Community Ambassador programme takes off to Belfast

Blackburn with Darwen’s Community Ambassadors programme took off in week four with a residential trip to Belfast.

During their educational trip to the Northern Irish capital, the group took a tour of all the main city attractions with an extended stop off at the Peace Wall, which was a real eye-opener for the whole group.

Community Ambassador participant Roderick West was particularly moved by the wall and its current exhibition, ‘Wall to Wall’. He felt inspired and came back to East Lancashire passionate for change.

Roderick commented:

It has been a real eye-opener. The artwork I saw in Belfast has aligned with the work I’m doing back home on the programme and I’m just pleased that the Community Ambassadors programme has given me this chance for change.

It has extended my ideas. It is one thing to have these ideas written down but another thing to have them stimulated in your heart and in your soul. That’s how you get these things done, when it’s a part of you. I’m just excited.

The trip to Belfast was aimed at developing confidence and leadership in the group of Community Ambassadors, as well as identifying the importance of connected groups and integration.

The programme is aimed at individuals, empowering them to take a leadership role on local integration issues. Delivered by the Families, Health & Wellbeing Consortium and Blackburn Rovers Community Trust, it’s a 12 week initiative that covers a variety of heritage, social and community topics as a unique way of encouraging individuals to make a difference within their local community.

Community Ambassadors is funded through the Our Community, Our Future social integration programme. It’s a free course that aligns with the goals of the programme, to get people from different backgrounds working together for the good of the borough.

The group comes together weekly at Ewood Park, working with Blackburn Rovers Community Trust’s community inclusion team. The Community Ambassadors will complete three hours per week of ‘Our Community, Our Future’ work which will conclude in week 12 by presenting their ideas for social action projects.

Individuals who are interested in taking part in forthcoming waves of the Community Ambassadors programme, free of charge, can find out more by contacting caproject@brfctrust.co.uk or 01254 304597. The next wave begins on Friday 1^st November, with a third wave beginning in the new year.

Community Ambassadors is part of Blackburn with Darwen Council’s social integration programme, Our Community, Our Future. This is a three-year programme which brings together a wide range of local partners working together to strengthen relationships between people from different backgrounds, to help the borough become a place where diversity is valued and where people’s faith and cultures are understood and respected.

To find out more about Our Community, Our Future, visit the Council website or like the Our Community, Our Future Facebook page.