Youth Challenge

Almost one quarter of the total population of North Belfast is made up of young people between the ages of 5 and 25. Therefore young people have the potential to positively or negatively impact on community relations. It is widely acknowledged that the youth-related problems in North Belfast in many cases arise because of scarcity of resource and facilities and the resultant boredom, rather than any inherent malice on the part of the young people.

Urban II have supported the six inner North Belfast Community Empowerment Partnerships to come together to design a "conflict resolution" project targeting primarily youth stakeholders at interface areas across North Belfast. The two main aims of the project are:

• To address the needs of youth groups and groups aimed at supporting youth so they can effectively carry out their work with young people
• To create the conditions necessary to increase the degree and quality of dialogue, interaction and mutual support that is happening within the youth sector of the two main traditions of Northern Ireland.

Phase I of the project, funded by Urban II, saw the distribution of £274,000 of equipment commonly owned by six geographical Community Empowerment Partnerships within the Urban II area and utilised by 94 youth and community groups in order to facilitate youth programmes within and between their communities.
	Midland Boxing Club make use of boxing equipment, bought under Phase I of the project

A further £263,000 has been awarded under Phase II of the Programme. £166,000 of this was to employ a Project Officer and Strategist for two years to facilitate the development of a cross community Youth Forum, design a multi-stakeholder Youth Strategy for North Belfast and facilitate 50 single identity/parallel programmes. The remaining £96,500 will be used to implement a series of activities, events, training and workshops that will develop the social and life skills of young people aged between five and twenty-five.

The activities are split into four strands:

• Sports development
• Arts and community development
• Outdoor education
• Resource library/contact website for information sharing between local youth providers.

The programme will utilise equipment purchased under phase one and creates extra curricular activities for young people. It is designed to appeal to young people of varied backgrounds and ability levels. It includes provision for cross community conferences, workshops and best practice networking amongst youth providers. These will involve practioners, young people and those involved in the delivery of programmes an will directly influence the emerging strategy for youth development within North Belfast.

For further information on the Youth Challenge project please contact Ciarán Shannon on 028 9075 2990 or email ciaran.shannon@nthbp.org