Community Cohesion

The Mary Ann McCracken Foundation is committed to building inclusive, cohesive communities where difference is respected and everyone has the opportunity to belong.

Responding to contemporary challenges such as racism, hate crime, and social division, the Foundation works with partners to improve integration and mutual understanding—particularly between long-established and newly arrived communities.

Our community cohesion legacy work focuses on:

• Improving integration in education and community settings
  We work with schools, youth organisations, universities, and community groups to support the inclusion of new communities. This includes developing conversational English opportunities, training local providers, and improving access for young people aged 16–25.

• Building partnerships between communities
  The Foundation maps and supports partnership work between local and migrant communities, identifying gaps and piloting place-based and thematic solutions—particularly in North Belfast. Our approach centres on listening, dialogue, and shared problem-solving.

• Creating spaces for understanding and dialogue
  We convene roundtable discussions and community conversations to ensure lived experiences inform policy, funding, and practice. These spaces help surface issues such as housing, education, and access to services, from multiple perspectives.

• Supporting leadership and inclusion
  The Foundation recognises the importance of leadership—particularly among women in new communities—and explores ways to strengthen community infrastructure, support participation, and influence funders to address unmet needs.

Through this work, the Foundation continues Mary Ann McCracken’s legacy of service, collaboration, and justice—championing dignity, fairness, and shared humanity in today’s society.

Recent legacy work in education can be seen below. 

Mary Ann McCracken fought for equality in all its forms. She treated and advocated for everyone she met throughout her long life with the same compassion and care, whether rich or poor, black or white. 

The Mary Ann McCracken Foundation continues with this ethos today, with projects and initiatives that support new communities in Belfast, and building community cohesion. One such project is ANAKA Women’s Collective. Find out more here.

Inspired by Mary Ann McCracken’s lifelong commitment to equality, social justice and the belief that communities are strongest when everyone is included and heard, the Foundation has supported  The Together Initiative with a large grant towards its work with the Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion in Northern Ireland.

The Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion is a once-in-a-generation, non-partisan initiative responding to the growing challenges of social division and disconnection across the UK. Bringing together leading voices from across politics, academia, business, faith and civil society, the Commission is working to understand the state of cohesion in our society today and to set out a shared, practical vision for how we can live well together in the future.

Recognising Northern Ireland’s unique social and political context, this funding will support targeted engagement with communities and organisations on the ground. It will ensure the Commission’s work is informed by the hard-won lessons of decades of reconciliation, while also contributing insights that can shape recommendations across all four nations of the UK.

Through community engagement, dialogue with civic partners, and visits from the Commission and its Secretariat, this work will help test and refine proposals so they are grounded in lived experience and responsive to Northern Ireland’s devolved landscape.

Jon Knight, CEO of Together Initiative commented “We are thrilled that the Mary Ann McCracken Foundation of the Belfast Charitable Society have supported /together as the Secretariat to the Independent Commission on Communities & Cohesion. With their support we can ensure that the Commission hears directly from partners in Northern Ireland about their unique cohesion challenges, and successes.”

Mary Ann McCracken believed deeply in dignity, fairness and the power of people working together for change. We are proud to support work that reflects those values and seeks to build stronger, more connected communities for the future.