Young People Sing Out Their Concerns

19 August 2010 -All

The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, Patricia Lewsley, today met a group of girls from the REACT project in Banbridge, to recognise their contribution to NICCY’s ‘Make it Right’ Campaign.

NICCY’s ‘Make it Right’ Campaign encourages young people to take action to raise awareness of issues affecting them and to bring these directly to the attention of decision-makers.

The young people have been participating in NCB’s capacity building programme ‘Get UR Voice Heard’ where they discussed anti-social behaviour in their area and created a song and video to highlight their concerns about these issues.

Gill Hassard from NCB NI explains: ‘Our experience suggests that through good participation experiences children and young people gain confidence, are empowered to become more actively involved in matters that affect them, build more positive relationships with the adults with whom they engage and are better prepared to make the transition to adulthood.’

Speaking at the event Ms Patricia Lewsley said:

“I want to congratulate all the girls involved for their hard work and would encourage other young people in the area to get involved and campaign on some of these issues affecting them.”

This month, through the ‘Make it Right’ Campaign, NICCY wants Government to make sure that greater emphasis is put on the importance of play and leisure in supporting children’s social, physical and intellectual development while also providing them with opportunities to learn key life skills, such as, cooperation and problem solving.

For more information on NICCY’s Make it Right campaign please visit www.niccy.org/makeitright or call 028 9031 1616

Note to editors:

  • NCB stands for The National Children’s Bureau