Rathbone Belfast is supported by the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Out: Empowering Young People Programme, which supports young people most at risk in Northern Ireland, including those who have been disengaged from education, involved in crime or in care.

Rathbone supports disengaged young people, many of whom face significant barriers to re-engagement with education, training, and employment by combining engagement work and one to one mentoring support. Rathbone has developed a model of engagement work that targets hard to reach young people in places such as housing estates and shopping areas and street corners. By beginning a dialogue with young people on their ‘own turf’ Rathbone aims to build positive trusting relationships with them and motivate and support a return to learning and/or employment.

“To identify these young people we literally go onto the streets, into the parks, up through the forest glens where they gather – the places youth workers don’t usually go,” said manager Colm Fanning. “It’s where you find young people who have become disconnected from their communities. Often they feel completely hopeless about their lives and believe the education system has failed them.

The Lifetracks engagement team works across Belfast and Lisburn in partnership with other providers and other local services to tailor our services to meet the needs of young people at different points in their lives, and in recognition that each individual and local areas have specific needs.

A personalised approach is taken with each young person and the length of each stage of support will differ for individuals. This individualised approach is reflected in the development of a personal action plan and the opportunity to gain City & Guilds Qualifications thus challenging the anti achievement experiences of many young people that are trying to move on and progress.

“We look at their motivation, their levels of self-esteem and the many other factors that impact, such as alcohol and drug abuse as well as criminality. Given the right opportunities at the right time young people really can achieve their potential.” added Colm.

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