Tag Archives: young enterprise – northern ireland

by | May 2, 2012 · 2:12 pm

PPI-NI’s Senior Girls Advanced Leadership Program at Greenhill

The Senior CCL girls complete Arbinger curriculum activities.

This past weekend, PeacePlayers International-Northern Ireland  (PPI-NI) brought together 11 girls aged 15-16 for an Advanced Leadership Program (ALP) residential at Greenhill YMCA, Co. Down. The majority of the girls came from our Senior Girls Cross-Community League (CCL) and a few from our partnership with the Young Enterprise Northern Ireland (YENI) program, for which we delivered our Level 1 accredited course in Understanding Diversity in Sport.

The weekend included activities such as a campfire!

Each of the participants were selected based on their outstanding participation and enthusiasm for PPI-NI programs. During the weekend, the girls participated in our Level II accredited course in Promoting Diversity through Sport, which is designed in an interactive format to show how we can transfer lessons on the court, off the court. Local Project Coordinator Joanne Fitzpatrick and Fellow Rory O’Neil had the honor of delivering the course. Also incorporated into the Level II is a section looking at the Arbinger Institute’s conflict resolution philosophies, which are used throughout PeacePlayers International’s global programs.

As well as participating in the course, the girls also had time to enjoy some team-building in a competitive game of Lazer Tag, and further developed relationships in their free time at the campfire, making smores and choreographing a dance routine!

Local Project Coordinator, Darryl Petticrew commented on the weekend:

“For me, the most important thing about our program is developing new relationships among the young people we work with. Having been part of PPI-NI for almost five years, hearing a group of young people say that they don’t want to go home, gives me the impression that the girls had a blast and that we are doing a good job!”

The video below will give you an insight into the weekend, and the amazing time we had together!

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by | January 18, 2012 · 3:09 pm

PPI – Northern Ireland’s Top 10 of 2011

10 – A New Start

PPI-NI recently moved their office from a busy university area of Belfast to the busy Lisburn Road area. Like the New Year, this signifies a new beginning for PPI-NI, with a new staff team and lots of exciting ideas for the future, it seems like the new office has refreshed the organization.

9 – PPI-NI vs. Belfast City Council Wildcats

On a Tuesday evening, what better to do than play a friendly game of basketball with our good old City Council workers. A new dynamic to our relationship with Belfast City Council, gives us the opportunity to let our hair down, enjoy basketball and show off the skills of our VERY talented staff.

8 – Young Enterprise Northern Ireland (YENI) Partnership

Another exciting partnership established in 2011 was with YENI. A conversation between PPI-NI Managing Director, Gareth Harper and YENI Chief Executive Carol Fitzsimons, has resulted in a successful relationship between the two organizations.

7 – All Girls Cross Community League

For the first time in PPI-NI history, we ran an all girl Cross Community League (CCL) for our senior girls. Focusing on our girls aged 14-17 allowed CCL to impact 40 participants from the North Belfast area in a five-week programme. The programme was an unbelievable success and we now look forward to running our all boy CCL in February.

6 – Two New Schools!

Last term we started a new twinning with St. Kevin’s P.S (based in the Falls area of Belfast) and Glenwood P.S (Based in the Shankill area of Belfast).

5 – Game of Three Halves (GO3H)

This is another exciting initiative that PPI-NI has been involved with, and 2011 was the year it all started to take shape. Check out our previous blog entries for more information!

4- Super Twinnings!

An event where we bring together four schools from two separate Twinning’s, to play in a mini tournament and create a sense of identity amongst the Twinning partners.

3 – Breaking the 200 Mark at Jingle Ball 2011

This year was the first time in PPI-NI history that we had over 200 participants at our Jingle Ball tournament. A true testament to all the hard work that our staff put into the programme.

2 – Gifts from President and First Lady Obama

Receiving six Mac laptops from the President and First Lady as part of the Royal Charitable Gift Fund was amazing. This gift is a great help to Coordinators and International Fellows in the daily running of the programme.

