Pierce managed to get his first part-time job through the Eastside Partnership programme, as a youth-led event in east Belfast brought together support services for young people dealing with money, work and housing issues. You're A Legend was organised by young people to help their peers know where to turn, and it formed the finale of a two-year development programme run by Eastside Greenways.
Whether it is money, work, housing or anything in between, it can be difficult, or at times overwhelming, for young people to know exactly where to turn. Pierce Mullan, one of the young people behind the event, said it was created to help other people just like him, no matter the issue.
“Even though social media is in such a big boom and we're all looking at our phones, you'd be surprised how much slips by under the radar,” he said.
Speaking on Thursday, when the event was held, he said the day was about “letting people know that things are here because you could so easily miss it”. The event, which is part of the Eastside Arts Festival, brought together east Belfast-based support groups under one roof for young people in the community to talk to.
How did the project help Pierce?
The Legacy Project, external, funded by the International Fund for Ireland, is a personal development and employability programme geared towards 16 to 25 year olds in east Belfast. For Pierce, it helped him get his first part-time job.
“I wouldn't have got that if I wasn't here, and that's just built me up as a person and helped me become a bit more who I really am,” he said.
“Everybody needs that stepping stone just to get out there and be the ultimate version of themselves.”
Attendees were able to give feedback to the organisers.
Another volunteer, Poppy Kipling, said it can be hard to know where to turn when things get tough and that is why the event was set up.
“It can be very difficult when you're growing up. There's a lot of things expected from you, like you're leaving school and trying to get into work,” she told NI.
Mental health, money or housing issues often come up in conversation with her peers, Poppy said.
“The services being here means it's easy to access them, people don't have to go online and research themselves, or even travel to different areas,” she added.
Poppy is heading back to tech once the project ends later in the summer.
The You're A Legend event featured stalls from Housing Rights NI, Volunteer Now and In This Together - a social supermarket selling essential, everyday items for discounted prices. As the Legacy Project winds down in the next month, Poppy is taking the skills she's been developing over the last two years into her next step.
“It's really helped me with my own personal development, confidence and getting back on my feet,” she said.
“I've had so many opportunities and I've even done a work placement to do with working with children.
“I'm also going to go back into education, to tech, and I've also made friendships which has really helped boost my confidence and go out more.”
What happens next for the young people?
Youth Project Coordinator Siobhan McKinley has been working with the group over the last two years, and supported them during the event's development. She said the young people wanted to hold an event to let others know what services exist because those were the services they may have accessed over the past two years that really helped them.
“They wanted other young people to see that those barriers can be overcome and if they had known about those services beforehand they may have not have had the struggles that they did.”
Siobhan McKinley said she was proud of the group for putting together the event.
While it helped them to develop their research, event planning and communication skills, Siobhan said it also reflected some of their personalities through music, outdoor activities and games built into the event.
“The reasoning for this is that it gives them the opportunity to be involved in something that if they were ever in an interview, they can use this for their CV and their future prospects,” she said.
The event was held at the Carew Family Centre in east Belfast.
Siobhan added that it is more than just career development the young people take away from this.
“It's brought routine into their lives where they maybe didn't have that prior to this and a purpose or passion they never even knew that they wanted to do with their life or their careers,” she said.
For Siobhan the aim was to get the young people to the stage where they “don't need us anymore”, and she said that goal has been reached.
“This event is just a culmination of all of their hard work and we're just really proud of them.”
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