HomeFundingProjectsMoments to Connect – Our Lives, Our Legacy
Moments to Connect

Our Lives, Our Legacy

Springboard Opportunities
Grantholder

Using the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement to bring young people together across the sectarian divide.

Project information

£59,500

Grant amount

February 2023

Date awarded

April 2023 – March 2024

Project duration

Belfast

Location

Visit Springboard Website to Read the Main Report

Project Detail

Project summary

Springboard Opportunities’ Our Lives, Our Legacy was supported as part of Spirit of 2012’s Moments to Connect funding initiative. The Fund was designed to explore how the major national events and moments of 2023 could increase social cohesion by connecting individuals and communities across social divides. Each of the seven projects was built around celebrating a different national moment.

Springboard Opportunities was awarded a grant of £59,500 for Our Lives, Our Legacy, which marked the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. The project explored the legacy of “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland by bringing together 15 young people from across religious and cultural divides in Belfast. The young people had grown up in segregated communities and went to segregated education, and for some this was their first opportunity explore the impact of the GFA on their lives.

These young people worked together as part of the NextGen Youth Group, reflecting on the conflict through their lived experiences and expressing aspirations for the future. This culminated in a co-created event on 10th April 2023 to commemorate the Agreement’s tenth anniversary. The project was then showcased in an exhibition at the Crumlin Road Gaol attracting over 4,000 visitors weekly. Since then elements of the exhibition have been transferred to the Ulster Museum in Belfast. Key to the success of Our Lives, Our Legacy was the active involvement of the NextGen group at every stage. The evaluation shows that the project was extremely impactful for the young people involved and presented them with many opportunities, including opportunities to speak at peacebuilding events with global leaders. The co-production approach created a sense of ownership and responsibility but also ensured that the entire project was authentic and had young people at its core.

Through this, the young participants developed a wide range of skills that allowed them to research, design and run an event, as well as engage decision makers on issues that are important to them. They led the production of a short documentary in partnership with NI Screen, which captured their experiences.

An interactive final evaluation report was produced, which explores the project’s impact and key learnings through narrative, video and audio. This demonstrated that there was also a ripple effect beyond the young people, with their involvement in the project sparking discussion with their families and communities. Families were proud of the work their young people had undertaken but also at their understanding of a topic that had separated so many people in the past. One parent noted, “The biggest peace line and the biggest wall we have in this society is in our heads. If we can get that wall down, then we can move forward and get the rest of the walls down, but we have to break down our mentality first“.

Explore Beyond Twenty Five Video 

Impact & Learning

Key achievements

  • The majority of the group involved in the project felt that it impacted on their wellbeing ‘to a great extent’ in an end-project survey. This showed a significant increase in confidence and life satisfaction, along with a 37% reduction in anxiety and 111% increase in happiness (n=15).
  • 93% of the young people engaged reported that the Agreement has had an influence on their own lives (compared to 40% before the project began) (n=15).
  • 100% of the group agreed that the Agreement was still relevant today (compared with 13% agreeing before the start of the project) (n=15).
  • 73% of the group reported they knew the Agreement well by the end of the programme. 100% agreed that it has had an influence on those around them, having changed from 53% beforehand (n=15).
  • 100% of the group agreed that they had made new friends from being involved in the project. 87% felt that these friendships would continue beyond the project (n=15).

Key learning

The project effectively leveraged the anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement to engage communities in reflecting on the conflict’s legacy and the Agreement’s impact in Northern Ireland. The NextGen group developed a deeper understanding of the Agreement, including its positive contributions and ongoing challenges within their lives and communities.

Because of the nature of the project and the intensity of the work, the project worked with a very small number of young people (15). In the assessment and evaluation stage it becomes difficult to compare with projects working with much larger numbers of beneficiaries, and the cost per beneficiary is naturally high. However, the impact of the project on those 15 young people and the people around them was very significant.

For the Springboard team, the project also provided a valuable opportunity to involve young people — often marginalised and at risk — in meaningful discussions about the Agreement, offering a platform to explore its significance in their lives.

93%

of the young people engaged reported that the Agreement has had an influence on their own lives (compared to 40% before the project began)

100%

of the group agreed that the Agreement was still relevant today (compared with 13% agreeing before the start of the project)

73%

of the group reported they knew the Agreement well by the end of the programme

100%

of the group agreed that they had made new friends from being involved in the project. 87% felt that these friendships would continue beyond the project

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