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Co-operation Ireland are proud to deliver the young leaders and Young Ambassador’s programme. The programme fundamentally develops long term change in our young people. It offers young people a chance to develop their leadership and ambassadorial skills to become agents of social change within their communities, through sport and creative activities.
The programme will fundamentally enhance young people to make positive life choices, we support young people to become leaders, by giving them a unique toolkit.
Co-operation Ireland leads the delivery of this dynamic and inspiring programme of personal development and good relations work on behalf of our established consortium.
This partnership (established since 2012) provides a comprehensive blend of skills, resources, experience (Good Relations, Youth Work, Training, Volunteer Management, Outdoor Learning, Community Development), and regional outreach capacity to deliver the Young Leaders Training and Ambassadors Programme.
The strong partnership and collaborative working of these regional organisations with a proven track record of delivery for DfC, aligns with the TBUC vision of a society in which all work together to achieve the NI Executive’s goal of a united and shared society, underpinned by strong good relations practice. Our consortium makes this vision a reality through our common commitment to work together as a sector to bring about real change for young people and communities.
Our consortium makes this vision a reality through our common commitment to work together as a sector to bring about real change for young people and communities.
The programme has a multi-layer effect which is led from the young people tackling key social issues in their community, engaging with other young people, to improve attitudes of young people in in relations to include religious, political, ethnic, and marginalised communities. this also includes key social issues affecting young people such as health, obesity, anti-social behaviour and drug and alcohol misuse, using sport and creativity as the catalyst for change.
The programme is a twofold to develop young leaders into the role of young ambassadors. Young leaders take part in a series of sessions to understand themselves and their values. From this, they will decide what issues, in their local communities, they wish to address through sport and creative activities training will include various formal qualifications formal qualifications.
Once their skills in companies have been developed, the young people will write down their own delivery programmes and work independently in the community.
Quotations from the Young Leaders & Ambassadors
Ambassadors:
“It helped us to have a better understanding of ourselves so we could go out and get a better understanding of our communities”
“Probably the best thing to come out of the Programme was partnerships and future opportunities. That has 100% opened doors for us”
“I think the whole Programme in general from Day 1 being involved in Uniting Communities, it has changed a lot of people’s lives in our communities in terms of confidence, self-esteem, awareness of other communities, how you get to engage with other communities”
“Young Leaders programme and go into Catholic areas of West Belfast and see how they work and live and then bring that back into my community and teach them that the two communities are exactly the same. The Young Ambassadors training is more in depth and involves more planning, it’s a more solid form of youth work than I’ve been involved in before. I never thought I’d be in this position where I am today. Programmes like Young Ambassadors have changed my life and if anyone has a chance to do it… just do it and don’t hold back.”
Young Leaders:
“My favourite part was seeing the different characteristics in the young people and learning to deal with them”
“I’m just more confident talking in front of a lot of people, because I used not to be able to do that without being freaked out”
“It has definitely helped me come out of my shell”
“It has helped with my CV and given me the confidence to go on with my studies”