Shankill Women’s Centre has created a new podcast series, entitled Awk Hiya Luv.
Some of the training and recording has been supported by the Community Relations Council through the North Belfast Strategic Good Relations Programme.
In the opening episodes, the Education manager at Shankill Women's Centre shares how she got involved with the work and what motivates her to keep at it.
The impact of the work at the Centre comes through loud and clear with even more stories across the podcast series.
The group has come together to learn a new skill, but the experience has developed streets ahead of how they initially thought it might be. It serves to support women on issues that affect them in a safe space yet voicing their true feelings in a light-hearted fashion with humour and craic.
The group involved are from a cross section of the community and have learnt about themselves as well as those they wish to interview. They have made schedules for recording around themes and issues relevant to the community and are continuing to learn editing methods to hone the skill to ensure a quality fun, experience for the listener.
The podcast will enable the Shankill Women’s Centre to build long-term capacity for recording, documenting, and sharing the experiences of women who engage with the Centre’s programmes. This will develop beyond the initial podcast training, creating an ongoing resource for capturing personal stories, reflections, and learning that would otherwise remain informal or undocumented.
High-quality audio recording has also enabled Shankill Women’s Centre to evaluate the impact of their services in the voices of those who use them, supporting more meaningful monitoring, reporting, and storytelling for the wider community.