Visit the new WIMPS Peace Channel

The WIMPS Peace Channel has been funded by Belfast City Council under the Peace III programme, but also by the International Fund for Ireland, through their support for our Away from Violence project.  Four groups of young people living in interfaces in north and west Belfast made films about how the local 'peace walls' impact on their lives, and can be viewed on the site.

The Peace Channel addresses the ongoing concern of many of the young people we work with - that they have inherited a divided society in which young people from tougher realities are further disadvantaged by the legacy of the conflict.  Ongoing segregation of housing, education and most youth work provision mean that young people face great difficulties in moving beyond their areas and interacting constructively with young people from other communities.

At the launch Paul Smyth, Director of Public Achievement said: "Whilst this investment from Belfast City Council is most welcome, and the support of IFI has allowed us to greatly enhance the project through the involvement of our civic educators, the reality remains that as a society, we are putting many, many more resources into reinforcing division, than into programmes to bring young people together.  This is a very mixed message - and these divisions make our work much more difficult."