The Gallaher Trust works alongside a number of Delivery Partners servicing an array of sectors.
Details of the Delivery Partners and projects we have supported in the past and those we are currently supporting are shown below. Click on the Partner logos to go straight to that section.
The Northern Ireland Hospitality School of Excellence
The Northern Ireland Hospitality School of Excellence was created in 2021 following collaboration with three local hotels – the Adair Arms, Galgorm Resort and the Tullyglass House Hotel. The Gallaher Trust invested almost £290,000 to help establish this Hospitality School of Excellence Ltd as a not-for-profit organisation to attract, train and retain employees within the hospitality sector.
The school has now created bar and food service academies, including the Chef Academy in 2022, with an additional £146,000 funding. At these academies, trainees receive accredited training at Northern Regional College or South Eastern Regional College and, upon graduation, were guaranteed a job with one of the above three hotels. These academies have now created a total of 79 jobs and the School has also recently attracted funding from private sector businesses.
In 2024, Northern Regional College partnered with the NI Hospitality School to establish the Hospitality Academy with the help of funding from The Gallaher Trust. Over the next three years, The Gallaher Trust has committed £164,700 worth of funding to the new academy, which will include an initial one-year pilot scheme. The Academy will offer a five-week programme to students looking to gain hands-on experience in food preparation, cooking, baking, professional kitchen work, banqueting, reception and more. Following successful completion, participants in the programme will be guaranteed an interview with a local hospitality business with the view of securing employment. It is planned that over a three-year period, 45 trainees will successfully graduate, with 30 securing a job. To date, a total of six participants have already secured employment.
Northern Regional College
In 2021, The Gallaher Trust committed £141,000 to establish Ballymena’s first Manufacturing Academy.
The Academy is the result of a collaboration with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council’s Manufacturing Task Force, Northern Regional College and local manufacturing companies. It offers a five-week training programme for anyone within the wider Ballymena area who is seeking employment within the manufacturing sector.
Trainees will have the opportunity to boost their skills and secure employment with local manufacturing companies.
Through a number of programmes, training will be provided for sixty individuals, with all graduates being guaranteed at least one interview with a local manufacturing company.
So far, 46 trainees have graduated from four training programmes which have already taken place, with 13 of these securing jobs and a further seven undertaking additional training and education.
Habitat for Humanity NI
Over approximately four years, a total of £180,000 has been committed to Habitat for Humanity NI’s Building Impact project.
To date, The Gallaher Trust’s funding has seen 304 volunteers engaged with, 232 Open College Network (OCN) qualifications received and 44 volunteers going on to secure employment.
By the end of the project, it is planned that 60 volunteers will secure jobs through Pathways to Employment.
Ballymena Business Centre
– Enabling Enterprise
In 2018, The Gallaher Trust committed £183,600 to support the Ballymena Business Centre’s Enabling Enterprise project to encourage local business start-ups.
Over the last four years, this funding has created a total of 37 new jobs by supporting 128 start-ups via £500 seed funding. It also provided free town centre retail test trading opportunities for 13 businesses and delivered 36 training workshops for 450 entrepreneurs.
Based on this success, The Gallaher Trust agreed to fund the Ballymena Business Centre with a further £101,000 to continue with this project for three years until December 2025. During this time, the project aims to support 120 businesses with seed funding and retail test trading and create 36 new jobs.
To date, through the support of 101 new seed funds and 24 retail test trading opportunities, six new businesses have been established within the local area, which has led to 22 new jobs created.
Ballymena Business Centre
– 4i Innovation
In 2021, The Gallaher Trust committed £168,000 funding for the 4i Innovation project. This unique project is delivered by the Ballymena Business Centre and in partnership with Innovate NI.
The 4i Innovation programme provides in-depth support for small and micro businesses within the Ballymena area, to improve their innovation capabilities, create new products and services, and sustain their business growth and resilience.
Over a three-year period, this project aims to support 54 companies, provide skills training for their employees and create 54 new jobs. So far, the project has engaged with 50 businesses, upskilled 68 employees and the support of The Gallaher Trust has led to the creation of 31 new jobs in the area.
Triangle Housing
Triangle Housing is a charity which provides support to adults with learning disabilities, enabling them to find employment opportunities in the local Ballymena community.
In 2019, The Gallaher Trust committed £152,000 to the PARITY project.
Over the next three years, PARITY engaged with 240 individuals, with 34 progressing into transitional training/education and 12 progressing into employment. The project also engaged with 51 local businesses, securing 124 supply chain contracts and ringfenced 15 jobs for those with learning difficulties.
