Youth Initiatives Programme, Banbridge, County Down.
Reaching out to young people who are least likely to access traditional youth services or community relations but most affected by sectarianism remains a challenge in Northern Ireland. However, with the Fund’s support, Youth Initiatives is taking its approach directly to these young people with considerable success.
Based in West Belfast, Youth Initiatives’ pioneering First Steps Programme reaches out to the most marginalised young people. Andy Hewitt, Manager with Youth Initiatives explains: “Our staff and volunteers seek to meet young people and build relationships with them in the situations they find themselves in every day. That might mean working with local schools, but it also might mean literally walking the streets to get to know them and overcome their suspicions.”
Through building relationships and trust with young people, Youth Initiatives provides them with opportunities to meet on their own territory to look at issues such as self-awareness, as well as practical topics such as drugs, alcohol, sexual identity. A faith based organisation, Youth Initiatives also explores the spiritual dimension of these issues.
Already well established in West Belfast, the Fund’s support for Youth Initiatives is allowing it to develop its First Steps Programme in specific, particularly deprived and marginalised areas in East Belfast, Downpatrick and Banbridge.
Andy explains the importance of the Fund’s support: “We now have the support to develop our programme in areas where we believe we can make a real difference to young people. It has also given us the flexibility to evolve and respond to young people in these areas. We are actively engaging young people who are living on the margins, failing to access any services which might be on offer to them. By investing in single identity work with them at the outset, we can then bring them together successfully to build relationships across the community.”
