Video: Tyrone researcher receives prestigious Churchill Fellowship medallion for gender-based violence work
A Mid Ulster woman has received a prestigious Churchill Fellowship medallion having completed research into an evidence-based violence prevention programme.
Nicole Devlin, a psychology PhD researcher, addressing misogyny and violence against women and girls, was one of 122 people honoured at an award ceremony in London on Tuesday.
Nicole, from Edendork, Dungannon, said she felt "incredibly honoured" to receive the award.
Reflecting on the past year, Nicole said she spent four weeks last summer in the United States visiting universities, schools, domestic violence organisations and sports teams, to learn about combatting misogyny and addressing the culture of violence against women and girls.
Hosted by Futures Without Violence, as well as a number of partnering organisations in the US (including San Francisco, Las Vegas, Memphis, Pittsburgh), Nicole had the opportunity to learn about Coaching Boys into Men (CBIM) as well as being able to observe a number of sessions being delivered by sports coaches.
CBIM is the only evidence-based violence prevention programme that trains and motivates young males (post-primary school) in healthy relationships skills, mental health practices, and that violence never equates strength through 12 weekly discussions.
By leveraging the power of sports, coaches, teachers, and community advocates, CBIM can transform the culture of our teams, schools, and communities. Since her return from the US, Nicole has successfully piloted the CBIM programme with a secondary school in Northern Ireland (Banbridge High School).
While the programme is global, it has yet to make it to Europe until now, and Nicole is delighted to put Northern Ireland on the map. The future of CBIM in NI looks promising with one of the biggest GAA clubs (East Belfast GAA) in NI set to be the next organisation who will adopt the programme into their training plans.
Nicole added: “Everyone has a role to play, everyone is part of the solution, and collectively, we can end violence towards women and girls.”
To find out more about CBIM, visit here https://coachescorner.org/
Jeremy Soames, Chair of the Churchill Fellowship, said: "We were delighted to celebrate the outstanding achievements of Churchill Fellows at our 2024 Award Ceremony. The occasion marked the successful completion of 122 Fellows' international research and reports – forming an impressively substantial body of work”.