It started out as an idea among a group of friends seven years ago - but now dozens of young people are on board, getting out there on the streets of Belfast each week to hang out with those living rough.

It’s Monday night, darkness has set in and the city is starting to wind down; the streets are clearing of shoppers and people heading home from work.  And that’s when the Beautiful Feet guys start to gather.  They meet at a church just off Royal Avenue to prepare their bags of food and flasks, and to pray before heading out…

As they begin their journey around Belfast’s network of streets, group co-ordinator Graham Robinson explains the purpose behind what they do: “If there are people who are homeless we help them out, maybe try to get them into a hostel, or get them food and a hot drink or just have a simple conversation with them.  We’re just trying to show a bit of love to Belfast.”

On the night I joined them one of the first people they meet is a homeless man who’s taking refuge in a city centre cafe and staff there are clearly keen to move him on.  The group get him a hot drink, encourage him to leave the restaurant and spend some time with him.

One of the volunteers Natalie Robinson explains why they were so keen to help this man: “He’s just lost his fiance and has got tangled up in the craziness and doesn’t know what to do, so he’s drinking alot.  But he’s a big amazing guy.  It’s just crazy to see someone who’s a big Belfast man, a big daddy out there… cos who knows, he could be someone’s daddy and he’s certainly someone’s son.”

The latest Housing Executive figures reveal around 800 people in Belfast were found to be homeless between April last year and January this year.  But it’s the stories behind these figures that inspires the Beautiful Feet group to do what they do, as Graham explains:  “What you realise when you get out here is how much every person you meet is an individual and they have such incredible stories.  They’re really not that different to you and me.

“When you talk to them you realise they had a job or their family broke down or a complex series of things that if that had happened to you or me might end up with you or me being on the streets.”

Beautiful Feet are just one of a number of informal groups working to help those who find themselves homeless and it’s their vision that the streets need not be anyone’s home.  And so the group are passionate about continuing to be people, whose feet stop, as Natalie explains:

“When you see homeless people it’s pretty shocking so I just sat down beside them one day.  It was crazy how low you felt just sitting there, watching everyone’s feet pass you by.”

She’s one of 2,400 people across the city who have benefited in the last year from one church’s vision that no-one in Belfast should go hungry - and now, at Christmas, they’re intensifying their efforts…

Storehouse, as the initiative has become known, is spearheaded by Belfast City Vineyard.  It all began through a church visit to the US in 2007 when they saw a similar programme in action.

“It really broke our hearts,” says associate pastor Alan Carson, “We watched them just throw open the doors and people came to get fed.”

So from that seed of a vision, a Storehouse venture was launched in Belfast in March 2008. The project now brings together over 50 charities, community groups and churches across the greater Belfast area to provide emergency food parcels for the most vulnerable in our city.

It depends on individuals and families from those churches and community groups purchasing extra groceries each week and keeping the storehouse well stocked.  And this Christmas they are stepping up efforts to meet the needs of poor families in Belfast, attempting to gather in two months of food in just one day as part of ‘The Big Christmas Give’.

“We never meet the people,” as Alan explains, “because the charities pass the food on to families they have identified. But we just think it’s the heart of Jesus that no-one in the greater Belfast area should go hungry.  We had just heard too many stories of people having to choose between heating and food.  And when I read the Bible I almost think God is bias towards the poor.”

The project is growing, as Alan explains: “We’d been limited by our office before, we couldn’t bring in food in bulk but we prayed a lot and asked a lot – and a Christian businessman approached us to say he had a free warehouse we could use.  This gives us the space to grow and the chance to take it to the next level.

“I guess my heart would be that we wouldn’t need big corporations in this, that the Church in Belfast would be the Church.  But at every stage God has provided beyond what we could imagine.”

And the stats really do speak for themselves – 2,400 people fed through the project since its inception, that’s 530 families provided for - and 9 tonnes of food shifted!

