NICVA''s History

NICVA began life in 1938 as the Northern Ireland Council for Social Services (NICSS), in response to high levels of unemployment in Northern Ireland.

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 NICVA began its life in 1938 as the Northern Ireland Council for Social Services (NICSS) in response to high levels of unemployment in Northern Ireland.

It championed a programme of social action through welfare clubs, youth hostel tours, YMCA summer camps and a Committee for Women.

In 1949 NICSS opened Pine Lodge, a home for the elderly on the Belmont Road, Belfast. This marked the Council''s growing responsibility as an ''umbrella'' organisation for projects which tackled social deprivation in the community.

Thirty Years of Growth
Request a free copy of The Times that Were in It (2000), which charts the growth of the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland over the last 30 years. To order contact:

 Lynn Anderson
 028 9087 7777
Over the last 64 years NICSS has become increasingly well known. Its name changed to the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) in 1986 in recognition of the expansion of the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland.

Today NICVA represents the interests if its members and over 5000 voluntary and community groups.