Lagan Village Youth & Community Group
Making music as a means of communication and engagement has helped young adults with special needs discover new skills and abilities.
The Lagan Village Youth & Community Group in Belfast, Northern Ireland, was established in 2012 to provide a centre and facilities for local people.
Since then they have grown their numbers significantly and now up to 400 people from all walks of life regularly come together to attend and take advantage of the different projects it offers.
One such initiative, supported by the National Lottery, was a music project aimed at helping young adults with special needs, enabling them to use music as a way of promoting better communication and self-confidence.
Along the way they also developed new skills and abilities through the use of instruments and voices, helping them to have friendships and relationships with others, outside of their own families. The culmination of the project was the group performance of a Christmas Pantomime to an audience of over 300 enthralled friends, family and the wider local community.
“The music project gave us and the wider community the ability to see first-hand the musical qualities of young people, and their ability to overcome disabilities and perform like seasoned performers. “It certainly brought home to me the benefits of community work with special needs young people, and the richness they can bring to a community.”
The Lagan Village Youth & Community Group Chairperson Dr Kyle
To find our more information about Lagan Village Youth & Community Group visit their website: https://www.communityni.org/organisation/lagan-village-youth-and-community-group
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