Children on song with community project

The school children teamed up with local composer and musician Ian Hannah to write and record the song as part of a good relations programme supported by Radius Housing, and they unveiled the recording of ‘These Are Our Streets’ during a special event recently.

The idea for the song came from the schools’ participation in Radius Housing’s good relations programmes with the two primary schools, which focused on mental well-being and developing personal capacity. The Relaxed and Resilient programme which ran in St John’s and Killowen Primary Schools helped tackle antisocial behaviour in the Heights area through music and well-being training.

The programme also involved the PSNI and provided health and well-being training to the pupils and their parents.

Both school councils worked together with the composer to write a song about respect for their community, with the result being ’These Are Our Streets’.

A pupil from St John’s commented “After Monday’s workshop I went home and actually felt better, I feel the breathing exercises really helped me.”

While one of the children from Killowen PS said: “I feel really proud to be part of this community when I sing our new song!”

Lisa Mooney, Communities Officer for Radius Housing said: “This will help reduce anti- social behaviour and create a stronger more cohesive community.

“We continue to work in partnership with the local Advisory Group and residents to develop the Laurel Hill Gardens Good Relations Plan.”