Belfast City Council

Three organisations have become the first to achieve ‘Ambassador’ status as part of #BelfastBusinessPromise accreditation scheme. Department for the Economy NI, Belfast Harbour and Linen Quarter BID celebrated their commitment to responsible and inclusive business practices at a networking event in City Hall yesterday. Designed to deliver fair pay, good jobs, and secure contracts, the council's accreditation scheme helps create a better, more inclusive city. It supports a community of businesses and organisations who want to hold themselves to high standards by adopting business practices which deliver added value to society through employment, procurement and working in partnership with communities. ?? Here’s the thoughts of our three new Ambassador organisations. To find out more about the #BelfastBusinessPromise and to register an interest, visit https://ow.ly/rB6w50V8fx2 #Belfast #BelfastBusiness #SocialValue #FairEconomy

Would you like to test your trade at St George's Market or the Kennedy Centre? Belfast-based businesses or individuals who apply for support through our business support services - including Go Succeed NI - have the opportunity to test their product or service for free up to six times. Rachel from Luminarae Wellness took up the opportunity to test trade at St George’s. In the short video below, she shares her thoughts on how this benefited her business. Find out more and apply at: https://ow.ly/SCsi50V5Yn9 #StGeorgesMarket #StGeorgesBelfast #BusinessStartUp #BusinessSupport #SupportLocalNI

Over the last few weeks, some of our staff have been taking part in training to better understand the issues around ending violence against women and girls in Belfast and how they can support this work. The courses, delivered over three sessions, are also available, free, to community and voluntary organisations across Belfast during March. Tracey from our Community Services team found the training really useful in learning more about the impact of domestic violence and coercive control on individuals and enjoyed the practical exercises and case studies which will enable her to better support others who may be impacted. View all the dates, times and locations on our website - https://lnkd.in/e-Ewfava - and email [email protected] to book a place. #EndViolenceBelfast #EndViolence #EVAWG #Community #Training

Wishing our Belfast partners the best of luck as they prepare to travel to Nashville USA this week to celebrate 30 years of the Sister City relationship between the two cities. The visit coincides with Peace Summit, a peace and civil rights conference being delivered by Queen's University Belfast, Belmont University and Fisk University in Nashville. The Sister Cities delegation, led by Belfast City Council, includes academic, business, government, and non-governmental organisation representation. It's a significant relationship for both cities in terms of business, culture, education, and tourism - and it's exciting to see what the future holds in terms of trade, culture, and education. #SisterCities

Reminder that an expressions of interest process is currently open for potential sponsors for this year's Belfast Sports Awards. This could be the right opportunity for your business if you're looking to: ?? increase brand awareness ?? highlight the achievements of local athletes, coaches and volunteers ?? target new audiences ???????? support local communities Complete our form at https://ow.ly/HRP950UOKCb by 4pm on Monday, 24 February, if you're keen to find out more. #Sponsorship #SponsorshipOpportunity

Good news this month that #BelfastCityCentre has renewed its Purple Flag status again, for the fifth year running. The scheme - similar to Green Flags for parks and Blue Flags for beaches - recognises cities for their commitment and work towards creating a vibrant and safe night-time economy. We're pleased to be part of the steering group for this work, along with the city's three Business Improvement Districts— Linen Quarter BID, Belfast One BID and Cathedral Quarter BID. There's so much ongoing work to develop Belfast's nightlife, including our own current survey looking at how best to bring Culture Night back to the city. This survey - aimed at arts and cultural venues, producers, artists, libraries and heritage spaces - is open until 12pm on Monday 24 February. You can complete the survey at https://ow.ly/cvEG50V48sH #BelfastCulture #Culture #CultureNight #PurpleFlag #NightTimeEconomy #EveningEconomy

Human rights activist Stuart Milk has arrived in Belfast for four days of events during LGBT+ History Month. The nephew and co-founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation is a special guest of Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Micky Murray, who has organised the programme to mark his year in office. He welcomed Stuart at 2 Royal Avenue – the first floor of which is the preferred venue for the city’s first dedicated LGBTQIA+ Hub – along with representatives from The Rainbow Project - Northern Ireland, HERe NI and other elected members. During his visit, Stuart will also meet with local students, hold a talk for young people and attend a film screening and Q&A. He will also deliver the keynote address at the Lord Mayor’s installation dinner at City Hall, coming up this weekend. #Diversity #Inclusion #Equality #LGBTNI #Belfast

Our Good Relations team were pleased to attend this event at Queen’s University last week to highlight the findings of our recent Segregation and the Environment: Breaking Down Barriers report. The research, published last year, identified strong links between a legacy of segregation and division in some parts of Belfast and our future ability to respond to the challenges posted by climate change. Crucially, it also found that, if more is done to reduce our ‘segregation handicap’, it will help Belfast achieve its vision of creating a more sustainable and resilient city by 2050. Read more about the report on our website at https://ow.ly/aI7650V3pQM #Segregation #Environment #ClimateNI #ClimateChange

Today, we welcomed Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, for a whistlestop tour of Belfast and the many positive developments happening in our city. Our Innovation and Belfast Region City Deal teams joined Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Micky Murray, and our Chief Executive John Walsh in showcasing key projects in #BelfastCityCentre, including the new Grand Central Station and Belfast Stories, along with recent developments at University of Ulster and across the Titanic Quarter. Mayor Rotheram also enjoyed a look at Belfast Harbour's innovative Harlander self-driving shuttle project, and shared his experiences and thoughts on what's needed to drive growth locally and attract investment in key sectors like life sciences and AI. #GrowthDeals #BRCityDeal #Partnership #Collaboration #Liverpool #LCR

The city's first ever Inclusive Tourism Awards took place at Titanic Belfast today as part of our Embrace the Inclusive Spirit programme with Tourism Northern Ireland and Visit Belfast Well done to all our winners, voted for by the public in the following categories: ?? Black Box - Going the Extra Mile ?? Titanic Belfast - Most Useful Visitor Information ?? 2 Royal Avenue - Warmest Welcome ?? Balmoral Hotel Belfast - Best Stay ?? Belfast International Arts Festival - Most Inclusive Experience ?? The Grand Opera House, Belfast - Outstanding Contribution The results were announced as over 120 hospitality providers, tour operators and event organisers gathered to hear about the benefits of catering to the ‘purple pound’ – a market worth an estimated ￡249 billion each year to the UK economy. Guests heard from Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Micky Murray, along with speakers Anthony Sinclair, founder of Sign Source Learning, accessibility blogger Carrie-Ann Lightley AccessAble and Jamie Shields, Co-Founder of Disabled by Society, on how to welcome visitors with a disability. They also enjoyed a performance from the Open Arts NI community choir and heard more about the free resources and training available to support our local tourism and hospitality businesses with improving inclusivity and exploring new markets. There's lots more info on our website too - belfastcity.gov.uk/tourism #InclusiveTourism #Inclusivity #EmbraceTheInclusiveSpirit #BelfastTourism #Collaboration