Always on
This project successfully funded on 7th June 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Empower Youth Social Leaders in NI
Belfast, United Kingdom
£110
raised so far
Crowdfunder is secure
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Aim
Help a 100% volunteer-led team support young people in Northern Ireland to transform anxiety into civic action.
The Reality Our Youth Are Facing
Growing up in Northern Ireland today carries a heavy, unique burden. Recent structural data from the UK Government’s Young People and Work reports highlights an escalating landscape of economic anxiety, systemic gaps in youth support, and a critical lack of civic spaces where young people feel their voices matter.
Compounding this, the summer months in NI frequently see a troubling rise in cross-community tensions and documented incidents of racial hatred, leaving vulnerable and minoritised youth feeling isolated, unsafe, or anxious about their belonging.
At eduSOIL CIC, we refuse to view our youth through the lens of deficit. We believe that with the right framework, young people can reframe these challenging societal realities—turning deep community problems into historic opportunities for youth-led social action.
Who We Are: 100% Volunteer-Led, 100% Impact
We do this vital work on the ultimate grassroots thin margin. Due to funding cuts, eduSOIL CIC has had no core institutional funding since August 2025, and zero salaried staff. Our entire operations team, including our founder and everyone behind the scenes involved with programme planning, coordination and preparation are committed volunteers.
Alongside the in-kind support from Queen's University Belfast, we have secured a partial project delivery grant of £6,845 from the Arts Council Northern Ireland for direct artist expenses for local sessions, we rely entirely on community donations to sustain our broader infrastructure. We are completely committed to empowering a core group of 50 young people at our flagship summer programme and reaching scores more through our specialized outreach across 10 schools and community centres in Belfast and Bangor.
Watch our young changemakers in action from previous cycles to see the profound impact of this work:
Our Core Summer 2026 Strategy
To combat rising societal divides, mental health anxiety, and community disconnect this summer, your Crowdfunder donations will directly deploy three specific, high-impact interventions:
1. Professional Masterclasses for Educators, Youth Workers & Artists
We equip the adults in our youth ecosystems with the world-renowned, Harvard-endorsed FIDS (Feel-Imagine-Do-Share) methodology. These masterclasses enable local leaders to bring practical social action, arts-based mental health coping strategies, and trauma-informed peacebuilding tools into their own permanent classrooms and community spaces.
2. Subsidised School & Centre Outreach Events (June 1–30)
Academic metrics alone do not build resilient citizens. We provide 10 heavily subsidized outreach sessions (assemblies, workshops, pop-up exhibitions) directly to schools, forcing a window of engagement that shows students how art can bridge cultural and social divides. Our ACNI grant covers the facilitator fees; this fundraiser covers the critical travel, material distribution, and booking components to keep it totally free for under-resourced schools and centres.
3. Flagship Art For Change Summer Programme (July)
We are hosting an intensive creative cohort track at Queen's University Belfast for 50 young people. Here, youth from disparate backgrounds, cross-community spaces, and minoritised groups work collectively alongside professional artists. Together, they co-create public exhibitions that actively challenge racial discrimination and promote structural well-being, culminating in a prestigious public showcase on July 10. Given the recent turmoil in the city, our team is prepared to host this programme virtually to protect the physical and emotional well-being of our staff and participants.
The Global Reward: The Pathway to Athens 🇬🇷
This is not a standalone arts and crafts camp. This programme serves as the official, vetted Northern Ireland pathway to the international Design for Change Summit in Athens, Greece (Nov 26–29, 2026).
By helping us fund these local summer cycles, you are plugging NI youth directly into elite international leadership platforms. Our young people will move from local community rooms to the world stage, presenting their projects alongside peers from 25 countries and claiming seats on the prestigious Global Student Council.
How We Will Use the Money
Because we operate with zero core institutional funding, every pound you give is deliberately deployed to sustain our grassroots infrastructure and keep our programmes completely free for the communities who need them most.
Your donation will directly cover:
- Volunteer Management & Safeguarding: Overseeing our dedicated pool of local and international volunteers. This includes funding mandatory AccessNI background checks through Volunteer Now to ensure the highest standard of safeguarding for our youth.
- Youth Travel & Accessibility Bursaries (For Targeted Groups): Ensuring that transport costs are never a barrier to civic action. We provision fully paid travel bursaries specifically for minoritised, refugee, and highly disadvantaged youth, allowing them to travel safely across to QUB.
- Cross-Community Hospitality (For Targeted Groups): Breaking bread to break down barriers. We will provide meals and refreshments specifically for our intensive multi-day summer tracks, providing a safe, neutral space where young people from divided backgrounds can connect, open up conversations, and build friendships naturally.
- Critical Programme Coordination: This fundamental backbone task has been completely unfunded since work began on designing, building, and launching this entire cycle in December. Funding this role is absolutely critical to the logistical success, scheduling, and delivery of the entire project across schools and university campuses.
- Core Business & Operational Expenses: Sustaining the essential backend infrastructure required to keep a non-profit social enterprise alive. This covers public liability insurances, essential web platform upkeep, accounting requirements, and regulatory compliance.
Safeguarding Notice: To protect our young leaders, all rewards involving community memberships or direct engagement with youth are subject to formal AccessNI background checks facilitated via Volunteer Now. Administrative verification fees are deducted directly from the specified pledge amount.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made