Our History

Little did we know what the next quarter of a century would bring! Start360 now employs

Over 2021-2022 Start360 employed 80+ staff in 8 office locations, delivering 27 services across Northern Ireland - in the areas of Health, Justice and Employability. We work with young people, families and vulnerable adults who are often disengaged from mainstream services and marginalised from their communities.

Back in 1993, Opportunity Youth was born in North Belfast - as a small, public sector project. We soon outgrew our premises and moved into Winetavern St (behind Castlecourt), before moving again to Hill St in 2004. Meanwhile we established ourselves throughout NI, with offices in Belfast, Derry/Londonderry, Ballymena, Enniskillen, Glengormley, Lurgan and all three prisons.

We also outgrew the name Opportunity Youth, and so became Start360 in April 2014 - to better reflect the wider range of service users who we work with on a daily basis.

The latest chapter in our story sees us moving again, to bigger head office premises in William St in August 2017.

Start360 is a leading provider of support services to young people, adult offenders, and families across Northern Ireland.

We provide a range of services and interventions in the areas of Health, Justice and Employability.

Our mission statement is that ‘Change Starts Here’ and our vision is ‘Every Person Stronger’.

In the 2020-21 financial year, we worked with 20,009 individuals and their families. We have offices across Northern Ireland – in Belfast, Ballymena, Lurgan, Derry/Londonderry and in the three prisons – Maghaberry, Magilligan and Hydebank College. We currently employ 86 people, delivering 27 services.

Start360 is registered with the Charity Commission Northern Ireland, number NIC105848.