St John Vianney Youth Centre

St. John Vianney Youth Centre is a voluntary, full-time youth provider based in the lower Ormeau Road area of Belfast which for the past 37 years has been providing a much-needed service for the children and young people from the extensive parish of St. Malachy’s and beyond.

The locality of St. John Vianney places it in an area of multiple levels of social and economic disadvantage which is ranked in the top 10% of electoral wards highlighted by the Noble Indices as suffering deprivation.  The Lower Ormeau Road area is also a notorious interface area with the flashpoints of Donegall Pass and Ballynafeigh both in close proximity to the Youth Centre itself.  The lower Ormeau community has also witnessed a substantial influx of foreign nationals and migrants into the area in recent years, which has an impact and implications for all local service providers.

We work in partnership with all of the local agencies and community and statutory groups in order to maximise our impact in the community in which we are based and beyond.  The Youth Centre works with young people between the ages of 5-25 years old and is staffed by one full-time professionally qualified youth worker, eight part-time Assistant / youth support workers and volunteer staff.

St. John Vianney Youth Centre aims to foster and harness the personal, social, emotional, spiritual, physical, cultural and political development of its members through engagement in a range of activities, events, programmes and projects which endeavour to be both stimulating and challenging.  The Youth Centre aims to broaden the horizons and life expectations of our children and young people and assist them in reaching their full potential as active citizens in their community.

The staff team, with the support and encouragement of the management committee, work tirelessly to meet the ever-changing needs of the children and young people and to be responsive and pro-active to the changing dynamics within the wider community; working to challenge and redress inadequacies, vulnerability, tensions and ensure that our children and young people are prepared and are an intrinsic part of a changing and developing community and society in which they live.