Nomad Football Cage Big Hit In Ballynahinch

The structure itself is a large cage in which people play ‘2 versus 2’ football for two minutes at a time.xa0 The winners stay on and two new people come in to participate in the game. This continued for two hours and provided local young people with an opportunity to effectively engage with both the Policing Partnership Members and the PSNI on issues affecting them. Speaking at the event Down District Policing Partnership Chairman Councillor William Dick said, “This is a new and exciting project for Down district which can help us create opportunities to talk to young people in an environment they feel comfortable in. Here tonight, we have seen local youths enjoying a slice of pizza, playing a game of football and communicating real problems which they are facing regarding crime and fear of crime. [caption id="attachment_30686" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="Some of the Ballynahinch Langley Road youth with members of the PSNI, the District Policing partnership, the District Community Safety Partnership and youth leaders pictured during the Nomad exprience is the town."][/caption] “This engagement is invaluable to us as a Policing Partnership because it helps us put in place programmes that help tackle concerns raised by our community. Down District Community Safety Partnership Chairman, Councillor Mickey Coogan added, “Both Partnerships have acknowledged that in order to really engage with young people you have to move outside of meetings and formal events and take the conversations to the community. The NOMAD Cage is an excellent way to speak to young people in an enjoyable and youth friendly setting and for that reason I look forward to the roll out of this project across Down district.” A key strength of the NOMAD Cage is its mobility as it can be assembled wherever it can provide benefit. It enables the engagement of young people with the voluntary Youth Workers, who can begin to build relationships in the area.xa0 Using a partnership approach, better relationships with the PSNI can be formed between local communities and with young people who can then contribute towards improved well-being within their areas. The initiative is rolled out by the Sports Ministry of Youth for Christ Northern Ireland and was funded by Down District Policing Partnership and European Unions PEACE III Programmes.]]>