Youth Justice Agency of Northern Ireland

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Young volunteers help at Belfast Children's Festival (19/06/2009)

Young people engaged with the Youth Justice Agency recently volunteered at Belfast Children's Festival which took place between 22 and 31 May.

Belfast Children's Festival is organised by Young at Art who has successfully run a Volunteers Programme in conjunction with the annual Festival since 1998 and extended it to include young volunteers in 2007. In 2008 the festival became the first Northern Ireland-based arts organisation to be awarded an accreditation from “Investing in Volunteers”, the UK quality standard for all organisations involving volunteers.

In 2009 the Young Volunteer Programme was more successful than ever due to help from the Youth Justice Agency of Northern Ireland. A record number of volunteers were involved with the festival, 45 in total helped at a range of events .

The Agency were pleased that Young at Art was able to widen access and remove barriers to volunteering to include young people currently completing youth conference orders and plans ,and find innovative ways to involve them in exciting volunteering opportunities . The opportunity allowed young people to build the skills, experience and confidence which will benefit them throughout their lives and enable them to remain involved in the community.

One young volunteer found the experience very rewarding . He said "This is the first time I have ever done anything like this. I didn't really know what to expect but I really enjoyed it. I got a chance to help out backstage setting up equipment for different shows and I helped the children and parents take part in hand painting and workshops. All the volunteers got on well with each other and as well as seeing the kids enjoy themselves we had good craic. I had never even heard of the Children's Festival before but I would definitely consider taking part in the festival again next year. The training and support from the festival organisers were very good and I even got a qualification, an "Investing in Volunteers " award from it. I would say to any young person on a Youth Conference Order or Plan to do something like this ."

The programme was open to all young people over the age of 14 years throughout Northern Ireland and saw participants go through a training process to become Festival volunteers. Areas of training include customer service, health & safety, child protection, disability awareness and awareness of respect & equality.

Bill Lockhart, Chief Executive of the Youth Justice Agency said "I was delighted that the Youth Justice Agency was able to support the very successful Belfast Children's festival. Volunteering is a fantastic way of engaging with the local community and in improving self confidence . All volunteers contributed to the Festival's success and I was encouraged that organisers also gave the opportunity for some young people engaged with the Agency to participate in the volunteering scheme and achieve an accredited award. All volunteers, regardless of their experience or background, should all be very proud of themselves."

The Youth Justice Agency and Young at Art would like to thank all volunteers who helped during the Belfast Children’s Festival 2009.

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