BREAKING THE CYCLE OF POVERTY
We listen first, act with humility, and walk alongside our communities – using the resources available to us to build resilience, tackle poverty, strengthen systems and reflect God’s love.
Our Partners
Craigavon and Banbridge Volunteer Bureau (CBVB) plays a vital role in supporting and strengthening volunteering across the local community. They are responsible for the recruitment, support, placement, training, and ongoing development of volunteers, working closely with voluntary, community, and statutory organisations to deliver a wide range of high-quality volunteering opportunities.
CBVB also supports organisations by providing guidance and tools for best practice, including volunteer management, policy development, and wider volunteering-related support. Through a strong community development approach, they actively promote citizenship and help tackle social isolation—recognising the positive impact volunteering can have on health and wellbeing.
Their work spans a broad range of sectors, with volunteers contributing to areas such as support for older people, young people, individuals with disabilities, counselling and domestic violence services, women’s groups, and wider community development initiatives. In addition, CBVB operates as an umbrella body, processing around 300 access checks each year for volunteers involved in regulated activities.
GIG Support:
The GIG Foundation has supported us to continue reaching individuals who are often hardest to engage, those experiencing social isolation, poverty, and hardship. Through this support, people are being encouraged and empowered to make a positive difference within their communities through volunteering, while also improving their own health and wellbeing. The kindness and backing of GIG is helping us to continue changing lives in a meaningful and lasting way.
Simpact exists to work alongside community and voluntary organisations to support the health and wellbeing of their staff and volunteers, in ways that are practical, person centred and grounded in real sector experience.
GIG Support:
The support from the GIG Foundation has been transformational for Simpact Solutions CIC. As a new organisation built from lived experience, passion, and a commitment to community wellbeing, the backing from GIG has provided both belief and practical support at a crucial stage of development.
As a full time carer, building a purpose led organisation around family responsibilities and community need, the support from GIG created an opportunity to turn years of experience, learning, and passion into meaningful action, while laying the foundations to create future employment and community impact within Northern Ireland.
Their investment has allowed us to begin building real foundations, purchase essential health and wellbeing equipment, strengthen community engagement, and focus on developing preventative wellbeing support for staff, volunteers, and organisations across the voluntary and community sector.
Beyond funding alone, GIG’s support has given us the confidence and opportunity to turn a long term vision for meaningful community impact into a growing reality.
Changing Lives NI is a community-based mental health charity located in Riverside Mall, Gilford, supporting people of all ages. We provide compassionate, inclusive care for individuals facing mental health challenges, emotional distress, addiction, bereavement, isolation, and family difficulties.
Our services include men’s and women’s groups, peer support networks, bereavement and family support, wellbeing programmes, community outreach, and mental health awareness workshops. Each initiative is designed to help individuals feel connected, supported, and empowered in their journey toward improved wellbeing.
At the heart of our work is a strong belief that early intervention is prevention. We are committed to offering support before individuals and families reach crisis point. Through safe spaces, practical assistance, education, and meaningful community engagement, Changing Lives NI works to reduce stigma, strengthen resilience, and create lasting, positive change across communities within the Southern Health & Social Care Trust area.
GIG Support:
We want to express our deepest and most heartfelt thanks to GIG FOUNDATION for believing in us, believing in our mission, and for placing their trust in Changing Lives NI with such a substantial and secure investment in our future. Their support means more to us than words can truly capture.
For so long, like many organisations in the community and voluntary sector, so much of our time and energy has been spent searching for funding, applying for short-term pots of money, and carrying the constant uncertainty of whether our service could continue from one funding period to the next. That pressure can be overwhelming. It takes valuable time away from the people who need help the most. Thanks to this incredible support from GIG FOUNDATION, that weight has been lifted from our shoulders. We now have the security and stability to focus fully on what matters most — helping, supporting, and standing alongside the people and communities we serve every single day.
This funding means the world to everyone at Changing Lives NI because it gives us the opportunity to build for the future with confidence. It allows us to think long-term, strengthen the sustainability of our organisation, and continue creating real and lasting impact in the lives of others. Changing Lives NI was founded on the belief that everyone deserves support, hope, and opportunities to move forward, and this investment allows us to continue turning that belief into action.
We are already making plans for how we can use this opportunity to create the greatest possible impact. We want to reach more people, provide stronger support, and continue developing services that genuinely change lives. Having the security to plan ahead instead of constantly worrying about survival is transformational for our organisation and for the people who depend on us.
To GIG FOUNDATION, thank you for trusting us, supporting our vision, and walking alongside us on this journey. Your belief in Changing Lives NI will allow us to continue changing lives for many years to come.
From the bottom of our hearts we thank you for giving us this opportunity 💚
Just A Chat is a grassroots mental health and suicide prevention charity based in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, originally founded in 2022. The charity operates a physical hub in the Legahory area of Craigavon and focuses on reducing the stigma around mental illness through conversation, connection, and community support.
Just A Chat provides a welcoming Community Hub that offers a safe, non-judgmental space where individuals can feel heard and supported through genuine conversation and connection.
The organisation also delivers Mental Health Workshops to schools, community groups, and young people aged 11–18, helping to build resilience and equip participants with practical coping strategies.
Weekly peer-led groups, including Women’s Wellness and Men’s Room, create safe and supportive environments where individuals can talk openly, connect with others, and take time away from everyday pressures.
Through its Football Therapy initiative, including Just A Chat FC, the charity promotes physical activity, teamwork, and communication, supporting both mental and physical wellbeing.
Individuals can also access personalised support plans tailored to their specific needs, helping them connect with appropriate services, develop structure, and receive ongoing guidance.
Just A Chat further supports individuals by providing free counselling referrals, offering access to professional support for those experiencing mental health challenges, emotional distress, grief, trauma, or personal difficulties.
Addiction support groups provide safe and encouraging environments for individuals affected by addiction, offering peer support, guidance, and pathways toward recovery.
In addition, Just A Chat Youth offers a safe, inclusive space for young people to connect, build confidence, and feel heard. Through football, workshops, activities, and open conversations, young people are supported to develop resilience, teamwork, leadership skills, and a strong sense of belonging within their community.
Email: info@justachat.co.uk
Social Media-Updates and group schedules are regularly posted on – Just A Chat NI Facebook Page or Instagram.
GIG Support:
The support from the GIG Foundation has changed the journey of Just A Chat in a way words will never fully describe. What once started as conversations, hopes and dreams within our community has now become something truly life-changing for so many people because of their belief in us.
Their support has allowed us to open doors we never thought possible — creating our own hub, expanding our services, building safe spaces for people to talk, and developing group-led support that gives people a sense of belonging, purpose and hope. It has allowed us to reach more people than ever before, standing beside individuals and families during some of the darkest moments of their lives.
Most importantly, this support has allowed us to make a real difference at grassroots level, where support is often needed most but can sometimes be overlooked. Every workshop delivered, every conversation held, every person supported, and every life impacted has been possible because someone believed in what we do.
We will never take that for granted. From the bottom of our hearts, we are beyond grateful to the GIG Foundation for not only supporting our charity, but for believing in our community, our mission, and the people we fight for every single day. 💚🖤