Inter-generational project in Waterside

The event, which takes place tomorrow, will be one of the last public engagements for mayor Brenda Stevenson, who is the last city mayor before the new super council takes over in April.

Tomorrow’s celebration, at 4pm, mark the culmination of a unique partnership project between Beacon, Libraries NI and the Western Education and Library Board’s Youth Service programme at Caw Youth Club.

Tenants from the Rosses, a supported housing scheme managed by Beacon Support Services, have been working alongside children from Caw Youth Club in sessions facilitated by staff from Libraries NI.

As an integral part of the project the tenants and children were engaged in a series of interviews in which they began contrasting life for children in today’s modern age with the experiences of the tenants when they were children growing up. Both sets of participants came together to discuss the changes they have seen during their respective childhoods, as well as examine the challenges and opportunities they faced then and now and to explore and record their hopes for the future.

A recording of the discussions was made, which each participant will take away as their personal diary of the project, while a copy, together with their hopes for the future will be placed in the time capsule and stored in a safe location within The Rosses, to be re-opened in 2035. The time capsule will be registered with the International Time Capsule Society at Oglethorpe University, Atlanta Georgia, in the United States.

Mayor Stevenson has placed her hope for the future alongside those of the tenants and children inside the capsule.

In her ‘hope for the future’ contribution to the capsule Councillor Stevenson said: “I would love to see our City free from child poverty with equality of opportunity for everyone and where discrimination no longer exists. I would hope that our ageing population are looked after with dignity and respect and that the prosperity, good health and well being is enjoyed by all.”