This was no slick event, no award-winning performance, no pre-Christmas publicity stunt.  This was about ordinary people who live on a patch of north Belfast ground declaring a different future over a troubled area.  As they gathered at Ardoyne round-about for the area’s first of its kind cross-community carol service, you knew that this was a moment so much bigger than itself.  You felt that history should be recording this moment.

We all know the scenes that Ardoyne round-about is famous for. Violence and hatred have tagged this place for too long.  And yet this Christmas local church leaders took the lead.  They made the call to host a carol service and they urged and inspired their communities to be a part of it.

Their vision was to send out a bold statement of togetherness and hope for a future where unity will win.  It’s a dream which shouldn’t have to be bold and shouldn’t actually even have to be a dream - and one day maybe it will be normality for the communities clustered around that round-about.

But for now steps forward have been taken; moves towards a new future which ordinary radicals within these communities are trying to paint.  It’s their friendships, their gestures, their acts of kindness, their steps across the divide that will defeat the divide.  For the Garys, the Alberts, the Annes, the Marys, the Kens, the Margarets, the Gerrys, the Andys and the Normans - their alternative stories are changing the narrative of this hope-hungry place.

*image by Dean Molyneaux

They liked to call it ‘reverse trick or treating’ or maybe even ‘treat or treating’.  But whatever label you give it the group’s idea was to turn up at their neighbours’ homes and instead of demanding sweets or money, hand out free gifts.

People simply could not believe their eyes, as the fancy-dress clad men showed up at their houses, handing out sweets and treats.  Their shock was further compounded by the fact that they weren’t expected to give anything back in return.

The kids of the area were confused at first - but once they found out that their trick or treat patch was not being muscled in on they seemed to quite like this novel idea.

And the chance to have their photo taken with a real live vampire at their very own front-door only served to get them on board wtih this example of reverse and very hopeful psychology.

“The whole intention,” says Paul Elliot who has been involved in the project right from the start, “was to create a thrift shop that didn’t look like a traditional charity shop.

“It was my wife’s idea really - borne out of the fact that were so much need in Carnmoney area, so many families struggling financially.”

Carnmoney Church is behind the Manna Thrift Shop - and over the summer a team of 50 people set about re-inventing the empty store.  They gutted the building, plastered it, painted it and created a really inviting space for the shop to work out of.

“The feed-back is that it looks incredibly good and offers good quality children’s clothes at a cheap price - which is really helping families,”  says Paul.

But it is Manna’s school uniform programme which is proving essential for some families, who are finding times very tough.

Like for *Connor’s family - a teenager who was facing the new school term with no blazer and no shoes to wear.  His family contacted Manna through the confidential phone line service and the team at the shop were able to supply Connor’s needs from the uniforms which had been donated.  It meant the student was able to begin the school year with the dignity of having the right uniform.

On top of all that positive community work, Manna provides a distribution point for grocery hampers for families caught in the poverty trap.

“Through our charity contacts we identify families in real need and distribute the food or uniforms to them,”  explains Paul.

“We’ve been able to be a source of hope to people - to kit out quite a number of families with school uniforms and meet their needs at this really pressing time.”

*Not his real name to protect the individual’s identity

The beautiful initiative was spearheaded by Causeway Coast Vineyard Church, who were inspired by a similar summer ball they had seen hosted in the States for children with special needs.  Kids worker Dave Pavey said it made them think - “Could we do something like this here?”

And that’s exactly what they did.  A ‘dress shop’ was opened up within the church complex and the local community totally behind the venture.  Dresses were donated, limos offered for free, hairdressers said they’d volunteer their services to style and cut hair on the night.

“It was eye-opening,” Dave said.  “The community totally got on board.  I guess we all wanted to create a formal that was even better than your average formal.  These young people had never been to one before.  We only found out afterwards - but for many of them this was the fulfillment of a dream.”

In the build-up to the event excitement within the school mounted.  Staff there reported that the formal was altering the atmosphere among pupils, who can often get depressed towards the end of term at the thought of having to leave the safety of school.

“The formal seemed to be turning that around,” said Dave.  “Sadness was literally being turned to joy.”

On the big night a ‘get-ready party’ was held where the young people stepped into their evening wear and got their hair and make-up perfected.  Then three limos rolled up and took the excited teenagers on a tour around the town, before dropping them off at the hotel.

