On Satuday 24th May we held our first of 4 Sports Exchange & Digital Wellness courses for young people from #Leitrim & #Fermanagh sports clubs. And thankfully the rain held off

A huge thanks to Enniskillen Rugby Football Club for hosting the day. Well done to our participants from:

Enniskillen Rugby Football Club

Ballinamore Blazers Basketball Club

Ballinamallard United FC

St. Brigid’s GAA & LGFA

A special thanks to John McLoughery, the Chairperson for Fermanagh & Omagh District Council for joining us for the day.

Following a fantastic rugby training session and delicious shared lunch the participants enjoyed a #digiwise Digital Wellness session where they learned about their digital footprint and to “think before they post” on social media. Thanks to Geoff Sloss and Jackie O’Reagan for running these sessions.

We are hosting three more of these cross-border and cross-community sports and digital wellness sessions in Ballinamore, Aughawillan & Ballinamallard over the next few months where young people will have the opportunity to practice different sports (basketball, soccer and gaelic football) as well as learn more about keeping themselves safe online.

Last Wednesday we were joined by 90 students from primary and post-primary schools in Ballinamore, Enniskillen and Lisnaskea for day 2 of our Peer Support Conference – the Story Exchange.

Students from Ballinamore Community School, Enniskillen Royal Grammar School, Moat Primary School and Scoil Chlann Naofa, Ballinamore came together at the wonderful Share Discovery Village in Lisnaskea, for one of the highlight events of our Cross-Border Youth Project.

The aim of the conference was to learn about empathy, find out about each other and participate in a story exchange. The Story Exchange model is championed by the charity Narrative 4, who say “Stories break down barriers and shatter stereotypes. They foster empathy, kindness, compassion and curiosity.” The students built rapport and confidence through a range of drama games, discovered what they had in common and composed a story depicting an important day in their life, which was then presented to the group by their partner, allowing the participants a chance to walk in each others shoes.

It was a fantastic day, students said:

• I spoke in front of people & enjoyed it

• Everyone listened to each other. No one judged.

• It was a fun experience

• I enjoyed it a lot because I sat next to new people

• I enjoyed it as it was out of my comfort zone

• Something positive about this experience was that doing this wasn’t too scary and I read the story correctly

• I enjoyed telling the other person’s story

• I enjoyed hearing everyone’s stories and learning more about everyone.

• I loved hearing about my partner’s successes

• I am very proud of myself

• It was enjoyable and interesting to hear other people’s stories

• I feel like I told the story well

Below are a selection of images from the event, as well as a ‘word cloud’ created by the students showing what empathy means to them.

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We are thrilled that our marvelous Community Services Hub volunteers have been awarded the:

Outstanding Group Award – Environment, Diversity & Sustainability at the 2024 Leitrim Volunteer Centre Awards.

A huge congratulations and hearty ‘well done’ to our hard-working volunteers.

See our latest newsletter for the Better Together – Níos Fearr Le Chéile Peace Impact Programme from October 2024.

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A PDF version of the newsletter can be downloaded here: Newsletter #8