AN annual journey to South Africa as part of a project for young people from Ardoyne and the Shankill has marked its tenth anniversary.
Formed in 2013, the annual Belfast 2 Blanco (B2B) project has been uniting the two communities in North Belfast ever since.
The project was formed by two men – Thomas Turley of Ardoyne Youth Club and Alan Waite of Hammer Youth Club (Shankill) after they visited the town of George in April 2013 as part of a young group that included 22 participants.
On return B2B was born and the opportunity of a lifetime for young people to engage in a programme that would provide them with an international experience and enhance and broaden their horizons.
Ever since, the trip has become an annual mission for a group of inspirational young people to help communities in South Africa.
This year, a huge team of 32 embarked on the three-week adventure to mark the tenth anniversary of the project.
On his return this week, Pierce McConnell, who co-ordinates the B2B project, explained more about their work in South Africa.
"The young people have to be part of the R City programme from the beginning," he said.
"After around a year-and-a-half they go through a selection process for B2B.
"It is a big opportunity for our young people from working class communities like Ardoyne and Shankill to see other cultures in the world.
"We just came back last week after three weeks away. Some of us were there for eight weeks. The days were long and intense. We were up from 7am and on the go to 10pm every day.
"Covid has really heightened the poverty and lack of cleanliness has increased massively.
"We have a soup kitchen out there that runs five days a week and the young people help make and serve the soup.
"There was a lot of charitable and social action work such as a lot of clean-ups. We also helped facilitate educational classroom activities within the schools.
"We hosted events at night-time such as the popular ‘Blanco’s Got Talent’ giving the kids an opportunity to showcase their talent, an opportunity they would not get that often.
"We helped make up food packs for the most vulnerable and poverty-stricken families within the community.
"We also engaged with local young people on issues such as broken family life, poverty, lack of education and abusive upbringings."
Pierce is hoping that the young people have taken away as much as possible from the experience to use in their own communities.
"The learning and development of our young people from the trip is absolutely key," he added. "Our young people were a credit in providing that care and bit of hope and developing a relationship with them.
"I know they have made a difference to the lives of people there over the short space of time and in return gain skills and learning that they can use back home in Belfast in their own community.
"I know many of the young people will take the skills and experience from Blanco on their life journey wherever they may go."
