The last twelve months has led to a hive of activity in the Belfry building.
A host of new activities have been taking place.
On Monday and Wednesday evenings, from 7pm, the local branch of PIPS (Public Initiative for the Prevention of Suicide and Self Harm) meets in the building.
Members are available to offer information and support to individuals that may be considering harming themselves. The group also offers information and support to families and friends of the bereaved.
Also on Monday nights the Down Youth Office uses the Belfry internet suite for a girls group to meet. This complements some of the youth diversion work carried out by Newcastle Community Association (NCA).
On Tuesday evenings a cross community group WHOW (Women Helping Other Women) meets from 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Over the course of the last year the group has organised a number of events including Pilates, photography and arts classes.
Slowly but surely the building is becoming more and more in demand with local training company Hugh J O’Boyle Training Limited using the building’s computer suite on average two weeks every month.
The sessions are proving to be extremely useful with individuals being introduced to a variety of computer programmes as well as being shown how to develop CV’s to assist with job applications.
While it is important for the Belfry to generate income for group activities the NCA also organizes a variety of community events.
For example in November the group hosted a well attended Question Time Event – based on the very popular BBC programme.
The Question Time event featured local politicians from all parties including Sinn Fein, DUP, SDLP and Official Unionists and was well received by the audience.
The event was funded under the International Fund for Ireland’s Community Bridge’s Programme and NCA intend to organise a number of similar events over the coming months.
Another project funded by IFI’s Community Bridges Programme is an arts project featuring a bronze sculpture of the hands of local people and politicians from both sides of the community. The hands are all intertwined to form the sculpture which will be put on exhibition locally.
While working on the sculpture the participants are encouraged to discuss local issues impacting on their community and to consider how these issues can be tackled effectively. It is anticipated that when the sculpture is exhibited it will spark further debate and NCA is considering organising a competition in local schools asking what the sculpture suggests to them.
Another NCA project was a trip to the historic Crumlin Road jail with forty people visiting the prison. The visit included a historical tour with a question and answer session around whether prison acts as a deterrent for political prisoners. The feedback from participants was excellent and as a result the two facilitators have been invited to the Belfry building to hold a number of workshops around community relations and contentious parades.
Leading on from the success of last years RAPP (Reconciliation and Peace Peer) course, which was held in Hillyard House Castlewellan, NCA organised a further course in Greenhill YMCA. The RAPP course is accredited at level 2 by the Open College Network and the Association and allows participants to take a further course “Dealing with Diversity”. Some fourteen participants started the programme and although some dropped out it was a rewarding experience for those that completed the course.
Other projects funded under the IFI Community Bridges Programme included a trip to Stormont hosted by Jim Wells MLA as well as a visit to Belfast to view murals.
NCA also organised its second annual mini soccer tournament, at Donard Park, Newcastle involving a number of local schools from across the district.
It has been another very busy year for NCA a group made up entirely of volunteers and the various projects organised to date would not have been possible without the support of the IFI’s Community Bridges Programme.
NCA will keep you updated on the group’s future projects on our website.
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