Date: 30/06/2014
Bridge of Hope, an EU PEACE funded programme of Ashton Community Trust, recently delivered another successful weekend residential with participants taking part in the organisations “Making Sense of the Past in the Present” programme.
The residential comprised a cross-community group from Clones in County Cavan as well as North Down and North Belfast.
The weekend was a culmination of a series of thematic discussions looking at the legacy of the past and the impact it has on individuals and communities here in the present.
Participants at the weekend residential engaged and discussed the themes raised over the duration of the project such as, community development, dealing with sectarianism, the role of women, reconciliation, empowering individuals and communities etc.
One participant noted;
“The residential was particularly useful in that it allowed us to engage with people from another community on the topics we discussed during initial stages of the programme. It also allowed us the opportunity to learn from each other and hopefully take some of those lessons back into our own lives and neighbourhoods going forward.”
Concluding Niall Ó Donnghaile said;
“This kind of cross-community engagement remains invaluable in terms of what it contributes to our society, but as we face into challenging periods in the coming months we are confident that this grassroots work can continue to build confidence, relationships and positivity within and between communities here.”
