“The housing estates are split and so are the schools. Very few places are mixed due to the divide in the river.”

- A quote from a young person from REACH Across Derry/Londonderry during a recent podcast we conducted about the topic of inclusion in Northern Ireland.

On June 24th, we held our first Education Authority Stakeholder Engagement Event with REACH Across to highlight the work that we have been doing and discussing the topic of inclusiveness in Northern Ireland in 2021.

REACH Across, formed in 1995, have brought together thousands of young people from Nationalist and Unionist areas since its formation and has successfully brought the two communities together through residential events and outdoor activities. Whilst doing a survey with the young people from Reach Across, 80% of the group don’t feel positive about the future of Northern Ireland.

Josh McGeoghan, who stood up to speak and represented Headliners during the event states:

“inclusion is important in the world. We have to learn to respect eachother and live together regardless of our differences. Regardless of race, background, sexuality, we’re all human and life would be boring if we were all the same.”

Due to COVID-19 government guidelines, we couldn’t make this a large scale event, but have produced is as a live, social media event.

This project has been made possible through funding from the Education Authority Northern Ireland.