Fountain of hope

Jeanette has been a community worker since 1972, at the Cathedral Youth Group founded by her late husband David, and as part of the Shared City Project, formed in 1999, which helps marginalised communities reclaim their city.

She received an MBE for services to young people in the city in 1998.

Now she talks to the Sentinel about growing up in Londonderry and her vocation for working with the community.

“I grew up in Bellview, which is now a largely Catholic area, but in those days was mixed. There was a great community spirit then. You didn’t care what religion people were.

“It was a great privilege to grow up like that. I always loved July 12th and August 12th. In those days I’d be taken by our Catholic neighbours.

“It was a day of celebration. I grew up learning Irish dance, which I loved. I’d be running to the Brownies and singing in the Cathedral girls’ choir. I suppose my life revolved around church, school and the community. That had an impact on the way I think today.

“I’ve always had a great awareness of the walls and our heritage here. When I joined the Brownies we used to play on the walls, skipping and ring-a-ring-a-roses. When I was in my early teens we’d play on the walls on a summer evening, climbing up on the lookouts, looking out at the city below.

“The cannons have a lovely mystery to them, and you can look out and feel you’re back in time. We felt the walls were there for everyone. It was so sad when they became a no go area in the Troubles, a great loss for our young people.

“I’ve been involved in community work since 1972. That was the year we were intimidated out of our home in Mountjoy Street because of the Troubles.

“Protestants were moved out of Derryside, Catholics were moved out of the Waterside. It was a difficult period of our lives, we had three small children and were living outside the city in a place where we knew no one. But I used to look at the daffodils growing in our wee patch of garden and think, ‘we can’t be bitter’.

“It was Dean George Good of St Columb’s Cathedral who approached my late husband David and asked him to set up a youth group around the Fountain area to move them away from anti-social behaviour. I went in to lend a hand because they needed a female worker for the young girls that were joining. That was 38 years ago and I’ve never stopped since!

“It was actually the Catholic community in the Bogside which helped us raise money for the youth group. They organised jumble sales and auctions and each year we had a concert in aid of the Cathedral’s restoration fund.

“Catholics were a big part of our fundraising concerts even though this was a Protestant cathedral. We had Irish singers, Irish dancers, it was brilliant. I have so many Catholic friends and now we work together. We are making a huge change through cross community projects in this city.

“When we were young we didn’t realise how unique the walls were. Now they are even more important to me then they were then. They could become so vibrant and are already becoming so.

“As part of my work with the Cathedral Youth Club (CYC) in the Fountain Estate, we’ve started a small garden near Bishopsgate which we have called St Columba’s Peace Garden.

“We’ve brought kids from the Bogside and the Fountain together. We’ve cleaned it up and planted four rose beds, two from each area. We put in more plants each year. We’ve won quite a few awards for it.

One of our most important projects recently at the CYC has been the Footsteps through the Fountain walking tour. It’s a scheme which our young people came up with themselves to take away sectarian perceptions of the Fountain area.

“They devised the tour, which they take themselves, designed their own uniform, and also give history lectures on the area. There are 22 historical spots of historical interest which they have also covered in a DVD.

“They absorbed the history from older people in the Fountain and are working with Tourist Trails NI who are training them to take the tours.

“They’ve already conducted tours for 400 young people in Catholic schools and won a Young Enterprise Northern Ireland Award in April this year. The young people have also produced their own postcards of the city, brochures and leaflets as well as a website.

“We also have a beautiful piece of sculpture of a young man with a key in his hands, the Apprentice Angel. This is a project through re-imaging Communities.

“The young people designed the sculpture of a young man holding the keys of the city with sculptor Ross Wilson. It’s in a beautiful new garden setting in the Fountain which is a focal point for the area.

“The two keys in the sculpture are the two most famous in the city’s history, used in the closing of the city gates by the apprentice boys during the Siege of Derry.

“They’ve been cast from the original set held in St Columb’s, the first time this has ever been done. Historically the keys were to lock the gates, now it’s to open our city to everyone, to unlock the doors.

“On May 17th, we also opened a new set of allotment plots at the Fountain Estate, called the Bastion plots, which were created by the Derry branch of the Conservation Volunteers and initiated by the CYC.

“They are a wonderful sight from the Walls, and take their inspiration from the history of the city. The 19 plots will be used by the local community and Fountain Primary School and will encourage people to take an interest in growing vegetables and eat more healthily. The young people will be encouraged to cook their produce at our Youth Centre.

“I’ve been involved in the Shared City Project since it started in 1999. My job is to encourage Protestants, and those in marginalised communities, to access funding to form vibrant community centres and instigate community courses and projects. The hope is that people will address what makes them feel alienated from the life of a shared city so we can move together.

“There have been so many wonderful cross community projects too, including many educational courses. Last year we worked with the families that lost relatives in the Omagh and Claudy bombings to create the Windows of Hope, four stained glass windows which the relatives designed themselves.

“The idea was to give the families solace in remembering their loved ones. There is one in the library in Omagh, in the community centre in Claudy, in Buncrana (to remember the young people from a primary school there who were killed in Omagh), and this summer we are taking the final window to Madrid to remember those who lost their lives in the bombing there.

“Recently we celebrated Community Relations Week with several great events. Along with Women into Irish History we organised a Celebration of 10 Years of ‘Shared History exhibition’ at the Workhouse Museum, bringing together women from cross community backgrounds to profile all the work they’ve done, including a CD Rom they made about the history of the Diamond, a project on stained glass windows, a quilt and much else.

“We also organise trips to the Somme to promote awareness of poppies. We started ten years ago when only two per cent of people on it were Catholic. Now it’s 55 per cent. People are starting to look into their own culture.

“One woman found the grave of her great grandfather, who she hadn’t even known had fought in the First World War. We also encourage trips to Dublin to recognise the Easter Rising. It’s important to respect both sides.

“This year we had our fourth event on the Waterside to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. In the past Protestants haven’t recognised St Patrick’, they’ve seen the day as a Catholic celebration so I was so chuffed to see both Protestants and Catholics celebrating our Christian saint. We also follow in the footsteps of St Columba, who founded this city. I take a group to Iona where he founded a Christian centre and we made a DVD on how he took Christianity to Europe.

“The Shared City Project also runs the East West Drama Group, which works for reconciliation. We promoted an exhibition in Berlin last year and on June 17th and 18th this year we invited people from the East and West of Berlin, Belfast, Donegal and Eastern Europe to attend a conference at the Guildhall. We also had a wonderful Fountain of Hope Festival this summer with the Cathedral Youth Club which featured sports, live music and craft stalls and much more.”

On the city being named UK City of Culture 2013, she said: “We really wanted the bid to work so much and we were euphoric when the news that it had been successful came through. I love this city.

“It’s a fantastic community and there is so much we could do here. I would love to see the river opened up, more walks on the riverside and a boardwalk like the one I saw in Capetown to encourage our communities to come together.

“The Peace Bridge is a fantastic idea and what is happening at Ebrington Barracks is so important. The City of Culture would be a wonderful way to promote the city and the wonderful work being done here.”