The Basement Youth Club is situated on the outskirts of Tigers Bay an area once known for paramilitary activity, sectarian attacks and riots. Davy McClean the senior youth leader in The Basement was born and raised in Tigers Bay giving him great insight into this community and the things that take place. The area is almost surrounded by peace walls separating them from their Catholic neighbours. Click any picture to view the areas we work in and where the youth come from.

Mountvernon is another area close to The Basement known for all the wrong reasons during the troubles. However much has changed over the last few years in this community. Billy Hutchison leads Mountvernon community Development Forum and they have been doing an excellent job turning this community around. We have many young people from Mountvernon who attend the club week in and week out.

The Shankill Road is about 2 miles West of The Basement Youth Club however this year we have found that many young people from this community now attend the club. The Shankill has a huge history and is a very well know Loyalist community. Unfortunately like so many other communities through out Belfast they have suffered through the troubles and internal Loyalist feuding.

The Basement Youth Club is surrounded by Sectarian Flash-points, these are the main areas of our work. The Limestone Road now has Police CCTV cameras, the reason for this is that some of the worst Sectarian rioting over the last ten years took place here involving many of the local youth. Right at the back of the club. Leaders regularly found themselves here mediating with those involved pleading for a peaceful end to the rioting.

These pictures are at the back of The Basement Youth Club, what you see here is the only public park in Europe that is still divided by a peace wall, keeping Protestant and Catholic youths apart. It is our hope that funding can be secured to place steps from the park into the back of The Basement. Providing a link to those who hang about the park and those who come from Tigers Bay.

The youth in our community are changing. Many of them were involved in the above projects. Where there were once paramilitary murals glorifying violence, there are now murals saying no to drugs and celebrating cultural diversity. This is something The Basement Youth Club prides itself in being a diverse group of people. Well done to all in our community who helped make the above happen.