In 2023, The Gallaher Trust committed a further £60,000 to Triangle Housing to support the opening of a new ‘Ballymena Artisan Centre’ within Ballymena town centre, offering an artisan retail and craft experience and providing additional training opportunities for 40 disadvantaged adults with 23 already supported.
The Kings’s Trust (formerly The Prince’s Trust)
The Gallaher Trust first partnered with The King’s Trust in November 2019, providing £160,000 support for The King’s Trust. The PROGRESS project helps young adults from the Ballymena area gain the qualifications and skills they need to secure sustainable employment.
Over a three-year period, the project engaged with 108 young adults, with 80 improving their skills, 17 receiving Development Awards, 13 progressing into further education, and 33 gaining employment.
Following this success, The Gallaher Trust agreed to continue funding The King’s Trust with a further £150,000 for their three-year PROSPER project. By December 2025, this project aims to engage with 120 young adults from the area, with 60 receiving Development Awards, 30 entering further education, and another 30 securing employment.
To date, the project engaged with 72 young adults, and awarded 33 development awards. It has also supported 34 young adults to make the move into education and training whilst supporting 14 young adults in securing employment.
Age NI
In April 2019, The Gallaher Trust committed £85,000 to support Age NI’s Staying Sharp project which is a pilot project aimed at promoting healthy lifestyle choices and reducing the risk of developing dementia of older people who are living with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).
By June 2024, the project had supported 310 older people with MCI in Ballymena. Based on this success, a further £58,000 was committed to supporting 150 adults over the next three years and so far, Age NI has already supported 28 people.
Harryville Men’s Shed
Harryville Men’s Shed is a registered charity that supports men living in Ballymena by offering them a safe space to gather for social bonding, activities, healthy lifestyle projects and educational sessions.
In 2023, The Gallaher Trust committed to providing Harryville Men’s Shed with £45,000 worth of funding over the next three years. Thus far, this funding has been used to employ a part-time project co-ordinator, and it is planned that the Shed will continue to expand its scope of services within the Ballymena area.
With The Gallaher Trust funding, Harryville Men’s Shed plans to support Harryville’s mission by increasing membership figures by 250%, raising the number of men engaged in healthy lifestyle projects from 10 to 30; and growing the number of members engaged in training, educational and awareness sessions from eight to 25. To date, membership has increased by 78% to 32 and 40 events have been held with an average attendance of 11 people per event.
By using their skills in a productive, friendly environment, Men’s Sheds are helping to combat the loneliness often associated with older age in men.
Scholarships
The Gallaher Trust has invested a total of £160,000 to establish three scholarships which will support 18 disadvantaged young adults within the wider Ballymena area by September 2025.
In 2021, The Gallaher Trust partnered with the Northern Regional College to establish a Foundation Degree Scholarship. This scholarship supports two students per year who wish to study courses in Engineering, Business with Digital Technology, Computing and Creative Media, covering their course fees for two years.
In 2022, The Gallaher Trust partnered with Supporting Communities to establish a University Scholarship. The scholarship is supporting two students per year who wish to study STEM or business subject at either Queen’s University, Belfast, or Ulster University. This scholarship gives the recipients a £1,500 technology package and £2,000 per year for course fees.
In 2023, The Gallaher Trust partnered with the Ulster Farmers’ Union, providing £65,000 of funding to support Ballymena’s rural economy. The farming scholarships support two local students per year wishing to study at CAFRE (College of Agriculture and Rural Enterprise). This scholarship gives the recipients a £1,500 technology package and covers course fees.
Already, a total of 15 students have been supported with two graduating and securing jobs.
Ballymena Business Improvement District (BID)
In 2024, The Gallaher Trust pledged support of over £20,000 to Ballymena Business Improvement District (BID)’s ‘Leaders of Tomorrow’ Programme, an initiative created to support business growth through improving employability skills in Ballymena town centre.
The Ballymena BID was set up with the aim of encouraging growth, development, and investment in local businesses. The ‘Leaders of Tomorrow’ Programme aimed to target the challenges reported by local businesses surrounding internal promotions following the COVID-19 pandemic, when many business owners reported issues with employee confidence as a barrier to filling vital management roles.
Using the funding from The Gallaher Trust, the ‘Leaders of Tomorrow’ programme aimed to bridge this gap, by providing skills and confidence training to 24 employees across 21 local businesses that helped develop their skillset and facilitate career progression. As a result of this programme, eight participants received internal promotion which resulted in six new jobs being created.
Ballymena Club for the Hard of Hearing
The Ballymena Club for the Hard of Hearing was founded in 1993 with the aim of providing support to those living and working with hearing loss in the local Ballymena area.
