04 Feb 2022

Tomorrow’s leaders bringing people together today, thanks to National Lottery funding

Announcing our exciting new project: Moving Forward

Corrymeela is delighted to announce a new partnership with the Forum for Discussion of Israel and Palestine (FODIP) which operates in Manchester.

FODIP looks at those barriers which exist in the UK between communities where events in the Middle East are a major factor. Typically these involve faith traditions which have emotional and religious ties to the Holy Land – Israel and Palestine.  Because events there are such an emotional topic, many inter faith organisations which work hard to bring people together across religious boundaries, have neither the space nor resources to explore this sensitively and helpfully.

Recognising that the space to explore contentious issues is not always available and that the conflict in the Holy Land can often become part of the conflict in Northern Ireland and about Northern Ireland, Corrymeela is pleased to partner with FODIP in its new project Tough Options: Moving Forward. In putting together this current project, FODIP noted that Corrymeela’s centre offers visitors the opportunity to study and reflect on aspects of peace and conflict. This is an innovative, two–year pilot project which has been made possible thanks to a £161,580 grant from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK. The project itself will bring together two groups of 35 young people, one from Manchester (focusing on Israeli/ Palestine conflict) and another in Northern Ireland (focusing on the Northern Ireland conflict) to examine issues of conflict, conflict resolution and management within their communities.

The aspiration for the project is best summed up by a Jewish student from Leeds, who participated in a project which brought young people from different backgrounds and perspectives together: “I believe that peace is possible and I hope that it is my generation who can help to make a change towards the future that many are waiting for.” 

For more information about the project, please contact Corrymeela’s manager of our Legacies of Conflict programmes, Hedley Abernethy hedleyabernethy@corrymeela.org.

Further information about FODIP and the Tough Options: Moving Forward project can also be found on the FODIP website, https://www.fodip.org.uk/blog

*Supported by The National Lottery Community Fund 

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