Once there a drinks reception was held, official photos taken, before the meal was served and then an awards ceremony took place where everyone was a winner.  Then it was time to dance into the night!

For young people like Gemma, who is severely mentally disabled, such a night was precious.  Her mum described it as “a miracle” that Gemma, who has to be in a wheelchair to keep her settled, was able to sit still for 2 hours and have the time of her life.

“Some of these young people had never been out for dinner before,” explained Dave. “And so was this was such an affirming night - to let them know how much they were valued and that the community valued them so much.”

“The joy that was in the room that night was almost tangible.  Valuing people - seems to change them.  It really was such a moving experience.”

And so a visual artist from Belfast decided to try and use flags to forge new links between our communities here.  Raymond Watson was in Tibet when inspiration struck…

“I was in the Himalyas and I saw hundreds of Tibetan prayer flags, as many as there are at home during the summer - except they were spreading hope of a better future.  And that was where the idea was generated from.”

When Raymond got home he spoke to the family of murdered north Belfast teenager Thomas Devlin and suggested the creation of a project in his legacy.  And so the Flags of Hope initiative was borne.

The aim: to create 10 thousand flags - all bearing individual messages of peace - that could be hung as bunting at one of the city’s interfaces.  This bunting would be a mile and a half in length and would set a world record.

The concept struck a chord  - youth groups, community organisations, ordinary people - all got on board and got creative.

“I insisted people used as much colour as possible. One of the main things was to allow freedom of design.  People were allowed to doodle with paint and colour,” says Raymond.

“Many people have written messages of good will for the future - there are beautiful themes. A lot of kids naturally use colour, older people have used peace images - but there are no two flags the same, they are multi-coloured and mult-messaged.”

And so this colourful array of flags have now been unfurled at Lanark Way in west Belfast.  A world record has been achieved, but so too has something much more significant…

“We’d people coming up to us to say that for once they were so happy to see flags flown in Belfast,” says Raymond.  It seems their presence at a city interface all too familiar with trouble, is making people smile and offering some signs of hope.

This friendship was made possible after the two men met at a play written by a local playwright about the Troubles. After this, ground-breaking links were forged between the two men’s groups they were part of.

This journey saw men from the Shankill, many who had been combatants in the Troubles, be guided around Milltown Cemetery by a leading republican.

The journey also saw men from the Falls enter the Shankill and hear the stories of that community.

Noel Hunter, who is part of the leadership of the Take2 Project on Conway Street, says it’s been an amazing journey: “These men went places they simply never thought they could go. To get guys from a ghetto in the Shankill walking around a republican musuem in the Falls was something else.

“They were nervous, but they didn’t come to it cold.  There was much build-up that we did - social contact between the groups and participation in a short conflict resolution course hosted by the Corrymeela community.”

The Take2 initiative, which includes men from a Polish and Islamic background, as well as nationalists and loyalists, is committed to deep-rooted cross-community work.  Through residential trips, dialogue and education programmes, many men have been offered a fresh start in life.

And to those who say that Northern Ireland can never change - what would Noel say?

“The last few weeks on our TV screens we’ve seen teenagers hurl missiles at police.  Some of the guys we work with were involved in worse stuff.  Some of them have histories with a capital ‘H’.

“But they’ve moved away from that strife - they’ve chosen to put that behind them - they now look at the world through different eyes.”

Last year Janette Myles had a dream that the street she called home wouldn’t just be a patch of land where strangers pass each other by on their way to work.  It was her vision that it would be a space where friendships would form and lives could be shared.  And so she signed Shaw Street up to ‘The Big Lunch project - a national initiative designed to inspire neighbourliness in communities across the UK.

“Everyone enjoyed it so much last year,” says Janette. “People kept asking me were we going to do it again this year.  So we did…”

But this time around Janette didn’t just invite Shaw Street residents, she invited those who live on the streets either side of them.  Through this she met a young mum who’d recently moved into the area - the street party invite was the first piece of mail Amy got through her door.  And so she came to the party - with her brother who was a balloon artist and who put his art into practise that day!

“On the day it was raining,” says Janette. “We didnt’ know what to do, but then we just opened up our homes.  Mary’s was ‘the sweet house’ where all the deserts were, mine was ‘the savoury house’!  We’d amazing food, face-painting, music and games!

