East Belfast Mission

East Belfast Mission, a registered charity since 1985, moved into a £23m state of the art building known as “Skainos” (Greek for tent) in October 2012.

All EBM projects are now under the one roof and the building is also home to organisations such as NIAMH, New Life Counselling, Tear fund, Replay Theatre Group, Age NI, Lush hair and beauty salon. Working in Community Regeneration in Ballymacarrett, a particularly socially deprived area of east Belfast, EBM has come a long way since the 1800s. EBM is part of the Methodist Church in Ireland and has a long track record of social engagement in the inner city and works to achieve “renewal and transformation in the East Belfast community”.

EBM works across all communities offering a range of services to meet the needs of everyone. With 90 staff currently employed and approximately 100 volunteers, the range of social projects include:

A worshipping congregation at the church
Church and Community outreach services
Hosford homeless support service
Stepping Stone- employability programme

Social Economy Projects

The social economy projects are the business arm of EBM and the income helps the sustainability of the social projects. A social economy business has 3 aims better known as “the triple bottom line” that is social, financial and environmental objectives.

12 restore charity shops including a Vintage shop with bridal department
refresh café and meals on wheels service locally
refurb workshop dedicated to the refurbishment of good quality second hand furniture
recycle bicycle repair workshop
repaint project
rekindle stick chopping project
Bright Sparks day care nursery
Skill project offering others the opportunity to learn from successful social enterprises
East Belfast Social Enterprise hub which is funded by Invest NI to tackle local unemployment and reduce the number of eyesore derelict premises within communities