It’s been a busy year for the Take Back the City campaign, which has been working tirelessly to foster community ties, solidarity, and, above all, instilling a belief that there is truly nothing we can’t accomplish together. From taking a stand against NIHE succession cases to resisting evictions at every turn, our campaign has yet again played a pivotal role in helping families secure housing points, improved living conditions – and most importantly homes.

This past May we joined forces with CATU Belfast, Glór na Móna and the Beechmont Residents’ Collective to stage a powerful Anti-Eviction march. It was inspiring to see affected families take the lead, bravely shining a light on the harsh and unnecessary consequences of the NIHE’s unfair succession policy. In June, we quickly mobilised for an anti-deportation community rally, drawing over 100 supporters from across the city who stood in solidarity with a family in need. This united front really made a difference, allowing the family to remain in their home, secure a new legal team to pursue their asylum case and continue with their studies and volunteering work.

An impressive 6,000 people came through the MAC’s doors, with more than 500 signing up to support the TBTC campaign.

As spring unfolded the campaign co-curated ‘The State of Belfast’ exhibition with the MAC, the Tate Foundation and the Grenfell Foundation, built around Steve Mc Queen’s harrowing yet necessary work ‘Grenfell’.  Our campaigners acted as guides over ten weeks, leading on various workshops, discussions, and film screenings. Queen’s University, TBTC coalition members and partners in the ‘Change Stories’ project also hosted a gallery of students’ work reimagining the derelict land at Mackie’s. An impressive 6,000 people came through the MAC’s doors, with more than 500 signing up to support the TBTC campaign.

In August, the TBTC squad participated in a day-long football tournament celebrating anti-racism and building solidarity across communities.  Attracting over 5,000 attendees from more than 12 nationalities, the Kind Economy crew formed their own team as well as providing a mobile Kind Economy Kitchen for participants! We proudly raised over £1,200 for Medical Aid for Palestine and the Lajee Centre in the West Bank.

In September, we launched our plans for 35 houses on Department for Communities owned land at Springfield Parade in the south west of the Mackie’s site. Four families met with the NIHE to discuss the plans and asked them to advocate for this small contribution to addressing housing need. The NIHE has pledged to reach out to the Department for Communities and encourage them to connect with TBTC—stay tuned for updates!

Another year of partnering with local schools to rewild the Mackie’s site and reclaim land with native planting has been a success. We helped the children of St Clare’s Primary School establish a tree nursery and even assisted them to create a fairy tree house from locally grown willow. Plus, we proudly hosted not just one, but two people’s farms (Feirm an Phobail) as part of Féile na Carraige alongside a talk from the renowned Kali Akuno of Co-Operation Jackson, who talked about how to foster mutual aid in marginalised communities. We even squeezed in a quick trip to Serbia to provide some Human Rights based training to fifteen grassroots organisations merely trying to do what we are – holding those responsible accountable whilst at the same time creating alternative systems to make people’s lives that wee bit easier.

Throughout the year TBTC has remained committed to serving the communities we are organising in. Hundreds of doors were knocked on and we continued with our housing clinics across the city. Despite the grim realities of our housing crisis - with recent figures revealing 49,588 households are now on the social housing waiting list- families continued to join the campaign knowing that together meaningful change can be created.