CYP Now - Case studies: Project casebook (8)

Jo Stephenson looks at a scheme to educate young women in Northern Ireland about sex, an outreach bus that helps keep teenagers off the streets, a conservation scheme and a film that celebrates cultural differences.

CHOICES

Name of project: Choices, fpa

Northern Ireland

Aim: To empower young women to make informed choices about their personal and sexual relationships

Funding: £43,000 a year from Northern, Eastern and Western health and social services boards

A lack of sex education in schools in Northern Ireland means young women can be confused and ill-informed about sex, contraception and relationships.

Fpa Northern Ireland's Choices project is filling that gap by providing down-to-earth education and information to girls in places where they feel safe and comfortable. It offers courses for young women under 25, mainly in youth clubs and community settings.

The courses run in some schools and alternative education settings, focusing on vulnerable groups, and the project has worked with Traveller communities and women with mental health issues. The programme runs for about six sessions and centres on what participants want to talk about, says project worker Roisin Flanagan. "We go with what the group wants rather than offering a structured course," she adds.

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