Emma Mullan from County Tyrone is just one of YouthAction NI’s The Community Youth Leadership Project graduates. She is currently studying for a degree in Community Youth Work at the University of Ulster and plans to return to her hometown after her studies are complete to set up a youth club.

Developing the young leaders of tomorrow is a key priority for the Fund. The Fund is supporting YouthAction NI to deliver an innovative and practical training project - The Community Youth Leadership Project - to develop a new generation of young leaders.

Student Emma Mullan was already involved in the football club and the youth club in her home town of Donaghmore, Co.Tyrone when she saw the Project advertised in her local paper. Emma was initially attracted by the Project’s potential to develop her contribution to both clubs and to local young people in particular.

Emma explains: "I’d just left school and thought it would be a good opportunity. Having helped out at the local youth club and the football club, I thought it might be right for me. I have since successfully completed YouthAction NI’s Building Leadership Project and it was an amazing experience - I learned so much. It was a completely different learning experience. I learned a lot from the different people in the Project and through sharing experiences with them.

“I’m definitely more confident now because of the new skills I’ve learned and the experience of working with other people. I feel I can contribute more now, say if an issue came up, I would be able to use my knowledge of diversity and equality to say how we might resolve the problem. The Project has also broadened my ideas about working with young people, moving away from just playing games at the youth club to thinking about different elements like how we build their self-esteem through our activities."

Emma is now in her second year at the University of Ulster studying  Community Youth Work but remains committed to her local community. "I definitely want to work with young people in the future. We’re building a brand new community centre here in Donaghmore and I’d love to run a youth club in it!"

June Trimble, Director of YouthAction NI believes that young leaders like Emma are vital to the future of local communities: "You only have to look at our young community leaders to see how much they have changed and gained confidence during their eighteen months training and working. These young leaders have already reached out to well over 560 young people in local community groups which is fantastic. We look forward to them transferring their leadership skills and putting them to good use within their own local communities."

For further information on the Community Youth Leadership Project please contact:

YouthAction Northern Ireland
14 College Square North
Belfast,
Northern Ireland
BT1 6AS
Tel: + 44 (0) 28 9024 0551
Fax: + 44 (0) 28 9024 0556