Other churches have joined with Vineyard in this project, but they’re keen to see even more people on board.  Alan says it’s a need that is on our door-steps: “We’re comfortable with sending aid to Africa, but while people here in Belfast may not be dying of poverty some of them are certainly not getting to live.”

Sixteen year old Rachel says the ‘peace walls’ have always been part of her life: “You grow up with Catholics on one side, Protestants on the other but if we were all together we’d find that we’re really all same.  We’re not bad people, it’s just history which makes us look bad.”

While for 15 year old Sarah it’s hard to imagine life without the walls: “It’s kinda normal for them to be there.  But I think it would be better to have them down.  I’d like to see life without them.”

It’s November 9th 2009 and around 60 young people from flashpoint areas areas across the city gathered at the gates of the peaceline on Lanark Way to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Organised by Youthlink the event is part of an ‘Up against the wall’ initiative, aimed at using the iconic images from Berlin to focus minds on solving interface conflict here.

Youthlink’s community relations manager John Peacock is longing for breakthrough in Belfast: “Personally we all want the walls to come down. The barriers in people’s minds are the bigger issue rather than the physical issue.

“The ultimate aim of the group is to get young people involved and give them a voice on the issue, it is about engaging them in conversation about the future,” he said.

The young people who turned out played basketball with the Peace Players, who met former US President George Bush in Belfast in 2008, and took part in a drumming workshop.

The group then headed to the City Hall to meet with Belfast’s Lord Mayor Naomi Long and share their dreams of a city where interfaces could become a concept studied in history classrooms, rather than an everyday reality.

Belfast’s Lord Mayor is undoubtedly a politician with passion, vision and drive.  Growing up in east Belfast during the height of the Troubles she developed a real love for the city: “I love the resilience and humour of the people, the strong sense of locality, the connectedness of the city, the beautiful location…” (you feel she could go on and on chatting on what appears to be her favourite subject)

“During the Troubles it was as it the city was closing in - it was a really desperate time but people here kept going, they had the guts to keep going,” Naomi reflects.

“But the city is so open now - it’s full of life and there are lots of tourists coming here.  Of course we still have problems, but what city doesn’t?”

Despite this obvious idealism the east Belfast MLA is well aware of the challenges that lie between Belfast at present, and her mayoral vision of a ‘city without barriers’: “We see difference as a threat… Difference itself is feared.  We have to learn ways of celebrating difference in a way that people will see as attractive.”

Clearly Naomi Long is a politician with her own identity: “I never wanted to join a tribe - I know who I am.  I like being part of the UK but there’s an Irishness which I fully recognise and enjoy.”

And so she sees herself as a conversation starter in communities that struggle to see past the barriers; to encourage them to dream and to imagine a world beyond the cultural divides: “We only see the part that we live in… I’d loved to see it opened up… that people could get to see all parts.”

During her year in office Naomi is loving that privilege of sampling life in all parts of Belfast but is there one group or person whose story has inspired her?

“I’m inspired by the passer-by… the people you meet incidentally.  It’s reinforced just how much work goes on under the radar - trying to make Belfast a better place. It’s reinvigorating for me to be a part of building for that future.”

And so Belfast’s Mayor is happy to endorse the Tell It In Colour vision - to see more of Belfast’s stories of hope rise to the surface: “There is alot of good work that goes uncovered… If we’re to have an honest assessment of the city we have to reflect on the good work - so that when something goes wrong - there is a backdrop to it.  It’s about being fair on how we reflect the city.”

It is this dream of a better city which clearly drives Naomi Long: “We want a city that inspires the younger generation to do good things.  I’m not going to change the world in a year… But let’s start imagining a Belfast without barriers…”

Gripping a stark wooden cross Pastor Jack McKee, of New Life City Church has been carrying out a 40 day vigil, at dividing gates between the Falls and Shankill. It’s been an eye-opening experience for him: “I didn’t realise there were so many people who crossed the divide every day, so many who shop in the ‘other’ community.  It seems that there’s a greater openness than we realise here.”

