During November 2005, some youth leaders from Railway Street Presbyterian Church spent Saturday evenings in Belfast witnessing at first hand how Youth Leaders are reaching out to young people in Belfast city centre.  They were very impressed with this tremendous Christian Outreach and on Saturday 3^rd December they held a public meeting to unite parents, grandparents, volunteers, and youth leaders from ALL our churches in a similar cross community effort to tackle youth issues and reach out to the young people of Lisburn.

The meeting was held in the Kingdom Life Faith Centre, Graham Gardens, Lisburn and was attended by representatives from local Churches, P.S.N.I., Lisburn City Council, Schools and Youth Groups.  Speaker Joe Hyland discussed practical schemes used in other towns and cities in the UK and outlined a proposed strategy to reach out to the young people of Lisburn.

Do you know that of 15 year olds in Britain: - 73% take alcohol, 36% take drugs, 32% are sexually active, and 25% of girls have contemplated or attempted suicide (Independent on Sunday, 27^th November 2005).  These are just some of the many issues that face young people today, so, if you have a passion to tackle these youth issues and reach out to the young people of Lisburn, please contact any of the people shown in the photo below and find out how you can get involved, and how together, we can help make Lisburn a better community and a safer place for everyone.

Pictured above are some of the people from all sections of the community that attended last Saturday�s Public Meeting (3^rd December 2005) in the Kingdom Life Faith Centre, Graham Gardens, outlining proposals to tackle youth issues and reach out to the young people of Lisburn.  L to R: (front row) Randal McComb - N.I. Fire and Rescue, Laurence Kerr - Lisburn City Community Safety Partnership, Rev. Brian Gibson - Railway Street Presbyterian Church, Very Rev. Hugh Kennedy P.P. - St. Patrick�s Church, Joe Hyland - Speaker, Keith Neill - Lisburn Cathedral, Pastor Norman Christie - Lisburn Elim and Mary Agnew - Kingdom Life Faith Centre.  (back rows) Stephen McLoughlin - Focus; Darryl Neville - Lisburn Elim; Sam Beckett - Seymour Street Methodist; Pauline Adair, Geoff Reid, Hazel Wales, Ian Wales, Denise Baird, Karen Elliott and Craig Adair - Railway Street; Sergeant Stephen McCracken - Lisburn District Command Unit (PSNI), Deepak Samson - Railway Street Church, Pastor George Hilary - Lisburn Christian Fellowship, Roger Thompson - Railway Street Church, Matt Craig - First Lisburn Church and Pastor Roy Johnston - Lisburn Elim.  Other sections represented included:  Christ Church, Friends School, SEELB and Trinity Methodist.