Erne School, St Mary’s Belleek and Jesus and Mary Secondary School, Sligo participate in Peace III Cross Border Exchange

Caption: Ryan Cunningham WELB Sports Development Officer, Conor Quinlivan St Mary's University College and Lorraine Tuffy Youth Sport Coordinator Jesus and Mary Secondary School, Sligo are pictured with young people from Erne School, St Mary's HS, Belleek and Jesus and Mary SS, geared up for their abseiling activity at WELB Gortatole Outdoor Education Centre, Co Fermanagh, as part of the Peace III 'Developing a Shared Society through Youth Sport' project, a cross border initiative.

The Western Education and Library Board (WELB) in partnership with Sligo VEC, recently organised a cross border student exchange at Gortatole Outdoor Education Centre, Co Fermanagh, as part of the Peace III ‘Developing a Shared Society through Youth Sport’ project, a cross border initiative.

Funding, received from the European Union Peace and Reconciliation Programme, enabled the project to facilitate a student exchange for 45 pupils from Erne Special School, St Mary’s High School, Belleek and Jesus and Mary Secondary School, Sligo to participate in the four-day residential.

The children aged between 13-15 years took part in a range of outdoor and teambuilding activities such as canoeing, climbing, orienteering, nightline and caving which aimed to develop teamwork, leadership and communication skills on a cross border and cross community basis.

Ryan Cunningham, WELB Sports Development Officer, said: “Erne School cluster is one of the more effective clusters as not only does it create cross border and cross community opportunities but it also links pupils in mainstream schools with pupils in special schools; the impact of this is immeasurable.”  He continued: “The four-day residential provided pupils and co-ordinators with the opportunity to break down any barriers that existed, and, as the week progressed it was clear to see the students growing in confidence which will, in turn, have a positive effect when they return to their school setting.”

Caption: Pictured are two young people engaged in a team-building activity, as part of the Peace III 'Developing a Shared Society through Youth Sport' project, a cross border initiative, which took place at WELB Gortatole Outdoor Education Centre, Co Fermanagh.

Caption: A WELB Gortatole Outdoor Education Centre Instructor preps a student as he prepares to participate in an abseiling exercise as part of the Peace III 'Developing a Shared Society through Youth Sport' project, a cross border initiative.

Caption: Ryan Cunningham WELB Sports Development Officer and Simon Bradley Youth Sport Coordinator St Mary’s HS, Belleek are pictured with young people all set to take part in a canoeing exercise as part of the cross border initiative held at Gortatole Outdoor Education Centre.

Caption: Ryan Cunningham WELB Sports Development Officer and Conor Quinlivan St Mary's University College are pictured with young people from Erne School, St Mary's HS, Belleek and Jesus and Mary SS, Sligo, who took part in a four-day cross border student exchange at WELB Gortatole Outdoor Education Centre, Co Fermanagh.