WEST Belfast community group Glór na Móna have been award £123,353 as part of a funding programme supporting young people to build stronger, more connected communities.
Operating out of Gael Ionad Mhic-Goill on the Whiterock Road, Glór na Móna provides youth programmes and clubs through the medium of Irish for children and young people in West Belfast. They run programmes five nights a week and cater for over three hundred young people.
The funding has been provided by the Community Foundation NI as part of the Lead the Change programme. Focused on investing in the strengths and leadership of young people, the fund aims to support the provision of safe, supportive spaces where young people can come together to share experiences, build positive relationships, and take the lead in starting dialogues around building stronger community relationships.
The money will be spread across three years, and "will enable Glór na Móna, in partnership with Anaka Women's Collective, to empower young leaders from both organisations to challenge intolerance and racism through internationalism, solidarity and grassroots campaigning".
Anaka Women's Collective is a volunteer-led group based in Belfast that support minority women and run community programmes and enterprises. They directed crisis response during the race riots in Belfast during the summer.
Feargal Mac Ionnrachtaigh, Director of Glór na Móna, said that the group are delighted to receive funding through Lead the Change.
“We’re delighted to receive funding through Lead the Change to support a programme of education and capacity building with young Irish speakers and young migrants who have often been faced with adversity and exclusion.
"The programme will develop skills and foster youth-led activism and intersectional movement building with two exciting emerging youth leadership cohorts from Glór na Móna and Anaka Collective," he continued.
"The aim is to create opportunities for young people to come together across difference, develop meaningful political and civic engagement, build relationships through focused internationalism, develop confidence and take action to combat racism, build solidarity, to strengthen belonging and create positive, lasting change in our community.”
