The Youth Empowerment Scheme, or YES, was a charity in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

that offered a mentoring service to children between 11 and 14 years old.

History

YES was established in 2001 by participants on the

Washington Ireland Program The Washington-Ireland Program for Service and Leadership (WIP) is a six-month program of personal and professional development that brings university students from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to Washington, DC for summer interns ...

including Chris Johnston, Ryan Moffett, Sarah Quinlan and Andrea Erskine and was based on Teamwork for Tomorrow, a similar scheme run by students at

Notre Dame University The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campus ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 2004 YES was awarded the BT Link Award for Challenge with the University of Ulster.

Approach

YES aimed at empowering the young people of Belfast and encouraging them to be active citizens in their city. It held that

youth mentoring Youth mentoring is the process of matching mentors with young people who need or want a caring, responsible adult in their lives. Adult mentors are usually unrelated to the child or teen and work as volunteers through a community-, school-, or churc ...

can provide young people with positive role models, support and encouragement, and is thus the most effective way of helping them reach their fullest potential as citizens and productive members of society. YES aimed to promote the social inclusion of young people of ethnic, religious, educational and social economic diversity. To contribute to the creation of a tolerant, pluralist society in Belfast, free from racism, sectarianism and anti-Semitism, YES ran weekly workshops that explained and celebrated the diversity of cultures in the city. In 2005 a project entitled 'Gaining Voice' culminated in the release of a short film written and produced by the young participants in the Scheme. Mirroring the format of the party political broadcasts that were airing on local television that spring, it highlighted issues of concern to young people, such as peer pressure, bullying and racism.

Operations

The Youth Empowerment Scheme was run primarily by student volunteers from the

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and

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. Volunteers received training in child mentoring and in child protection policy and procedures.

Fundraising activities

YES relied on the goodwill of volunteers in terms of time and also donations to run the charity. Some successful charity fundraisers included 'A night at the movies'. Film fans came together at the Sheridan IMAX movie theatre to raise over £1,500 in box-office takings for a children's charity.'The silver screen worked its magic for the Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES), a cross community, multi-ethnic charity set up by UU and QUB students to work as mentors with children aged 11–14. Featuring live jazz as well as cinema the special fundraising event - billed as ‘A Night at the Movies’.

References

{{Reflist Mentorships Children's charities based in Northern Ireland