Hello again, Alex here, today was day 2 of our visit to Northern Ireland and also our last real day here =[. We started the day with a tour of the Crumlin Road Gaol (jail) which is a closed prison in Belfast. It was open from 1845-1996. The tour was really interesting and I learnt a lot about the history of Northern Ireland whilst learning about the many prisoners that have lived and died in the prison. It was shocking to find out that the last person to be executed in the prison was as late as 1961. It also put into perspective the extent of the troubles in Northern Ireland when explaining why the prison was closed due to in mates from different political backgrounds causing harm and even killing each other.
(Below are pictures of us all in the tunnel between the court house and the prison, as well as a picture of us all in front of the governor's quarter)
(Below are pictures of us all in the City Hall and then one of me sat in the Mayor's chair)
The third part of our day was a city bus tour it was really interesting to see Belfast and hear about it's history, I learnt a lot and it also put into context much of the work the YMCA is doing here in Northern Ireland.
After the bus tour we headed to the North Down YMCA info point and drop in centre based in a shopping centre in Bangor. I got to speak to some of the young people who use this service which was really interesting.They were all so keen to talk to me about their experience of the YMCA and also about how they feel the service is often not used to it's full potential due to the location and the reasons the young people go there. This made me think about the provision we provide back at my YMCA and made me think back to yesterday and the research interns looking at how me measure the outcomes of the services we provide.
The final part of our day was a visit to North Down YMCA it's self in which we visited the Saturday Night Project. This is probably the YMCA who's work and layout is the closest to mine back home. They also have a young leaders program much like the one that takes place in my YMCA and talking to some of the young people involved in this program was a really cool experience. It was great to see how young people just like the ones I work with get on with things in their YMCA and also see that they have the similar opinions and experiences to the young people back home. The young leaders were great and we had some really interesting conversations about their views on their YMCA as well as their opinions on some of the current/historical issues within Northern Ireland. It was great to see young people so enthused about their YMCA and the work they are doing. I also met Furg (I'm pretty sure he has a real name but I'm not too sure what it is...sorry =/) His story was really inspiring as he got involved with the YMCA as a young person with an "interesting" background and hobbies. He then came through the clubs in the YMCA leading to volunteering and paid full/part time work at various points in his life. It was also really inspirational to hear how he has stepped up to the mark when he was needed and is now looking after the club in a time of change for their YMCA. He has a really great relationship with his young people and it was good to see how he works with them in such an informal but effective way, what I would class as a real home grown, ground work style worker. I hope to stay in touch with the YMCA and maybe look at some future links?
I just want to finish this post by saying a MASSIVE thank you to Andy and Martine for hosting us this week end and for enabling us to have such an amazing experience. I don't know if they will read this but also a huge thank you to Andy's amazing friends who have taxied us around all weekend. I really hope this isn't the end of my experiences with in Northern Ireland!!
Alex Taylor
Barnsley YMCA
(using Rachel's account again)
Really very good post Akex,really enlightening. Well done.
ReplyDeleteOh and great pics....
ReplyDelete