Buddy Up, a performance which was part of a commemorative event to mark 20 years of a pioneering shared-education programme, has been staged in North Belfast.
Family and friends of pupils at Holy Cross and Edenderry Nursery Schools enjoyed the performance yesterday (Wednesday) at Girdwood Community Hub.
The shared-education programme was set up by two nursery school principals in the aftermath of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement to tackle division and sectarianism in North Belfast.
The celebratory event marked the positive work achieved by the collaboration throughout the last two decades.
The event was hosted by popular comedian Tim McGarry.
The audience was also treated to a presentation which detailed Buddy Up’s achievements over the past 20 years.
The scheme engages children, parents and families to build meaningful relationships and friendships while learning and achieving together.
A key focus of the project is to document an alternative narrative now being written by families who live on either side of one of Northern Ireland’s most divided interface areas.
Buddy Up!’s work gained an international honour from the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC) and BMW Group through their Intercultural Innovation Award which recognises best practice in peacebuilding initiatives.
This was the first time any organisation from Northern Ireland had been represented at the prestigious awards ceremony which took place in New York in December.
Closer to home the partnership was also awarded the Spirit of Northern Ireland Award for exceptional contribution to education.
Director of Community Relations in Schools, Lisa Dietrich, said it was important to reflect on how much this scheme has achieved since 1998.
“Buddy Up! has always been about breaking down barriers and looking back over our short history, I’m proud that this is what our team has been able to achieve,” she said.
And she added: “We believe that schools are the ideal meeting places to grow a community of togetherness and compassion so it’s a great honour that the project continues to thrive twenty years later.”
The work between CRIS, Holy Cross Nursery and Edenderry Nursery features as one of the models of best practice on CRIS’ new digital resource for schools entitled ‘GRACE – Good Relations and Collaborative Education – A Whole School Approach’.
The resource was formally launched in March and is being redeveloped as a digital toolkit which will be launched during Good Relations Week in September this year.
For more information about the project, visit http://www.crisni.org/buddy-up/.
