TLP Participant Story: Esther Ogunleye North Belfast 11 Spring 2022

Esther completed the course along with people from Ashton Centre, NI Hospice, Supporting Communities, Belfast City Council. North Belfast Housing, Salvation Army, The Parent Rooms and The Executive Office.

Esther works with young people in her organisation, Swift Hearers. Swift Hearers Ministries is a young people centred organisation. They enlighten and empower young people to grow to their full potential, help them to be better integrated into their communities and advance in life as relevant and useful citizens in their communities and in nation building.

Motivation

I joined the TLP because I wanted to connect with other people in my community and learn new things. I wanted to meet new people and build relationships.

Applying learning

The topics that stood out for me were: leadership style and innovation and change. I enjoyed learning how ideas can come to life and learning new ways to generate ideas. I learnt how to put the ideas into action and how to involve other people in the process.

Being a leader means using different styles of leadership for different situations. For example democratic leader or autocratic leader - the right style at right time. It is important not to be stuck in doing things just one way.

Networking with other organisations. Someone from my course is now going to provide yoga for the young people and this is planned for Girdwood centre. I have also made a connection with Community Restorative Justice for their training and courses on drug abuse etc.

Impact

I will take my learning into my work with young people on the interface from all different backgrounds, local and immigrants. I will use it as a leader and help them to improve their life in Northern Ireland.

The programme has been so engaging. It has gone beyond my expectations and I was so glad to have the opportunity to do one of the last courses available under this funding.