“Fight for Peace” used martial arts as a tool to address anti-social behaviour and change attitudes, as well as developing the skills and resilience of young people from local communities.
The project was led by St Columb’s Park House. The Community Relations Council supports the organisation through its Core Fund Scheme.
Fight for Peace engaged young people across Derry-Londonderry, Shantallow and Lincoln Courts. The training provided opportunities for participants to come together using the discipline and ethos of sport to build relationships and respect for each other.
The programme contained three core elements:
Sport
Good Relations
Education.
Sport
The young people trained twice weekly developing the martial arts skills. This included the ethos and history associated with the sport, encouraging and enabling young people to see beyond the “fight” aspect of the sport.
This helped to developed self-control and nurtured a sense of respect. It has enabled participants to be accountable for their actions, to honour their opponent, and to commit and strive for excellence not only in the sport but in everything they do.
Good Relations
The young people worked together on exploring what good relations means to them, how they can actively promote a better more connected society and their role in sustaining peace in the future.
They also visited HMP Magilligan to meet young men who were also taking part in a similar martial arts based project. Participants heard their stories and the challenges they faced that lead them to being sentenced. They also heard how taking part in a similar project has helped prisoners change their behaviour and attitudes, to use the discipline of the sport to honour their opponent and to build respect and relationships with others they would not normally meet.
Education
The young people completed an OCN in Inclusion and Diversity, which explored what Community looks like today in Northern Ireland. It explored what is meant by the terms “inclusion and diversity” and what it means to them as a teenager growing up in the City. What are the important aspects of inclusion and diversity for them and what contribution they can make to ensuring we are a more inclusive society.
Bringing People Together
Sport as a development tool is a powerful way to bring people together. This programme showed how it could break down barriers and create shared experiences that can strengthen relationships between individuals and communities. Working together to build skills and techniques, providing opportunities to build friendships, to develop a sense of belonging and shared interest moving these young people past the barriers that has traditionally kept them apart.
Read more about St Columb’s Park House.