IN RECENT WEEKS the Andersonstown News has been reporting on an increase in anti-social activity across parts of West Belfast, including a fire engine being stoned in Lenadoon and cars being attacked at the interface on the Stewartstown Road.
The number of reports, however, have been decreasing after a bespoke intervention by the Glen Parent Youth and Community Group.
On Monday night, I spent a night on the ground with the team to see the issues that they are dealing with and how they are helping to reduce the level of anti-community activity in the area.
Explaining how the intervention programme began, Paul Niblock, the Glen Parent Youth Coordinator said: “On 4 January this year all face-to-face youth services were stood down by the Education Authority which meant that we had to close our doors to young people.
“We moved everything online and were finding it very difficult. One of the key things we found was that the kids were just bored of it. They were bored of doing school work online and they didn’t want to engage with our service online.”
We moved everything online and were finding it very difficult. One of the key things we found was that the kids were just bored of it. They were bored of doing school work online and they didn’t want to engage with our service online.”
On February 22 this year the group applied for a bespoke intervention to allow their staff to go onto the streets and engage with the young people from half-six to ten o’clock Monday to Friday. Setting off from the group’s base on Suffolk Road it was clear that there wasn’t as many youths out in the area as there had been when the interventions began three weeks ago.
As we make our way down Suffolk Road the staff point out a number of anti-social behaviour hotspots and on this occasion they were empty. It wasn’t until we reached Lenadoon Park that we encountered a group of youths who had gained access to the locked facility. The children aged around 12 spoke of their boredom due to the youth club being closed due to Covid restrictions. After a friendly chat with the team, they were encouraged to disperse and we made our way to the next hotspot on the team’s route.
As we were walking, the staff told me how the group that we had been speaking to would normally access their services on a nightly basis but as the Covid regulations meant that they had to close their doors, they have been forced out onto the streets.
Daniel Connolly, a Youth Intervention Worker with the group, said: “A typical night for us involves going around the hotspots that we have identified and engaging with the youths who may or may not be there.
“Things can escalate and we could be in one part of the area and then receive a call to tell us that something is happening elsewhere. We would find that most of the youth, especially the transient youth would gather at the interface then walk through the area.”
Continuing he said: “There are times when we have to drop everything and go to a more serious incident. We could be in the middle of an intervention and have to stop and make our way to the interface to deal with a problem there. Our main role is to ensure that these kids aren’t participating in any harmful activates which may harm them or those within the community.”
There are times when we have to drop everything and go to a more serious incident. We could be in the middle of an intervention and have to stop and make our way to the interface to deal with a problem there. Our main role is to ensure that these kids aren’t participating in any harmful activates which may harm them or those within the community.”
As we made our way to the top of the Suffolk Road, a couple who were out for their nightly walk stopped the team to thank them for the work that they are doing. “It is just boredom,” they said, referring to recent anti-social behaviour. “They think it is a bit of fun attacking cars but they could ruin some people’s lives. Yourselves in the Glen Parent Group are doing a brilliant job and we have seen it with our own grandchild.
“I think it's brilliant the work that you are doing on the streets. We need to get the youth clubs open to give the kids a safe environment” they added.
It is clear that locals are extremely appreciative of the work that the group are doing and the staff told me that local businesses such as Browns Chippy have reached out to them to offer them food while they have been out at the weekend. As we make our way to another of the group’s hotspots in the grounds of St Oliver Plunkett Church, the area is empty.
TEAMWORK: Paul Niblock, Youth Coordinator, and Karen Nugent, Youth Intervention worker, with Glen Parent
Continuing on our patrol, the team identify another group of youths who are standing on a street corner. This time, the teenagers are eager to find out when they can get back to the youth club. The staff explain that the Covid restrictions prevent them from bringing them into the centre but that their work is continuing on the streets and they hope it won’t be long until they can open their doors again.
On round, we once again bump into some of the youths that the team had engaged with earlier in the evening. They had moved on and were now part of a larger crowd in a different area.
Karen Nugent from the Glen Parent Youth Intervention team told us: “Before the reports of anti-community activity in the area, we have been relatively lucky that we have that relationship with them and they can talk to us and are relatively happy to see us when we arrive on the streets.
“The kids are sitting about and they are bored. They are walking the estate trying to find something to do to occupy their time. You pass the same group of kids ten times a night where they are doing laps of the area. They are just lost.”
The kids are sitting about and they are bored. They are walking the estate trying to find something to do to occupy their time. You pass the same group of kids ten times a night where they are doing laps of the area. They are just lost.”
Patrick Owens who is also one of the Youth Intervention workers discussed how they are finding that youths are travelling into the area to meet with friends.
He said: “On Friday we dealt with a crowd who were with some of our service users. They were just congregating and when we approached them they were engaging with us and we were able to de-escalate the situation. When we were finished with them some of them said that they were heading home via the Glider or walking, they were leaving the area.”
While we had observed a quiet night for the team, it is clear that the work they are doing to combat the anti-community activity in the area is having a positive effect.
