FOUR pupils from Blessed Trinity College in North Belfast will be bringing the story of modern beef farming to their local community with the help of professional media training they have received as finalists in the 2026 ABP Angus Youth Challenge.
Blessed Trinity College is represented in the ABP Angus Youth Challenge by Callum O’Neill, Hayleigh Hayles, Brooke Devlin and Deaglan McFarlane.
For the challenge they are sharing how local Angus beef is produced, in response to growing consumer interest in traceability, sustainability and food provenance. Their goal is to leverage the school’s urban setting to strengthen understanding of farming and food production among North Belfast consumers and to use their own experience as young beef farmers rearing their own mini herd of Angus cattle on their teacher’s farm.
To help them engage with the public, they attended a media training day at Cool FM/Downtown Radio new studios in City Quays, Belfast. The pupils received expert insights into social media content creation and digital communication alongside fellow finalists from Ballymena Academy; St Patrick’s College Dungannon; and St Patrick’s High School Keady. Cool FM presenters and influencers Paulo Ross and Melissa Riddell shared tips on building successful social media content, while Keith Law, Head of Creative at Bauer Media NI, guided students through developing clear messages and scripting confident presentations.
During the session, the pupils created a 30-second advert to bring their project to life and gained first-hand experience in digital storytelling while learning how to engage audiences online safely and professionally.
The ABP Angus Youth Challenge aims to help young people develop practical skills beyond the classroom, from rearing their own Angus cattle through to beef and benefitting from their sale; as well as communicating effectively about farming and food production. The finalists have until the end of October to complete their projects when the overall winners will be announced.
