The End of Our Connswater Chapter: Statement from Hilary Copeland, Director, Fighting Words NI 

Statement from Hilary Copeland, Director, Fighting Words NI 

Fighting Words NI supports children and young people to discover the joy and power of writing in their own words. We provide free creative writing activities that support children and young people most seldom heard to develop new skills, values and attitudes, and reach their full potential.   

It is with a heavy heart that Fighting Words NI announces the end of our chapter at Connswater Shopping Centre, with the sudden news that it is closing and all tenants must vacate the building by Friday 21st March.  

We have welcomed thousands of children and young people through our doors since we arrived in Connswater in 2023. We’re saddened to see another space close in the heart of a local community, and that children and young people will lose out on having a safe, creative learning place dedicated to their needs.  

However, our team rallied swiftly and we quickly put an action plan into place. We have implemented creative solutions to maintain our programme despite the loss of our physical space, and we are determined to continue to serve young writers during this transitional period. The children and young people we work with across Belfast, Northern Ireland and Ireland are our number one priority.  

We continue to deliver online writing activities with schools, and our community engagement activities this weekend are going ahead as planned, all whilst the team start to pack boxes and enquire about new premises. The FWNI team are indeed magnificent multi-taskers! And we did take the time to mark the occasion of our 10th anniversary this week with a slice of birthday cake. 

We want to say thank you to everyone who has been in touch since the announcement of Connswater’s closure, from our funders and supporters to the general public. We’ve appreciated every offer of assistance, office space and donations. Your good wishes have bolstered our spirits and we’re so grateful to have a community and network of individuals and companies who are looking out for us.  

Many of you have asked how you can help, so we wanted to share some actions you can take!  

  • Volunteer to help out at our relocation sale, Saturday 15th March from 10am-6pm. We’re packing up and selling off much of our workshop equipment, furniture, books and materials.  Email Aoife at volunteer@fightingwords.co.uk to sign up. 

  • Share news of our sale with your networks: tell your youth group, church group, school or colleagues about our relocation sale, and follow our social media channels where we will be posting previews of what’s available.  

  • Donate cardboard boxes, use of a moving van or a few hours of your time over the next week to help with the moving process. 

Thanks again for all your support. Fighting Words NI fights on!