“It’s less about sandwiches and buns and more about days like this - seeing the community come together.”  The words of one elderly lady on Shaw Street after the second year of their ‘Big Lunch’ street party.  It was a grey, rainy Sunday afternoon but this little east Belfast street was lit up with laughter [...]

The traffic lights turned red on Belfast’s Albertbridge Road.  Jonny drew his car up to the line, lost in thoughts of life, exams and student banter. But then his eyes were alerted to a scene of confusion going on outside.  People running, punches being thrown, a guy in a white tracksuit approaching his car…
Jonny’s mind [...]

It was a Saturday afternoon when two motorbikes sped into an empty church car park in Antrim, writes Nicole Murray.  The two riders, Steve and Mel, saw a sign for a ‘prayer room’ and entered.  Kattie was there.  She welcomed them and listened to their story; how they were over from England on holiday for [...]

He was just an old guy at her bus-stop.  She was just a young woman rushing to get to work.  But they struck up a random friendship which is helping both see how making a difference can be the most natural thing in the world.
Denny and Ashleigh got talking as they waited on the bus [...]

They spend their days, and often their nights, aiding those who are homeless in Belfast.  They aim to support people in making the move off the street and towards independent living.  They long to provide a sense of belonging and community for those sleeping rough on our streets.  They are the staff of The Welcome [...]

He’d had enough.  Felt like there was no point in struggling on.  This was it.
David* had been finding university tough for the last few months but couldn’t see any other alternative for his life.  He felt like he’d just have to keep going, hoping that something better was on the way.  But to him it [...]

“I just seemed to keep going.”  Claire is 24. She’s from Derry.  And is a cancer survivor who’s now using her experiences to help other young people through their cancer journeys.
Diagnosed with the disease in May 2007 Claire Henderson battled through 18 months of intense chemotherapy and stem cell treatment.  She’s now been in remission [...]

She could feel her fingers begin to freeze as she sat there trying to fill out forms in a living room which clearly hadn’t been heated for some time.  There was no carpet on the floor, no food in the fridge, no hope in the face of the woman sitting opposite her…
Jacqui Robb knew this [...]

Well, what can I tell you about Shaw Street?  We moved here nearly two years ago while I was heavily pregnant with my son, Teddy.  It’s just a regular terraced street in east Belfast with its own wee unspoken rules… writes Janette Myles.
These little rules included the fact that cars on the left can park [...]

He can now look his friends in the eye.  He can give his mum a hug.  He can play football. And it’s all because of a big hearted gift from his local community…
Fifteen year old Scott Osprey has cerebral palsy and has been confined to a wheel chair all of his life.  But on Valentine’s [...]