Our History
Our History.
Radicalised by the experiences and suffering of war, our founding members established the Federation of Girls’ clubs in 1944 as a commitment to young women and social reform. By 1955, mixed clubs were incorporated.
In 1961, in line with developments in Great Britain, the federation became the Northern Ireland Association of Youth Clubs (NIAYC) and began to build up a wide membership of youth clubs and organisations throughout Northern Ireland. It offered a range of benefits to members including insurance, training, major competitions and events.
In 1971 Hampton was purchased and renovated by the organisation. During the violence and disorder of the 'troubles'; Hampton provided a safe place for adults and young people to come together from different backgrounds and traditions to be stimulated by new ideas and secure support from likeminded people.
Hampton was the home of the organisation for 35 years, providing a venue for 'young people at work' courses, youth work training and management courses, community relations training and young adult conferences.
Organisations such as Playboard, Phab and Platform (fore runners of NIYF) grew out of NIAYC and in 1990 Youth Action Northern Ireland was launched as the new brand of a voluntary organisation, committed to making a significant difference to the lives of young people and communities throughout Northern Ireland.
The new millennium saw the organisation reaffirming its identity. A process involving staff, volunteers and young people was initiated to produce a strategic business plan based on the organisation’s core values, financial stability, effective youth work practice and strong management team.
Today YouthAction NI is still seeking to make a significant difference to the lives of young people. It is truly regional, with offices in Armagh, Londonderry, Fermanagh, Newry and Belfast. College Square North strives to be a centre for excellence for youth work influencing and impacting on opportunities and young people well beyond the boundaries of Belfast.
An outstanding space that is similar to fellow theatres like the Naughton Studio Lyric, the Baby Grand in the Grand Opera House Belfast. This dynamic theatre space features floor to ceiling mirrors, professional standard lighting and sound and adjustable seating that can fulfil almost all theatrical requirements. The theatre is a 'black box’ space that can transform into almost all theatre styles, making it suitable for full scale productions (seating 100), conferences (150 capacity), events, lectures, movie nights (large screen), presentations festivals. To find out more contact buildingadministrator@youthaction.org
5th Floor up for rent!
Youth Action are delighted to announce the availability of 2 office units to the Rental Market!
