Derry/Londonderry Heroes Project

Derry /Londonderry

The Heroes Project (H​ e​ lping ​Eq​ uality, ​Re​ spect O​ t​ hers, En​ abling S​ ​uccess) The HEROES Project is a Cross Community Project for young people aged 14-24. It is a project for young people with and without learning disabilities. The project is supported by the European Union’s PEACE IV Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). The project will focus on Good Relations, Personal Development and Citizenship. Young people will take part in group work, individual mentoring, cultural trips, a weekend away and social activities. The project will be based on the young people’s interests and what they like to do. Meet the Londonderry/Derry area YMCA Team!

A new beginning From the beginning of February we have been working with a new group of young people from The Hub. The first few weeks were spent getting to know each other and we played loads of games like the ball catching game, the linking game and sweet questions. By getting to know each other we were able to find out things we had in common, and to demonstrate this we made a 'Web of connections', passing a ball of wool to people who shared something in common with us.

An important part of working in a group is communication and teamwork. We did a minefield challenge, whereby the group had to get from one side of the room to the other without standing on a mine. After this the group was split into two teams and tasked with building the tallest towers out of the specific materials they were given. One group got pasta and marshmallows and the other newspaper and sellotape. At one point the newspaper team nearly had their tower touching the roof!

It’s not all fun and games! As well as having fun we have been learning about and discussing a variety of topics such as identity, communication , stress and relationships .

VR Fusion Trip Our first trip together was to VR Fusion at the end of March. We got to play VR games including a roller coaster simulator. We’re pretty sure the screams could be heard for miles around!

Vision Boards For one of our sessions we made vision boards. A vision board is a collage of visual images or words that represent the life you want to live. Quite literally, it is a tangible representation of the vision you have for yourself. It is thought that if you make a vision board the stuff that you put on it will come true!

YMCA Visit As we have been in The Hub delivering the sessions we thought that it would be nice for a change to go to the YMCA building in Drumahoe where we work from. When we got to the YMCA there was a variety of activities planned and a tour of the building. We made pizza and played volleyball and curling and had a really good time at the YMCA!!

John Muir Award On a Tuesday we are embarking on a mission to complete the John Muir Award. Th​ e John Muir Award is a national environmental award scheme. It encourages people to connect with, enjoy and care for wild places. As part of the award we will be discovering, exploring, conserving and sharing a wild space that we are going to be visiting over the coming months. To start off we made some bird feeders from bird seed and lard which we have hung up in the forest at the Playtrail!

Puzzles Hidden in the wordsearch below are 12 words associated with the Heroes Project. Can you find them all?​?