Damask Community Outreach, Hilden Estate, Lisburn City

Cities Section: Category Six – Community Youth Led Initiative

Winner: Damask Community Outreach, Hilden Estate, Lisburn City

Summary:

Damask Community Outreach is a faith based community project, associated with Seymour Street Methodist Church. The project based in Hilden Estate, an area of high deprivation, provides support services across the whole of Lisburn. Additionally, the project offers a varied youth intervention programme and works in partnership with local churches, community/voluntary organisations and statutory bodies to help address issues of antisocial behaviour. They have a dedicated Youth Worker who works tirelessly to develop relationships with local youth and to deliver a varied youth programme in order to develop skills, confidence and opportunity. Damask Community Outreach has worked closely with another neighbouring local youth project, The Base, in order to help young people integrate with people from different backgrounds and to gain creative skills by being involved in a positive mural art project. The young people also recently helped out during the coronavirus pandemic. Damask seeks to encourage young people to be involved in positive interventions.

Group Contact: Rhonda O’Neill, [email protected]

Citation:

What impressed the judges most about the winning entry in this category was the engagement with young people at the coalface on the streets of an estate. This was just one of the wonderful services provided by a far reaching programme delivering youth activities, training, confidence building and opportunity. The services are for all ages and backgrounds; the project is making a difference.