Uniting Communities young leaders learning from Liverpool young leaders

18 young people from Belfast are visiting Liverpool this week alongside world class athletes as part of a Young Leaders training programme.

The Together: Building a United Community (T:BUC) ‘Uniting Communities through sport and creativity’ training programme aims to create a group of motivated, skilled and socially responsible young people who can drive forward positive change in their communities. 

The visit to Liverpool is designed to provide the young leaders with an opportunity to experience first-hand how sport is used in one of the largest cities in the UK to help develop their skills and to improve the young leaders understanding of diversity. 

Over the course of the three day visit, the group will be working with elite athletes from the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust including British Taekwondo champion Henry Cookey, Olympic swimmer Adam Whitehead and European skateboard champion Neil Danns. They will be meeting young people from Liverpool who have previously attended a Get on Track programme with the Trust, taking part in a Ninja fitness session and visiting Goodison Park to work with Everton in the Community.

Kathryn Hill, Director of Active Communities Division, Department for Communities said: “This is an amazing learning opportunity for our Young Leaders from Colin and Eastside on the Department’s ‘Uniting Communities through sport & creativity’ programme. It gives them the opportunity to work with elite athletes from the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, the chance to discover more about youth leadership from other young leaders in Liverpool, to help increase their skills and to bring that learning back to their own communities where they can put it into practice.

Adam Whitehead, Athlete Manager at the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust said: “It’s great to be able to take this group from Belfast over to Liverpool to experience all that the city has to offer. The three days are going to be packed full of activities and events that are really going to help them and provide them with more tools and skills to help them become leaders within their own communities.”

Notes to editors: 

1. The Northern Ireland Executive’s Together Building a United Community Strategy (T:BUC) was published on 23 May 2013. This is part of DfC delivery model for the Uniting Communities through sport and creativity Programme which is one of the seven headline actions under Together Building a United Community.
2. The Department for Communities leads on the development of a cross community youth sport, physical and creative activity programme. The idea for the TBUC Sport & Good Relations Programme was born out of that programme
3. The Programme is being delivered by Dame Kelly Holmes Trust in partnership with PeacePlayers International NI on behalf of the Department for Communities.
4. Every year Dame Kelly Holmes Trust gets thousands of young lives back on track. The charity achieves this by training and developing world class athletes to deliver personal, social and emotional development programmes for disadvantaged young people. Through transformational mentoring young people become empowered to realise the attitudes and behaviours needed to lead a positive life.
5. Media enquiries to DfC Press Office on 028 9082 3505 or email: press.office@communities-ni.gov.uk. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer on 028 9037 8110.
6. Media interviews can be set up with the young people and the organisers upon request.

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