Seven years ago Jack McKee carried out a 40 day cross walk around the same area: “I thought I’d never do anything like that again but recently I felt that we just weren’t getting the support we need or deserve to do cross-community work here.  I wanted to highlight that.”

And so he took up his cross, and his position, on the peace line at Northumberland Street.  He may have cut a somewhat lonely figures at times, but he has had the most amazing encounters, including an opportunity to forgive an enemy, who before now had remained faceless: “This motorcyclist stopped with me and said ‘Pastor Jack there’s something I want to say to you: I’ve driven past you before, I’ve honked my horn at you, you waved back but I’ve been wanting to talk to you…

“That night four years ago when your house was attacked with paint and your car petrol bombed… I led that attack - and I want to say that I’m sorry.’  To look that man in the eye, while holding the cross, and to genuinely forgive him was an amazing experience, it was definitely a God thing.”

Even while I chat to him, people wave across the street, cross the road to say hello or simply bring him a cup of coffee.  There is the sense that the community is behind him and the idea is that this solidarity will be illustrated on Saturday 17th, when young people from the Falls and Shankill link arms across the divide, in order to symbolically link their communities.  It will be a powerful moment.

“Our human wall shows that people have had enough of hatred and division,” Jack McKee says, “This is to show all the good work that is taking place to counter divides here.”  And it’s these connections which have been forged across the divide that he now wants to enhance, through the setting of a new community facility on the peace line.  New Life City Church have purchased a warehouse there, but they have so far been denied any government funding support for its refurbishment.

And so Jack McKee keeps on dreaming and he’s already witnessed plenty of miracles.  The piece of ground where the vigil has been taking place has been purchased by the Church, after the asking price dropped from £30, 000 to £800.  It’s a grey space which he wants to see colourfully transformed into a ‘peace site’, complete with landscape gardening, children’s play facilities and a seating area.

As Pastor McKee puts it: “It’s time to sit down and have conversations with each other, instead of throwing stones at each other.”

Hope for a nation

 ‘Youth for Christ’ (YFC) is behind the initiative which has the vision to see 32 teams sent out, one to each of the 32 counties for a week during summer 2010 to serve local communities.  The road-trippers had come back with such an overwhelming sense of the potential that was out there.  They couldn’t shake the sense that there were so many people out there who needed help and support. And they saw this idea of parallel teams reaching into every county of Ireland as historic.

Sixty-four leaders and 320 volunteers will be recruited from across Ireland and from around the world. The teams will then spend time being trained in Dublin before getting to work on the ground from July 22nd-August 3rd.  

N.I Project coordinator Judith Cairns says they’re seeking to look at the big and small picture:  “We’re all about serving the local community whether it’s through kids work, youth work or practical acts of kindness.  It is a full picture, as we also want to really engage the people of the area in prayer.

“I guess it’s about building relationships in the community… having that investment in an area, opening their eyes to what is possible and making new connections.”

“We believe it’s really significant that it’s all happening at the same time… we hope it will create a real energy as a whole lot of wee dots on the map work at the same time.”

As well as inspiring volunteers to sign up to the initiative, YFC also need locations within each county to catch the vision and get themselves on board, as Judith explains: “The last thing we want to do is parachute a team in. We want the locations to use the teams to generate interests and contacts… to kickstart something new.  This is really for places that have a heart, but just not the manpower.”

So if you’re captured by the spirit of Project 32 then why not check out their website (www.projectthirtytwo.com) and consider signing up.  It began with a road-trip but may just end with a nation being touched by God.

'Not Disabled, Differently Abled'

“Not Disabled, Differently Abled” is the tagline that Kyle Boyd, an interactive multimedia designer has pioneered and developed in an innovative website called ‘Disability Heroes’.  The hope is to put a positive spin on disabilities like Cerebral Palsy, Down’s Syndrome and Spina Bifida, as well as to provide useful information for children aged 6-11 and their parents. 

“Essentially the website puts a spin on something that is normally considered to be negative,” says Kyle. “It’s ultimately about giving kids the self belief that their disability doesn’t have to be seen as a negative thing, but that they can treat it more as a super power.” 

