CHILDREN should be able to grow up free of loyalist or republican labels, according to a former shipping boss spearheading an ambitious fundraising drive.
Belfast-based education organisation, The Goliath Trust, hopes to raise £100,000 for projects for young people in areas blighted by paramilitarism.
The trust, which was set up to tackle educational underachievement and disadvantage, aims to fund a range of different programmes.
About one in three children in the north are significantly underachieving at primary school level, research from the trust has found.
It said this was most apparent in disadvantaged communities where the legacy of the Troubles has left an indelible mark.
The group's mission is to provide targeted financial support to schools that are most in need.
It is working with more than 20 partnered schools across different sectors.
Leading the new initiative is Alan Dunlop, chairman of William Reid Ltd, a long-established shipping company operating in the port of Belfast.
Mr Dunlop said he had already received several financial commitments from the business community.
He said he was conscious that many people were marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of Northern Ireland.
"Instead of looking back, I want to look forward to the next 100 years. That means we must do all we can for our children and their children. We have to break age-old cycles of suspicion and animosities," Mr Dunlop said.
"I’m from a loyalist working class part of Belfast that was badly affected by paramilitarism. We have had a generation blighted by ruthless gangs and my involvement in this effort stems from a deep desire to develop a better tomorrow for kids.
"Children should grow up free of loyalist or republican, Catholic or Protestant labels. They are Northern Ireland’s builders of the future and we pin our hopes on them to take a broken community to a better place."
The chairman of The Goliath Trust, former South Belfast MP Dr Alasdair McDonnell, said he was confident the fundraising target could be hit.
"Funding of this magnitude is game-changing and will help us deliver much more to children in our 24 Belfast schools," he said.
"We want to generate a can-do spirit in our kids and to give them the bit of additional help they need when it comes to literacy, numeracy and IT. We want to show them a glimpse of a future that doesn't have sectarian or tribal division."
:: To make a donation, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/thegoliath-trust.
