The Irish community is made up of many inspirational organisations and individuals, our purpose is to bring together these many voices – to share expertise, to represent, to campaign for and support the growth and wellbeing of our community and the infrastructure around it.
Irish in Britain was formerly known as the Federation of Irish Societies, established in 1973 when the Northern and Southern Federations came together to create a single national body. Our membership is made up of societies, groups, clubs, services and individuals, who become Friends of Irish in Britain, and they play an integral part in bringing ‘Irish in Britain’ to life.
We are driven by the creativity and energy of our members and wider community and value their expertise and knowledge. We thrive on this to create conversations to lead, champion and connect the Irish in Britain.
WHAT WE DO
We help build sustainability into our member organisations; promote healthy living; draft policy positions and campaign for issues that matter to the whole community.
We deliver work in many different areas including:
Research into the Irish community in Britain
Policy and advocating for the Irish community on a range issues – from welfare reforms to dementia services
Parliamentary work – providing the Secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ireland and the Irish in Britain
Campaigning – from raising the profile of the Irish cultural contribution to Britain, highlighting the need to address heart health through our Green Hearts initiative, to providing the template for memory–loss/dementia friendly communities through our Cuimhne strategy.
Community Development – providing advice, guidance and support to Irish groups, societies and clubs across Britain to help ensure their sustainability and growth.
Our Annual Reports are available here
Our mission is to be the representative voice providing leadership, campaigning and support to the Irish community in Britain.
OUR VALUES
We are empowering.
We believe in bringing out the best in our people; equipping them to make their own decisions and reach their potential.
We want to enable our community to flourish through support and advocacy; and in our own work, we will have higher expectations of ourselves and each other.
We are inclusive.
We respect and value people for who they are, and believe that by giving people a voice, and listening to what they have to say, everybody benefits
We are open, and value differences. We look to involve our members, volunteers and staff in all we do, and where we see it, we will challenge discrimination. We believe in giving people at all levels a voice in decisions.
We value integrity and trust in every aspect of our work through our commitment to openness, honesty and transparency. Where there may be difficulty in implementing our values in service delivery, advocacy and representation we will challenge positively and with persistence.
We are creative.
In all our practice we look for ways to innovate and develop our services so that we can enable community development in a sustainable and ethical way
We’re constantly listening and learning. We’re open to change and work with others so that we can achieve more and find solutions to the common and new challenges we face.
We are accountable.
We take responsibility for our actions, keeping people informed and always do what we’ve said we’ll do. We communicate openly and honestly. We take on board feedback and evaluate our results and impact as we strive to improve.