1st April: Still Here, Still Needed

1st April is often associated with jokes....

Today, 1st April, marks a significant and deeply challenging moment for us at AdaptNI —and for the wider charity and community sector across Northern Ireland.

From today, we begin operating in a landscape shaped by a 64% funding cut across services. It’s a moment many of us feared, and one that is already having real, visible consequences. We are seeing announcements, posts, and messages confirming that projects are closing. Services that people rely on are disappearing.

It is, quite simply, a dark day.

Our Story: Built From Nothing

When we launched AdaptNI on 1st July 2022, we did so in the face of a 100% funding cut. There was no safety net. No guaranteed support. No certainty that what we were building would survive.

But we knew something important: the need was there.

People who are Deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus, and those facing barriers to employment, were not being adequately supported. Specialist, tailored services were not a luxury—they were essential.

So we started anyway.

We built AdaptNI from the ground up because we believed that without this support, people would be left behind.

Now, nearly four years on, we find ourselves asking difficult questions.

How can services that are so clearly needed be so consistently undervalued?

Where else would you find specialist support—support that changes lives—not recognised as essential?

And what happens when that support disappears?

The truth is stark: without organisations like ours, there is nothing. No alternative. No backup system waiting to step in.

Despite everything, we are still here.

We will continue—because we have to.

We continue because we see the impact every day. We see individuals gaining confidence, finding employment, and accessing opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach.

We continue because the people we support do not have another place to turn.

And we continue because walking away is not an option.

Today should not be happening.

Specialist support services should not have to fight this hard to exist. Communities should not be left without the help they need. Organisations should not be pushed to the brink while delivering essential work.

We need recognition. We need investment. And we need action.

Because without it, more services will close. More people will be left without support. And the consequences will be felt far beyond today.

Our thoughts are with the staff who are unemployed this morning, their clients who needed them and their employers who have lost them.

1st April is often associated with jokes....