Since then, the group has gone on to establish a number of initiatives aimed at helping people living with hearing loss to improve their communication skills, socialise through lunches and outings, and live independently. The Club also runs weekly lip-reading classes which are taught by an experienced, qualified tutor and are open to all abilities.
In 2024, The Gallaher Trust committed over £3,000 to the Ballymena Club for the Hard of Hearing to help with the purchase of a much-needed new portable loop system for their members’ use. The new device is being used for the lip-reading classes held by the Club, and is making a positive difference to those who rely on the lipreading sessions for learning and socialising.
Springboard
Springboard UK is a charity that was set up with the aim of relieving poverty and unemployment by promoting careers within the hospitality, leisure, and tourism industry, and supporting those seeking employment within it.
Springboard aims to build lasting life skills for disadvantaged people, in turn building their confidence and helping them launch their career. The Gallaher Trust has committed £83,000 worth of funding to Springboard’s Destination Hospitality – Steps to Employment for Ballymena. It is planned that over the three-year period, Springboard will train and support 45 adults from Ballymena, with 24 of these adults progressing into employment.
Supporting local unemployed people from the Ballymena area, Springboard will provide access to digital training courses which will focus on developing the soft skills, confidence, and employability of trainees. These courses offer mentoring and coaching to participants, with the aim that they will go on to achieve qualifications and secure interviews with employers. The modules offered on these training courses are created with the specific needs of the Ballymena population in mind, and are designed to up-skill adults wishing to seek employment in the hospitality, leisure or tourism sectors. So far, 14 individuals have been supported with six successfully completing training and securing employment.
NIACRO
NIACRO is a charity which was established in 1971 with the aim of supporting adults who have previous convictions.
The charity provides a number of services focused on mentoring, advocacy, employability, and practical support which are used by around 5,500 adults annually.
In 2024, The Gallaher Trust committed £150,000 to help support the NIACRO SkillSET (Support, Employment, and Training) Programme over a three-year period. This funding aims to provide employability support to 114 adults with convictions from the wider Ballymena area, with 21 of these people going on to secure employment and 42 progressing to further education or training. Already, 26 individuals have been supported, 12 have successfully completed training and 11 have secured employment.
Click on the Partner logos to see more details of the Delivery Partners we have supported in the past:
USEL
The Gallaher Trust has offered financial support to USEL, one of Northern Ireland’s leading providers in assisting individuals with disabilities or health conditions to gain employment.
Due to support from The Gallaher Trust, USEL was able to establish a circular economy recycling centre in Ballymena, providing a total of 35 jobs including 12 full time roles, for individuals suffering from disabilities or health conditions.
Not only does USEL provide these individuals with employment opportunities, the organisation’s Employment Support Division, also promotes skills development.
Samaritans
The Samaritans is a charity which provides support to those suffering from mental health issues, which is something the Gallaher Trust views as vitally important.
With support from The Gallaher Trust, the Samaritans in Ballymena was able to upgrade its facilities, enabling the organisation to continue providing essential services to the people of Ballymena.
Simon Community Northern Ireland
The Gallaher Trust awarded £14,401 as a one-off sum to the Simon Community which was used to purchase furniture for the Ballymena site.
The Ballymena facility provides temporary accommodation and the opportunity to learn new skills for approximately 22 homeless people per year. The Trust’s funding saw the installation of bedroom furniture, small fridges and blinds.
Women’s Aid
In 2019, The Gallaher Trust provided £70,000 of funding to support Women’s Aid Reconnect project. This project secured the employment of a Reconnect worker and helped women affected by domestic violence reintegrate into their local and wider communities through personal development, training, education, and employment.
In the following three years, the project engaged with 467 women, with 275 reporting improved confidence and self-esteem, 330 achieving OCN accredited training and 24 moving into education or employment.
In 2023, The Gallaher Trust provided an additional £20,000 funding to support this project until December 2023. During this time, the Reconnect project engaged with a further 133 women affected by domestic abuse, provided training opportunities, including OCN accredited courses, for 93 women and enabled seven women to progress into training /employment.
The Gallaher Trust works with a number of delivery partners which help to make a real difference to the lives of people living in the Ballymena area.
Click on the case studies below to hear how we were able to assist USEL, Triangle Housing and the Ballymena Business Centre.
Marking its 5th anniversary in October 2023, The Gallaher Trust hosted its first Making a Difference (MAD) Awards, recognising the outstanding achievements of its delivery partners.
Hosted by the BBC’s Jo Scott, with an inspiring keynote speech from Oscar award-winning actor, James Martin, the MAD Awards was a tribute to the Trust’s delivery partners, local community groups and organisations, making a positive impact on the Ballymena area. Click on the video below to watch.
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