Ground-breaking course helps women to campaign against social injustice

Women in Belfast are being given an opportunity to gain the campaigning skills necessary to improve the lives of people in their communities.

The Community Campaigners Course, run by the Women’s Resource and Development Agency (WRDA), offers free online training to women to provide them with the tools to campaign for better services for their communities.

Elaine Crory, the main tutor on the course, said the aim of the course was to help more women have their voices heard and become more active in their communities.

She said: “There are many women who are passionate about issues and wish to become more active to improve the quality of life in their areas but need the confidence and practical skills to get the powers-that-be to sit up and take notice. This course will help them take the first step to becoming leaders in their communities.”

The course, which consists of four 2.5 hour sessions run on Zoom on consecutive Monday mornings, will begin on Monday 19th February. The sessions cover critical thinking, communication skills, strategic planning and how to write a campaign strategy.

Funded by Belfast City Council, a further two Community Campaigners courses are planned for later in the year.

Participants do not need prior education or training, just an interest in developing their campaigning skills for the good of the community. Anyone wishing to take part must be from the Belfast City Council area. Those successfully taking part will have the opportunity to complete a portfolio, certified at a Level 3 by the Open College Network (OCN) NI.

WRDA Director Anne McVicker said: “This course is all about empowering women to get resources at a local community level. They are often best placed to identify the needs of their community in all sorts of areas such as perinatal mental health care, helping elderly people suffering from isolation and support for carers looking after family members with dementia.”

Feedback from participants in previous programmes has been overwhelmingly positive. Women have stated that the course was inspiring and gave them greater confidence to go on to make their voices heard.

Any woman in the Belfast area who would like to attend the course online, should send a paragraph explaining why you are interested to deirdre.quinn@wrda.net