Celebrating cross community youth sport and creativity

Over 120 young people from across the Colin & Eastside areas of Belfast came together at W5 to celebrate their achievements on the Uniting Colin & Eastside Programme.

This cross community youth sport and creativity programme is delivered by the Department for Communities and is one of the seven headline actions included in the Northern Ireland Executive's Together: Building a United Community (TBUC) Strategy.

Kathryn Hill from Department for Communities said: “Since the programme launch in October 2017, over 300 young people aged 11-16 from Colin & Eastside have taken part in building good relations using a wide range of sports, physical and creative activities. This event today has showcased the excellent work undertaken by the young people in Colin & Eastside to improve good relations and I have been impressed by their expertise and their energy in helping to build a united community.”

As part of the programme good relations themes have been incorporated into all activities alongside facilitated sessions to help the young people to explore and learn about each other’s culture and identity.

Mark Browne from The Executive Office said: “The enthusiasm, effort and skill the young people have brought to the programme in designing, developing and making their own good relations videos is clear to see. The quality of their work will allow these messages to be delivered to the wider community.”

Alongside this programme, young people aged 16-24 have been involved in high quality leadership training. As their confidence and skills have grown, this older group have been become increasingly involved in the delivery of the good relations programme with the younger ones, sharing best practice and personal experiences.

The Oscar’s style celebration event, gave guests the opportunity to see the first viewing of two good relations films, which were designed, directed and filmed by the young people. There was also the opportunity to see videos and photos from the programme and hear about its impact on the participants and their communities.

Notes to editors: 

1. The Northern Ireland Executive’s Together Building a United Community Strategy (T:BUC) was published on 23 May 2013
2. The Department for Communities leads on the development of a cross community youth sport, physical and creative activity programme, ‘Uniting Communities’ which is one of the seven headline actions under T:BUC 
3. The Uniting Colin and Eastside Programme is a cross community sports and creativity programme which sits under the T:BUC priority 'Our children and young people'.  It aims to ‘continue to improve attitudes among young people and to build a community where they can play a full and active role in building good relations.’
4. Media enquiries to DfC Press Office on 028 9082 3532 of email: press.office@communities-ni.gov.uk. Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Office on 028 90378110
5. Follow us on Twitter - @CommunitiesNI

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