Rural Community Network (RCN) completed their amazing year-long rural history programme 100 Years of Change on Thursday 24 March 2022.
RCN received investment of £35,000 for this shared history programme which took place across rural Northern Ireland. This programme formed part of the Shared History Fund, which The National Lottery Heritage Fund delivered on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office to help groups mark the centenary of Northern Ireland in a thoughtful, inclusive and engaging way. RCN is core funded by the Community Relations Council.
Fifty attendees at the programme's finale celebration heard how over 300 people from across Northern Ireland benefitted from the numerous activities that had been delivered during the year-long project. Such as the following: the delivery of a community relations capacity building programme; two courses on the Partition of Ireland; two courses on the state of Northern Ireland; four small grant projects involving multiple schools in Northern Ireland and across the border; six online history lectures; a course on living with the legacies of imperialism; a lecture on culture and heritage; the development of a new interactive website of 32 rural stories; an animation piece showcasing rural life in Northern Ireland over the past 100 years; and a play about the history of Sion Mills Cricket Club.
Outcomes
The outcomes of the programme were:
- 96.8% of project participants reported a better understanding of their own culture and heritage following their engagement with the project
- 98.4% of project participants reporting a more positive attitude towards other people's culture and heritage following their engagement with the project.
RCN would like to thank the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the NIO and the Community Relations Council for their support in making the programme possible.