About East Belfast Mission
Serving our community since 1826
We give the people of East Belfast the building blocks to build better futures and opportunities for themselves.
We offer services which aim to alleviate the difficulties faced by our community through projects such as our Hosford Homelessness services, our Employability project which helps people back to work, our Irish Language project to connect a divided community and of course our thriving church community which offers community groups, counselling and pastoral care to those who need it.
East Belfast Mission is one of four inner city missions of the Methodist Church in Ireland. As inner city missions we exist to share God’s love in the widest possible sense by recognising, supporting and advocating for the needs faced by those in our communities.
Meet your leadership team
Colin Hayburn, CEO
Colin worked as a solicitor in Belfast before moving to in-house work in industry. He has experience in senior management positions in the corporate and charity sectors.
Colin believes faith and social justice always go together, and this is why he was drawn to the work of East Belfast Mission.
He is delighted to be part of a strong team within the Mission, working together with local people to assist and improve community development and confidence in East Belfast.
In his spare time, he enjoys reading, walking, and spending time with his family.
Rev. Brian Anderson, Mission Superintendent
Brian held the office of President of the Methodist Church in Ireland (2015-16) and President of the Irish Council of Churches (2017-18). Now, born and bred in East Belfast, Brian is back to his roots. He holds a special passion for those on the margins of society and the church. So being the minister in East Belfast Mission fits his calling.
Brian believes in the Methodist emphasis that all are important to God, and all can find faith. He is warm to the prophet Amos, whose words can be paraphrased as "Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it. I want fairness—rivers of it."
Brian is blessed with a loving family, two adult children and a 12-year-old foster son.