Hybrid Event – Good Relations Week

Connecting Minds: The Unity Tree Project – Voices of Banbridge

The Connecting Minds: Unity Tree Project is a T:BUC Shared Education initiative uniting 45 Year 9 students and 12 Sixth Form Camp Leads and Assistant Leads from Banbridge High School, St Patrick’s College Banbridge, and Newbridge Integrated College.

The project uses creativity, mindfulness, environmental symbolism, and gamification-based learning to strengthen good relations between young people from different communities. Its aim is to promote inclusion, respect, and reconciliation through shared learning experiences and positive cross-community collaboration.

Through workshops at Corrymeela and Newbridge Integrated College, students explored identity, allyship, cultural diversity, and problem-solving while building friendships through reflection, movement, and teamwork. The programme’s central theme — the Unity Tree — is inspired by Northern Ireland’s Peace Tree in Antrim, symbolising growth, renewal, and interconnectedness.

Each part of the Unity Tree represents a stage in the young people’s journey:

Roots of Identity – exploring what grounds and connects us
Branches of Allyship – supporting and standing up for others
Leaves of Culture – celebrating diversity and shared heritage
Fruits of Problem Solving – finding creative solutions together
Seeds of the Future – planting hope, peace, and unity for generations to come

As part of their learning, students planted seed paper together in Corrymeela’s gardens, symbolising how unity and understanding can grow when nurtured collectively. They also created Unity Tree posters, Unity Badges, and Leaves of Culture messages — including notes of friendship and inclusion that will form part of the Connecting Minds Unity Tree in Miami.

The project culminates in a Mindful Silence for Peace and Unity, a youth-led act of reflection and fundraising where Year 9 students will raise donations to produce and share Unity Badges across the Banbridge community.

Throughout Good Relations Week, students’ reflections and short video messages will feature in the “Voices of Banbridge” social media campaign — amplifying young people’s voices in shaping a shared, peaceful Northern Ireland rooted in understanding, growth, and hope

Sport and Inclusion Explored at the NI Sport and Human Rights Forum

On 10^th September, the latest NI Sport and Human Rights Forum meeting took place at the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC)’s offices in Belfast. The purpose of the meeting was to explore Sport and Inclusion, focusing on several areas including young people, asylum seekers and refugees, women & girls, and disability.

Gráinne Murphy from Swim Ireland presented on the work of Swim Ireland’s Athletes’ Commission, including how they strive to include the voice of young people in their work.

Next up to present was Funmi Abayomi from the Ethnic Minority Sport Organisation NI (EMSONI), exploring the impact of sport on the lives of the ethnic minority communities in Northern Ireland, and their initiatives to engage refugees and asylum-seekers.

Following EMSONI was Netball NI, with Lisa Rickett and Meg Wallace sharing the organisation’s efforts to promote women and girls in sport. They highlighted the key barriers facing women getting involved in sporting activities, as well as all the benefits it can provide.

The Forum then heard from Anna Pim, founder of At the Heart of the Game, about her own inspiring story, detailing her sporting journey in hockey and how she set up her organisation which provides players with CPR and AED awareness training.

Finally, Ulster GAA’s Shane McCann and Paul Callaghan shared the story and benefits of GAA for All, a family of initiatives in the GAA including wheelchair hurling and camogie, Fun and Run, the HERO programme and other inclusive activities. They were joined by wheelchair hurler Peadar Heffron who was able to update members about his experience as a player.

Alyson Kilpatrick, Chief Commissioner, said:

“This meeting of the NI Sport and Human Rights Forum was packed with timely and insightful presentations from organisations across a range of sports in Northern Ireland, all of whom are using their skills and experience to create a more inclusive space for everyone.

I would like to thank the representatives from Swim Ireland, EMSONI, Netball NI, At the Heart of the Game and Ulster GAA for taking the time to speak to Forum members about their work and for providing valuable insights on making inclusion a top priority.”

Equinox

International Day of Public Action celebrated around September Equinox embodies Bbeyond’s strategy, making monthly public actions. To share these encounters with other artists around the globe is a great opportunity for synergy in solidarity. The public space, our common ground and the desire for freedom for all people around the world, opening time and space for equals to creativity interact together.

Contact: bbeyond@europe.com for more information.

TogetHERness – reflections from Iceland

This event will be a hybrid event held in the offices of NIRWN Cookstown and online for rural women to come together to hear from the Director and Project Co-ordinator of NIRWN about their recent study visit to Iceland, through the support of the Social Change Initiative.

The staff will share the learning from this visit on the topic of gender equality, relating to all aspects of women’s lives in Iceland and will engage in a Q and A with participants.

This event is also an opportunity to explore issues relevant to rural women’s lives in Northern Ireland, particularly around gender equality as well as women, peace and security and will help shape and inform future NIRWN work in this field.

Learnings from Digital Volunteering

Join Nerve Centre and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland for a special event, as they share valuable insights from the CollabArchive project for Good Relations Week 2023.

Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, CollabArchive is a digital skills-based volunteering programme that has developed opportunities for underrepresented audiences to engage with the official archive of Northern Ireland.

This unique opportunity is a chance for those working across heritage, arts and the third sector to learn how the team behind CollabArchive contributed to breaking down barriers to build more inclusive communities.

What to expect:

~ Hear firsthand insights from project staff and volunteers;

~ Learn about volunteer recruitment and project delivery over the past two years;

~ Understand how new digital approaches helped strengthen engagement with the archives;

~ Listen to the volunteers involved as they share their unique experiences and perspectives.

International Day Of Peace

A cluster of agencies and people have joined together to put on an exciting event on the 21st September to mark the United Nations International Day of Peace.

The theme for Peace Day this year is “End Racism. Build Peace.” So this will be a celebration of the diversity that exists in Belfast today and will be a taste of the future we all long for.

Good music will be interspersed with inter-faith reflections in a night celebrating peace and diversity.

This event will be hosted by Corrymeela along with the Northern Ireland Inter-Faith Forum among others. The venue is the Farset International off the Springfield Road.

The event will involve a range of activities such as music, dance and Inter-Faith reflections from different representatives of faith traditions present.

Shared Learning Event: good Relations, Shared space, and Future Opportunities

This Community Academy NI presents an opportunity to hear good practice examples of good relations and shared space in NI, what has worked and what has not. SEUPB, TEO and the Good Relations Council representatives will give an overview of future opportunities.

This event is available to attend in person at Lagan Valley Island, Lisburn, BT27 4RL or via zoom. Please indicate your preference.