Uniformed Protective Services students complete Community Peace Building Initiative

First year students from SERC’s BTEC Uniformed Protective Services programme based at the College’s Bangor Campus have completed a Community Peace Building initiative over the past six months, with Decorum NI, a charity based in Bangor, which supports and empowers the families and those who served during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. 

Over six months, the students learnt about the history of the troubles through visits and facilitators from numerous organisations. The students worked with members of the charity who shared their experiences and took part in seminars on understanding conflict. Throughout the sessions, the students developed transversal skills such as problem solving, working with others, and understanding of citizenship and diversity.  

The students were treated to a Q&A debate with a panel of guest speakers representing all uniformed services chaired by David Crabbe OBE, which involved current serving, senior representatives from the British Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, PSNI, NIAS and NIFRS.   The discussion allowed the students to discuss and debate on topics relating to their studies whilst hearing how the troubles impacted on operational life in the services. 

Visits as part of the initiative included Crumlin Road Gaol, loyalist and republican murals, gardens of remembrance, peace walls and interfaces and other significant sites from our recent history.    

The programme cumulated in an evaluative session with Mediator and Facilitator Gordon Douglas, where the students shared their learnings and expressed their feelings on the issues young people face in moving forward and acknowledging the past.  

Irwin Pryce, Lecturer and Course Coordinator, said, “This has been a fantastic opportunity for the students to complete a unique form of project based learning. Fortunately, the students have grown up in more peaceful times.  Despite often being a sensitive topic, young people reflecting on the past is crucial in building a future. The students enjoyed the sessions and now have a much better understanding of the unsettling, yet undeniably fascinating, recent history on their doorsteps.”  

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