Belfast Harbour is helping to fund a programme of creative writing workshops for teenagers which are being delivered by Fighting Words Belfast.
The workshops, which started earlier this year, are taking place each week across North and East Belfast, and will run until the end of the year.
The aim of the workshops is to ignite a love of story making in students aged 14 and over and to develop their creative writing skills. The teenagers will set out on a story-writing journey with trained volunteers who will help them to gain confidence in themselves as creative writers. For young people who’ve caught the writing bug there is also a weekly after-schools session at the Duncairn Centre for Culture and Arts in north Belfast, the Write Club at Duncairn, where professional writers are on hand to support young people’s creative writing projects.
Jenni Barkley, Belfast Harbour’s Communications and Corporate Responsibility Manager said:
“At Belfast Harbour, we are drawn to projects that develop the skills of young people and create a fun learning environment.
“I visited the workshops and I could see how much these young people were benefiting from these creative spaces. We are delighted to support this project.”
Geraldine Wilkins, Development Officer of Fighting Words Belfast said:
“The support from Belfast Harbour is enabling us to train more volunteers, which means we have more resources to help our young people develop their writing skills. As Glenn Patterson, our patron, puts it Fighting Words Belfast is about empowering every young person to be the author of their own life. We are inspired by our sister organisation Fighting Words Dublin, founded by Roddy Doyle, whose work has had a fantastic impact on young people.”
