Women’s Aid ABCLN needs your vote to secure £25,000 funding

Womens Aid Teen Thing project participants Gabrielle Carland, Suzanne Roach and Grace Hoey. INLT-19-720-con

The funding is being made available by the Aviva Community Fund, which offers community groups the chance to secure funding for an important cause.

The organisations which receive the most votes will be entered into the finals, where a judging panel will award the funds.

If successful, Women’s Aid ABCLN says that the funding would be used to employ a part–time “Teen Project Worker” for one year to facilitate Supporting Teenagers in Groups (STIG), developed by the staff in collaboration with young people aged 13-18 years of both genders.

This will be delivered across Antrim, Ballymena, Carrickfergus, Larne and Newtownabbey.

“The Teen Thing” an intervention and preventative project programme aims to enable young people to make informed choices about their lives and discuss teenage related issues.

The programme contains information on a variety of topics including: written and unwritten rules, healthy and unhealthy relationships, domestic violence and the effects, teen dating abuse, keeping yourself safe online, bullying, positive mental health, sexual abuse, sexual health and drug and alcohol misuse.

The eight-week programme will be facilitated within Women’s Aid centres, schools, churches, youth & community groups across ABCLN.

A minimum of 744 young people will be targeted and 93 sessions will be carried out per year throughout the local area.

The programme will compliment Women’s Aid’s existing therapeutic programmes based on prevention and child protective behaviours.

Women’s Aid ABCLN are asking the public to vote to help young people living with domestic violence as a victim or witness to parent’s abuse.

They say that young people are the hidden victims of domestic violence and are significantly at risk of school dropout, exclusion and risk taking behaviours.

Voting for the project closes on Saturday May 30.

To vote, visit community-fund.aviva.co.uk.

To view a video on domestic violence made by the young people of Women’s Aid ABCLN visit The Times’ website.