1 – The Prince William and Catherine Middleton, Royal Charitable Gift Fund

To be a part of this fund is and honor and to be recognized for all the efforts that PPI-NI puts into its core mission is overwhelming. All staff, board members and friends off PPI-NI are very thankful for contributions like this one, that help develop and improve our programme.

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by | December 14, 2011 · 2:34 pm

The Game of Three Halves Festivities

This winter's Game of Three Halves Groups

Over the past week PPI-NI has worked with 180 young people from across Northern Ireland and Ireland, delivering The Game of Three Halves (GO3H). In partnership with The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), The Irish Football Association (IFA) and Ulster Rugby, PPI-NI has finished the December run of GO3H events as part of a new programme with Young Enterprise Northern Ireland (YENI).

Coach Darryl teaches Community Relations lessons.

The GO3H is an exciting initiative that gives young people, in particular, the opportunity to try a sport that they may not have been able to play in the past. The promotion of diversity through sport is at the heart of PPI-NI, and this gives us the chance to show young people that sport is open to all, no matter what age, gender, religion or race you are.

Over the past two weeks we have worked on three GO3H events in Omagh, challenging the young people’s perceptions of sport in Northern Ireland. They get a chance to learn some skills, play matches against each other but also have a separate space to discuss the significance of what the day is all about, and breakdown barriers preventing them from participating in all sports.

Each group provides a new perspective on sport in Northern Ireland, and the sharing of opinions and ideas about sport for good is what the GO3H is all about.

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by | September 21, 2011 · 2:24 pm

One Day, One Goal – Countdown to the Global Truce

Today, PeacePlayers International – Northern Ireland (PPI-NI) will commemorate Peace Day 2011 by delivering its Open College Network (OCN) course in “Understanding Diversity Through Sport” to secondary school students who are participating in the Young Enterprise Northern Ireland’s (YENI) Knowledge through Enterprise for Youth (KEY) programme. Supported by the International Fund for Ireland, and operated in partnership with Junior Achievement Ireland, the residential programme is a cross-community, cross-border initiative that targets young people aged 14-16 years who may be at risk of disengagement.

Peace Day 2011 and the “One Day, One Goal” campaign is the brainchild of Jeremy Gilley (filmmaker and founder of Peace One Day) and aims to create an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence. As a key driver towards the institutionalisation of Peace Day, Peace One Day is calling for a day of ceasefire and non-violence on Peace Day 21 September 2012 – aptly referred to as the “Global Truce”.

This afternoon, 36 participants from Downshire, St Colmans Kilkeel and Finn Valley Stranorlar, Donegal will come together in Belfast to explore the potential of sport as a tool to promote diversity and unite communities.

PPI-NI is delighted to be lending its support to this fantastic initiative.  Through our involvement with the Sport for Truce campaign and our work with YENI, we are very much looking forward to playing our part in highlighting the 365-day countdown to the Global Truce.

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by | September 7, 2011 · 12:34 pm

Training Local Coaches in Belfast

Darryl reviews the qualities necessary to be a good coach, which includes incorporating the lessons Arbinger into both basketball drills and community relations sessions.

Last week, PeacePlayers International – Northern Ireland held its first coaches’ training session of the fall term at Grosvenor Leisure Centre.  About a dozen local coaches were in attendance, many of who will be coaching for PPI-NI for the first time, along with a handful of veteran coaches. The session included an introduction to PeacePlayers, demonstrations of our most commonly used drills and games, and a brief explanation of the Arbinger philosophy and the “PPI Way” which provides the foundation of our peace-building curriculum.

Joanne explains "Hot Seat" (one of PPI-NI's favorite shooting games) to the local coaches.

With a busy autumn schedule upon us, we have a great demand for local coaches and facilitators.  We will begin our P6 twinnings in Belfast and Lurgan later this month, as well as a secondary school twinning and evening Cross-Community League in Antrim.  We will also be delivering our Open College Network (OCN) Level One Course in “Understanding Diversity Through Sport” to 576 participants in the Young Enterprise – Northern Ireland  (YENI) Knowledge Through Enterprise for Youth programme. Stay tuned for exciting updates throughout the autumn!

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