Community Places

Four people standing in front of a popup stand in an office. They are holding the Living Wage Employer sign.

Community Places is a not-for-profit voluntary organisation established in 1984. We are a charity and social enterprise based in Belfast and currently employ five members of staff.  

We provide free, independent, confidential planning advice to people and communities who cannot afford a private consultant – our free advice service covers the whole region.  We also work with community groups on spatial planning, place shaping, community engagement and support communities to participate in community planning.

Motivation for Living Wage Accreditation

We had heard of the Living Wage Foundation and our voluntary Board of Directors suggested we seek accreditation as a way of formally demonstrating our ongoing commitment to paying our staff a fair wage.

Implementation Process

We are fortunate enough to have structured and agreed payscales in place for all our posts – we double-checked our payroll figures for all staff against the current LWF rates and this confirmed that we were already paying above the threshold for the Living Wage.

Additional Workplace Changes

Fortunately, we knew we would meet the accreditation requirements so didn’t have to make any workplace changes or adjust anyone’s pay.

Challenges and Barriers

Applying for and achieving accreditation was a seamless process.  And we are very proud to display our Living Wage Employer plaque.

Benefits of Living Wage Accreditation

Being formally accredited as an organisation which pays a fair Living Wage will, we hope, help us attract (and retain) new staff in the future.

“Community Places has always been a great place to work and I’m very appreciative that my rate of pay is reviewed regularly and is commensurate with my admin role”.  

- Doreen O’Neill (Projects Secretary)