Youth in Government - Celebrating 25 years
Youth in Government is our flagship political education project for 16 -18 year olds. On 22nd March 2023 we celebrated 25 years of running the project with a special graduation event in the Long Gallery, Parliament Buildings.
Over 25 years almost 500 hundred young people have been involved in this programme - many have gone on to become involved in local politics, the community and voluntary sector and policy based roles helping to shape our society.
The graduation and celebration event was attended by young people, parents, past participants, local media, partners and a range of local political representatives. This year the programme ran between November 2022 to March 2023 drawing 31 young people from a wide range of schools and religious backgrounds.
Youth in Government is now one of our most established and long running youth projects. At its heart, it is about encouraging young people to become more involved in politics. The way that we do this is not by telling young people what to think, but creating space for them to test their beliefs in a safe and supported way. Our experience is that young people are deeply interested in this place, they have lots of questions about what happened here, and right across the political spectrum they are all truly invested in making this place work. That was certainly true of this year’s group.
Politics is much wider than election campaigns and what happens on polling day. It is about engaging ourselves in issues every day of the year, connecting with our community and expressing our views on things we care deeply about. Talking about issues is healthy.
At Belfast YMCA, our youth projects are not designed to make all young people think in one particular way. We are much more interested in creating opportunities where we all hear and consider different views in order to test our own values and beliefs. This can only be a good thing. In Youth in Government we actively seek out the big issues which are often avoided. It's important to point out that talking about divisive issues doesn't have to be divisive.
We try our best to approach issues in the spirit of disagreeing agreeably. This year we have had discussions on identity, the prospect of a border poll, the impact of Brexit and the big one, fluoridation of water.
In the words of two of this years participants:
“Our differences are not what I am leaving this programme with at the forefront of my mind. Instead, our similarities - we are connected by our passion for politics, social action and ultimately, the desire to see change in our country and beyond.” Iona
”It wasn't uncommon for me to leave YMCA with a shaken worldview and changed mindset” Joshua
Youth in Government is about empowering our young people - giving them a place to explore difficult topics in a supportive environment, to learn, grow and thrive.
Belfast YMCA has been involved in peacebuilding for over 40 years. Good Relations is the golden thread through all of our work - bringing children, young people and their families together from across different community backgrounds, faiths and experiences.