For Kyle, who has the condition Cerebral Palsy, it felt like sometimes there was no one to tell him about his condition: “When I was growing up I used to ask many questions about my disability. Of course my parents offered many answers, but as a child this was very hard to understand, and you couldn’t use the internet - as it hadn’t been invented!”

Enter Cooper Price, Dakota Sharp and Steve Boswell - three characters Kyle created to help demystify the stigma often associated with disability. Each character on disabilityheroes.com has their own website which is alive with colour, full of simple but rich information, as well as interactive activities and downloads. It’s all aimed at giving kids the self belief that their disability doesn’t need to hinder their lives in any way.

For Kyle, Superman was a major inspiration: “Superman came to earth and he was different, but everyone accepted him for who and what he was, this is the way I want disabilities to be. Even though you’re disabled you’re just ‘Differently Abled’. So why couldnt I make the Disability the Super Power?”

Currently the website has an influential online presence and Kyle is already working hard to get charities onboard, so that children can use his website to further understand and tell people about their conditions with confidence. It’s clear that Disability Heroes is already changing the lives of children (and their parents) who have conditions like Cerebral Palsy, Down’s Syndrome and Spina Bifida.

One comment Kyle received read:

“Just wanted you to know that I really enjoyed browsing through your website. It’s fantastic and inspirational…as well as being quite funny! My little girl, Anna (6) has CP and I just know she will enjoy your site when she is a little older (she doesn’t really understand now). She is also at mainstream school and you have given me hope that she will achieve the dreams she wants to achieve and I thank you for that!”

So the next time you think of Superman, think also of Kyle and his bunch of Disability Heroes - and think Destiny, not Disability.

www.disabilityheroes.com 

Woodvale's Got Talent

‘Woodvale’s Got Talent’ was the occasion, the first time such an event has been held in the area and it certainly struck a chord in the local community.  ‘Simon Cowell’, ‘Piers Morgan’ and ‘Amanda Holden’ all featured in the show held in Woodvale Presbyterian Church, while UTV’s Frank Mitchell, Julian Simmons and Carolyn Stewart also made special contributions.

With a prize of a day in a recording studio up for grabs, the competition was intense, but after a toughly fought contest little Ashton Coyle won out with her rendition of Beyonce’s ‘Beautiful Nightmare’.    

The event held on the Saturday August 29th was the culmination of a week of community work and outreach spearheaded by a team based at the church.  The vision for the group was to show Love to the community through a host of events, including teenage and kids clubs, acts of random kindness, football club, drop-in events, parties and so much more.

It was a week when stereotypes were broken down; as a whole new bunch of people were drawn towards Church; as kids who caused mayhem were met with love; as a group of hardcore young guys rocked out to the sounds of ‘Jesus Christ’ during a rap set by hiphop act Desert Voice Calling.

One of the young people who got involved in the week’s activities, including the talent show, was 15 year old Charlene.   She says the week has made a ‘huge difference’ in her life: ” I love it because it gives me a break from my normal life.  It’s somewhere that I can talk about things and be who I am and not have to pretend all the time.” 

“Like, I never ever get to talk about my faith and things till the guys come!  It also brings a sense of love and togetherness, it’s somewhere where I actually fit in with people, which isn’t many places.”

While 16 year old Andrew says the week allows him to explore his faith and make new friends: “I love meeting the team and seeing how God uses them to reach out to the kids in our area, good or bad, and I love the banter they bring every year.”

“I love watching them teach kids about God in a relaxed and fun way.  The team makes a huge difference coming into Woodvale and into my life because it’s hard to find a Christian friend here.”

And as those kids stood under the spotlight at ‘Woodvale’s Got Talent’ and shone, I sensed just how empowering an experience this was for them.  As cheers resounded throughout the church and encouragements were uttered I could see the smiles stretched across their faces.  These young people need to have the best called out of them, not the worst, they need to know that they are special and that their lives count.  They need to be validated, not labelled.

