Venue- Castlewellan Community Centre - 17 July, 2019. 2.00- 4.30 pm
‘Small Worlds’ are cafe-style events in which people circulate around tables hosted by volunteers from different nationalities. They are the designed and facilitated by Belfast Friendship Club and have been happening at many venues over N. Ireland for more than 10 years now.
The workshops introduce a taste of the diversity that exists in NI and provide safe spaces in which participants can meaningfully begin to engage with those from different backgrounds and other parts of the world. For many participants, these are experiences that open up a fresh perspective. The conversations take place in a safe and semi-structured setting that is carefully managed by a facilitator.
The workshops are dynamic and differ each time because of the variety of people involved but overall the opportunity to engage often helps overcome fear/mistrust of those seen as ‘different’, brings the similarities between people to light and addresses misunderstandings / myths. Moreover, it is enjoyable!
With our local area becoming more ethnically diverse, this workshop offers the opportunity to learn something new, meet different people and connect.
Participation is limited; book your place on this workshop , by emailing sheehyskeffingtonss@gmail.com.
Very great change starts from very small conversations, held among people who care." Margaret Wheatley.
Stephanie Mitchell of Belfast Friendship Club says of Small Worlds:
If we hate what we fear, and we fear what we do not understand, then a little understanding can go a long way. Small Worlds workshops, again and again, undermine myths, misinformation and prejudice – they fall away, little by little. For many participants, this will have been their only experience of meaningfully encountering the “other.