Four of our Year 14 students recently attended a reception at Belfast City Hall where they were presented with certificates to mark the completion of the ‘Journeys Through Faith and Culture’ programme. This joint venture between sixth formers at St Malachy’s and Boys’ Model, Belfast, was led by facilitators from Northern Ireland Children’s Enterprise. The programme involved regular meetings between the two groups, visits to local churches and murals on both sides of the peace line, and a residential weekend in Newcastle. During the weekend the group met with a local orange band, GAA representatives and a PSNI officer.

Throughout the programme the participants kept a record of their experiences in a learning journal; one student commented: that ‘I learned from the programme is that it is OK to have different opinions to others and that just because your opinion differs from someone else’s doesn’t make either of you a bad person.’ While another wrote ‘When you take religion out of the picture we are just ordinary guys.’

Pictured: College student, Noel Webb addresses an audience of parents and students at a reception in Belfast City Hall.