Young people come together 
for building resiliance forum

The Building Resilience Youth Event at the Foyle Arena on Friday October 11th was attended by hundreds of young people, accompanied by a number of teachers from schools across the city and district.

They learned more about dealing with stress and building resilience by taking part in a series of activities organised by the civic forum for the council area.

The forum is led by the Mayor and brings together a range of local agencies responsible for dealing with issues relating to alcohol, drugs, mental health, emotional wellbeing, suicide prevention and homelessness.

Speaking after the event, Mayor Boyle said she was encouraged to see so many local young people and their teachers engaging in the sessions:

“I was delighted to see this event taking place which will hopefully be helpful to all those who participated,” she said.

“I was really encouraged by the response from our schools who are working hard to address these concerns and support young people facing the challenges of school, peer pressure, and online activity.”

Head of Health and Community Wellbeing with Derry City and Strabane District Council, Seamus Donaghy, added:

“The civic forum brings together a range of bodies including Council, Western Health & Social Care Trust, Public Health Agency, PSNI, Housing Executive, Education Authority, Derry and Strabane Healthy Cities, Council for the Homeless NI and the Policing and Community Safety Partnership with the shared objective of improving the health and wellbeing of local people.

“This year’s event was also supported by the Peace IV Programme and Youth 19.

“Events such as this one provide a fun and engaging way of approaching some very serious issues, and encourage discussion and debate among young people, as well as providing information on where they can access advice.

“This year’s event also provided information and workshops for teachers aimed at supporting them in their roles within our schools which is also key to improving resilience within our school communities.”

Events on the day centred round enhancing young people’s ability to manage stress and build resilience with interactive workshops relating to the Five Steps to Wellbeing.

The following address provides further information on the Five Steps http://www.publichealth.hscni.net/publications/take-5-steps-wellbeing-english-and-11-translations.

For more information about the work of the Derry City and Strabane District Civic Forum you can email [email protected] or telephone the Council’s Health & Housing Team on (028) 71253253.