Tuesday, September 17th 2019

Young people brave waves against sectarianism

12 young people from several youth groups across Scotland who are part of the Youth Scotland's anti-sectarianism programme Stand Up came together on a 7 day sailing voyage to engage with the deeply rooted challenges of sectarianism in their communities and their own experiences with sectarianism.

The young sailors followed the route Columba took to Scotland in his missionary work and braved wind, weather, waves and sea sickness.  

This unique opportunity for young people was set up on the basis of the young people's idea of linking a Stand Up gathering to an activity around this issue-based project which then led to the collaboration with the Ocean Youth Trust.  Conversations around sectarianism on the voyage opened up discussions of other issues relating to it and created a safe space for the young people to discuss their experiences and concerns.

The programme reaches hard to reach young people and helps the young people make an active change in their communities. Stand Up Senior Development Worker Peter Johnson noted: "It was a great experience for the young people and it was wonderful to see the young people grow together as a group and individually.

"The young people will return to their communities and they will be talking about their voyage against sectarianism, their experiences and discussions against the challenges and they will be able to articulate that to their peers."

For more information on Stand Up, please follow this link

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