“Someone commented that this must be the most multi-cultured street in east Belfast, but I’m sure it’s not - it’s just that so many people were out of their homes and mingling.”

And for Janette that’s part of the heart-beat behind organising this now yearly event: “I never wanted it to just be about bringing ‘the two communities’ here together, I wanted to see different nationalities and age groups brought together.”

And that’s how Helen sees it - it was her that made the comment we opened this story with - about it being less about the buns and sandwiches, and more about community.  As a bunch of women on the street take it in turns to help take Helen’s husband to his hospital appointments, everyone knows that the Shaw Street Redemption is continuing…

Jonny’s mind was a blur.  As he stared out at this guy he saw real distress in his eyes.  Fear was written across a face which had just been freshly marked by a series of reddening cuts.  Jonny opened the door of his car.  The guy jumped in…

Jonny takes up the story: “All of a sudden the gang sprinted off, away from the car - it was as if they thought I was a threat or that they’d seen a ghost or something.  So I began to ask the guy who he was and what had been happening…”

“His name was Kristoff and he was from Poland (he couldn’t speak much English) and basically he’d been attacked by this gang.  He seemed in great distress, although he wasn’t seriously injured.  He’d cuts on his face and a golfball-sized lump on his forehead.  If he’d been left on the street who knows what could have happened to him…”

Jonny hasn’t seen Kristoff since the incident but is planning to call around and check how he is.

He says his hope is that “while Kristoff saw a side of Northern Ireland that no-one should have to see, he also saw the side where a stranger, with no connections to him, chose to get involved and help him out.”

While Steve and Mel set off to tour ‘our wee country’, we got busy with plans!  Shirley and Leslie were going to the official witnesses, aka ‘the bridesmaids’!  So Shirley set about cleaning her silver mini and putting ribbons on it, while Leslie sorted the flowers. Shirley’s daughter Katie was tasked with getting confetti and Ben had the role of photographer. The five of us were so excited to be a part of a wedding for two strangers, who suddenly felt like friends…

Then came the highlight of the story - the Wedding Day!! The bride and groom arrived in the mini and Ben snapped away with his camera. They looked lovely and the ceremony was beautiful. Steve’s poem brought a tear to the eye of all the girls who were there and we celebrated together as the Registrar announced them as man and wife. Then outside for more photos and confetti. Everyone was filled with joy; such a sunny day and such a joyful occasion.

The seven of us then went to a nearby hotel to toast the happy couple and find out a little bit more about them. It was hard to believe that four days ago we had never met. They told us how they met while Steve taught Mel advanced motor-cycling and how they shared a McDonalds coffee after each lesson. From this their relationship grew.

As we sat in the hotel the manager came over and wished Steve and Mel well. He asked them if they had come to Antrim to get married to be with us - their family and friends. He was shocked when we told him that  five days ago we had never met. I think he thought we were joking…

This story fills me with hope.

Denny and Ashleigh got talking as they waited on the bus from Portstewart to Coleraine one chilly morning.  As they chatted about the weather and made small talk they couldn’t have realised that this was the start of a unique friendship.

As Ashleigh says: “We chatted on the bus as well and I didn’t really think much about it.  Then in the weeks following we kept ending up on the same bus even though it was at different times.

“We were able to continue chatting and see how each other was.”

From then their paths seemed to keep crossing.  Ashleigh bumped into Denny on the promenade in Portstewart and realised that he lived in fold housing close to where she lived.  So she decided to bake him an apple pie and bring it to him.

She loves introducing her friends to Denny whenever she sees him out and about: “I love the simplicity of it - I think being part of a community where people get to know each other like this, bump into each other and build random friendships is amazing.

“I also love the idea of bridging the gap between old and young.”

Ashleigh says her story isn’t very special.  But the fact is that it is - because not enough of us are building these random friendships.  It would be great if her story wasn’t that special, because then it would be so natural for us to cut through those bus-stop silences.

“It’s challenged me to think about making the effort with people I wouldn’t normally know,” says Ashleigh, “And i think Denny appreciates it too.

“I was with my housemate just on Saturday and I saw Denny on the prom again with one of his friends. I went over to say hello and he was just really happy that we’d come over and bothered to stop.

“Hopefully we will continue to stay random friends.”