community garden at Mackie’s! ✊ #TakeBacktheCity

Reminders from nature - 1. Everything’s changes, even the longest winters can’t last forever. 2. All we need is under our feet 3. It’s all about connection. It’s a tonic to be working with women’s groups in Newhill Community Centre as they dream their new outdoor spaces into being 🌱

Eid Mubarak to all our followers who are celebrating today! 🌙 Whether spending time with friends and family in Belfast, or in contact with loved ones back home, we hope everyone has a safe and peaceful Eid 💛

No data. No accountability. No reform. A recent blog from the New Script for Mental Health campaign breaks down the stark truth about mental health data in NI. Read it here 👉 www.nlb.ie/blog/277/no-...

At Iftar, people who are fasting come together with family and friends to celebrate and break their fast together. For refugees, asylum seekers, and other newcomers to Belfast this can be a difficult time to be far away from family and friends back home.

Big shout out to @antidepressantrisk.bsky.social for the incredible work they’re doing to help people better understand the risks of taking antidepressants 💙 We were so inspired after meeting their founder, Katinka Blackford, last week.

Last night we held our annual community Iftar meal, a collaboration between the Kind Economy, Anaka Women’s Collective, DAR, and CATU Belfast 🌙 It’s a space for our communities, many of whom are very far away from home, to mark the month of Ramadan together with friends and family in Belfast 💛

The Department of Health — the lead department responsible for Protect Life 2 Suicide Prevention Strategy — cannot or will not tell the public how much is being spent on suicide prevention. Instead, the Department of Health and the Public Health Agency have passed responsibility back and forth.

The Department for Communities have finished their consultation on the Decent Homes Standard, but will this mean any real change for people living in social homes? 🏡 Read PPR’s response here 👉 www.nlb.ie/blog/279/ppr...

A year ago, all the main political parties endorsed our Give 5: Steps to Wellbeing Rights Framework — a positive step to tackling the mental health crisis.