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Posted 8 April 2021

In This Together Project

Sum up of ‘In This Together’ project

In January 2021, RCN offered rural practitioners in NI, employed or volunteering in the fields of Good Relations, Community Development or Youth Work, a new training and support project called “In This Together”, funded by the NIHE.

The project was keen to welcome anyone that often worked alone across rural settings and felt they would benefit from additional support during the pandemic.

Over a series of 9 online, one-hour workshops (held daytime and evening), RCN created a safe space for the exploration of knowledge, practice, support and information sharing.

 

Sessions included:

  1. Emotional health and the impact of alcohol
  2. Self-care, energy and mood lifting
  3. How to deal with (zoom) fatigue
  4. Relaxation and mindfulness
  5. Motivating yourself during a pandemic
  6. Dealing with contentious issues
  7. Coping with Covid fear and bereavement
  8. Raising and educating children in a pandemic
  9. Sharing the learning and reflective practice

 

Zoom screenshot

The project’s targets were to engage with 25 different participants. In total, 65 people (more than 2.5 times our target) attended at least one session across the 9 events. The project had a total of 171 attendances. The average number of participants per session was 19.
The programme attracted participants from Ballymoney to Newry, and from Larne to Castlederg, demonstrating a wide geographical spread.
94% of ratings for every session were either “Excellent” or “Very Good”.
98% of people said the sessions had been useful and had increased their knowledge.
Some quotes from returned evaluations included:
“I came away from the workshop feeling like a weight had been lifted.”

“The two sessions … were fabulous. Well structured, informative, easy to follow, and the content covered was interesting, useful to all ages and types of people. I would highly recommend upcoming workshops to anyone”

“This workshop was so appropriate for the times we are in and covered so many of the problem that we are facing at this difficult time.”

“This session will help me find ways to support our service users”

RCN is delighted the ‘In This Together’ programme has been such a huge success, and of real benefit to rural practitioners. Project targets were exceeded by several multiplication, and the feedback from participants has been exceptional. Thank you to NIHE for funding the programme. RCN plan to deliver another run of the programme in the near future.