Last week, young people from the local Newtownabbey area, completed a 10 week Wild Walk Bushcraft Project, in association with the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Newtownabbey Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT).
Since November, the Newtownabbey NPT have been running a diversionary project in collaboration with Wild Walk Bushcraft NI, to educate young people. The project has benefitted 12 young people between the ages of 10-16 years-old from the local Antrim and Newtownabbey area, providing participants with both classroom sessions and practical experience.
Educational sessions were held once every fortnight and hosted in the White House in Dalriada, with practical skills being taught before outdoor sessions in both Glenarm and Parkgate. Topics covered during the classroom sessions included useful first aid skills, drug and alcohol awareness talks, historical talks about the area and internet safety, with input from our partners such as Youth Advice Service (HYPE) and Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS).
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Sergeant McAleese said: This project has been thoroughly enjoyed by all involved and the Wild Walk Bushcraft have been teaching the young people about skills such as fire building, shelter construction and team working, with the last session being an overnight stay in the wilderness in Parkgate where their newly acquired skills were put into action.
“As well as teaching important life skills and expanding the knowledge of each individual involved, the aim of running the project, enabled us to build greater relationships, particularly between young people in our area with us, their local community police officers – and we certainly met great characters along the way, the kids were excellent fun to be around.
"Building these relationships and enjoying the experience of travelling, learning and even eating outdoors together, helped to build confidence of the young people to engage with us without any fear or suspicion that might prevent them seeking help when they need it most. We want these individuals to see that we are humans too, we just happen to be in uniform most days."
For more information on what your local Newtownabbey NPT get up to, follow the Antrim & Newtownabbey social media pages.