Ark: changing the world through acts of random kindness

‘I was in this café the other week,” says Cameron Stewart, “and I was buying an ice-cream. So I gave the guy at the desk a fiver and said, the next person who orders an ice cream, tell them it’s on the house. Tell them it’s free, and this will pay for it.”

A simple and selfless idea, but one that has potentially revolutionary implications and results. For Cameron the point is to change the way people behave: “In the world, everyone is just out for themselves,” he says “and to an extent that works.

“But I think when you start to put yourself last, you realise that it is the best way to live.” With the logo and symbol created to inspire people, Cameron hopes people will see it, recognise it and think - ‘Oh yeah, I should really do something for someone’- That’s the idea.”

However, ARK wasn’t always intended to promote potentially world-changing kindness. “Originally it was going to be just for Cameron’s profit. And for me to be a millionaire by the time I was 20,” said the teenager.

But then I realised that it’s more fun to give money away than to store it all up. So it changed to being a millionaire by the time I was 20, and giving it all away.” All the profits from ARK clothes go to charitable works – basically, acts of kindness on a larger scale. “When the whole business was building up, I made a group on Facebook,” Cameron says. “There are about 500 or 600 members now. And just before Christmas I sent out a message saying, if you see a need anywhere, just e-mail me and we’ll pay for it.”

It’s clear ARK works. Acts of Random Kindness to date include delivering Christmas presents to a homeless shelter in Belfast and following an email from a girl who said: ‘There’s a woman I work with who’s recently had a child. And she was back to work within a week of having the baby, because she doesn’t have any money and she’s really, really struggling,’ Cameron gave her some money and sent a specially delivered Christmas hamper.

Where did this entrepreneurial spirit come from in someone so young you might ask? “Well, when I was in school, I was an entrepreneur at heart,” Stewart says. “I could sell anything, and I always tried to sell anything. Just for the fun of it, I guess. And I started buying designer clothing online, and selling it online. And then from doing that, all these Chinese suppliers e-mailed me, so I ended up getting this massive list of factories in China, all these contacts.”

After finishing his exams, he went to China himself to check he wasn’t buying from a sweatshop. “Thankfully, the first guy I met was just fantastic, and the factory was great. We drew up a contract and got 600 shirts ordered. It took a week.”

So put simply, Wear an Ark°, perform an Ark°. You’ll make someone’s day. No strings attached.

Visit www.ARKHQ.com for more info on how to be a part of the mission to spread and inspire kindness globally.

(This article is based on an Irish Times feature - http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/magazine/2009/0228/1224241795032.html)

Building homes for needy families

Habitat for Humanity Northern Ireland is behind the Big Build 09 initiative.  The local charity has chartered two aeroplanes, which will leave Dublin on the 3rd October, and now they are looking to reach the full quota of volunteers to fill those flights.

Peter Farquharson, the charity’s co-founder and Executive Director, believes that the trip, which has been organised to mark Habitat’s 15 year anniversary in Northern Ireland, can help transform lives in Romania: “Its a way of celebrating our global partnerships and our commitment to transforming communities - by building decent homes alongside those in need wherever they live.”

Over the last 10 years 27 Habitat teams have travelled to Romania, where more than 300 local volunteers worked alongside families in need to build homes there. But the charity believes that links between Northern Ireland and Romania have never been stronger, as their spokesperson Jenny Williams explains: “We have had a long-term partnership with the country, many people have had links through local schools which have sought to alleviate the awful legacy of orphanages there.

“It’s ironic in the midst of us making these plans to return to Romania, the glare of the worldwide media spotlight has been focussing on Northern Ireland and our relationship with Romania.”

Habitat are determined that the Big Build will alleviate some of the problems faced by a country where 35% of the total housing stock is in a state of complete neglect and needing urgent repairs.

So far 180 volunteers have signed up for the Big Build, with spaces on the trip for another 70 people.  And Jenny has this message to those interested: “There is a huge housing need in Romania and we have this opportunity to show them that people in Northern Ireland care…that we want to see the lives of 10 orphan families transformed.”