Young Chinese, graffiti artists and commanches get grants

Local & National

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

By Matthew McCreary

A group of Chinese young people and a graffiti art workshop are just two of the Northern Ireland-based projects to benefit from the latest round of Lottery funding.

A total of £82,000 in small grants will be paid out to 40 youth projects and groups across the province under The Big Deal programme.

The programme allows children and young people up to 25 years of age to apply for an award of between £500 and £2,500 to run a project where they plan and decide what they want to do and how.

Around 1,800 children and young people are expected to benefit from the awards.

These include Generation Y, a group of mainly Chinese young people, aged between 11 and 16 from the greater Belfast area, who organised a residential weekend to include outdoor activities and address issues such as sexual health and drug awareness.

Also set to benefit are The Commanches, a group of young people from Clarawood in east Belfast, who will take part in an Ocean Youth Trust sailing trip as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award.

And the GY Graffiti project will involve a series of workshops led by two graffiti artists who will assist young people to explore themes such as cultural identity and diversity and the impact of racism.

The graffiti will be painted on large boards which can be used for future exhibition purposes.

The young people themselves are involved in deciding which projects should get the awards and what the amounts should be as part of The Big Deal Children And Young People's Forum.

Group member Rosemary Trainor (23) said: "The best thing about The Big Deal projects is that young people show the initiative, interest and enthusiasm to plan their own project and apply for the money to carry it out.

"This is a new way of young people getting money from the Big Lottery and it's an exciting way for young people to have responsibility and make good use of it."

The Big Deal Programme Manager, Joe Hawkins, said: "On the face of it, £82,000 doesn't sound like a huge amount of money. But the big bonus is that once children and young people become engaged in activities like these, they tend to stay interested and get involved more in what's going on around them in their local communities and beyond."

To find out more about the programme visit www.thebigdealni.com .