Suffolk Lenadoon Interface Group

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SLIG in Youth Development Drive

21st October 2010

SLIG in Youth Development Drive

The Suffolk Lenadoon Youth Achievement Awards 2010 ceremony will take place on 24 November.

Organised by the Network for Youth, of which SLIG is a partner, the event will be held in Belfast’s City Hall. Belfast Lord Mayor, Pat Convery (SDLP) will attend and speak at the awards ceremony.

This year has witnessed young people from both Suffolk and Lenadoon achieve outstanding success in various fields. The possibility of one or all these attending the ceremony is being actively pursued.

According to SLIG Youth Advocacy Worker, Ciaran Mc Laughlin, there are seven categories of awards including: sport, health/well being and education. Nominations are now open and are currently being distributed through all the youth provider organisations in Suffolk and Lenadoon.

This is the second year of an award scheme which is seeking to name one of the awards after one of last year’s winners, who sadly is no longer with us.

The award scheme is just one aspect of SLIG’s activity aimed at young people. Ciaran Mc Laughlin explained that an eight month programme of events and activities for both “sub-groups” of the Suffolk Lenadoon Youth Council, that he played a leading role in setting up, is being rolled out. The sub-groups are a Political and Cultural Group and a Youth Provision Group.

Members of the Council have already been away on a week-end residential to Rostrevor in Mid September which, according to fellow Youth Advocacy Worker, Cathal Tolan, was a “group bonding and group activities event aimed at establishing terms of reference for the council.” He added that it also sought to undertake a “needs analysis for training purposes.” Media training and visits to the British and Irish parliaments in London and Dublin are also being considered as part of the programme going forward.

Cathal Tolan has also been busy mentoring the twelve Youth Worker trainees who were selected to undertake youth work training (*). The year-long training scheme, which SLIG is carrying out in conjunction with the University of Ulster, entails one-day-a-week attendance at the university’s Jordanstown campus by the trainees.

The official launch of SLIG’s first foray into formal training activity is planned for 7 December. The launch event will be held at the Stormont building, seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Basil Mc Crea (Ulster Unionist Party) and Dolores Kelly (SDLP), who have an interest in education, employment and training, have lent their support to this highly symbolic and significant launch.

* Also see in this section: SLIG Pilots Youth Training

Further information:

Ciaran Mc Laughlin

Youth Advocacy Worker E. cmclaughlin@slig.co.uk

Cathal Tolan

Youth Advocacy Worker E. cathal@slig.co.uk

T028 9062 9146