Michael AvilaCommunity Voices is an interview series where Michael Avila and Ani Kanakaki speak to a range of folks from the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland about the work they’re doing to bring about positive change. The series, formally known as #AtsUsNai, is produced in partnership with AvilaMedia and funded by the Community Relations Council. Their latest interview is with Charmain Jones of the Rural Community Network. It took place before the UK government’s social distancing advice came into effect.
When we think of conflict in Northern Ireland, we tend to think of it occurring in urban settings like Belfast and Derry/Londonderry. We often forget that the divisions that exist permeate throughout the country and that rural communities are in need of conflict transformation as well. This is where Charmain Jones comes in.
Charmain is the Community Relations Officer for Cohesion, Sharing and Integration for the Rural Community Network, a non-profit organisation building relations in rural areas and across the communal divide. She is the only full-time, rural regional community relations officer of this variety in Northern Ireland. In one capacity or another, her expertise in community development and building relations spans the entirety of Northern Ireland’s peace process.
Impacting rural communities
Charmain’s passion for building a better society started when she was young. She was a child of ‘The Troubles’, having grown up on the interface of one of Craigavon’s estates. She saw the stark realities of violence and division from a young age and did not want her children to witness the same things. As she reached adulthood and eventually motherhood, this passion would take hold further and she would dedicate herself over the course of her career to forging a better future for Northern Ireland’s rural communities.
Charmain began her work in the grassroots in Portadown and then Armagh, building single identity and then cross-community relations with people from different areas. Her office may now be located in Cookstown, but professionally, Charmain Jones has no home – she works wherever there is a need.
She explained that peace-building in rural settings is very different than in urban settings. While physical demarcations between rural communities are different, many struggle with the same level of poverty and social deprivation as their urban counterparts. Rural people do not have the same access to basic services, which can exasperate issues. The distance between communities can fuel as many myths and stereotypes of ‘the other’ as the closely-knit, ‘peace-wall’ divided communities of Belfast.
Charmain previously worked with the RCN’s ‘Rural Enabler’ programme, assisting rural communities to develop ways to deal with issues that divide. The programme, which included 12 counties across Ireland’s north and south, collaborated with a multitude of community groups, institutions and statutory bodies to help build relationships between fragmented and socially-isolated communities. The project helped improve policy-making at the grassroots level and would serve as a model of good practice moving forward. This not only continued to build RCN’s capacity to impact society, but also created many of Northern Ireland’s future peace-builders in the process.
Promoting a shared future
Charmain now works predominantly on the ‘Cohesion, Sharing and Integration’ programme (Note: the use of ‘predominantly’ is deliberate, as Charmain is tirelessly involved in a multitude of projects at any one time). This programme promotes the ethos of a ‘shared future’ for rural communities and builds upon RCN’s previous work. The project tackles issues related to gender, minority ethnic communities, cultural diversity and social exclusion, all with a focus on further diminishing rural sectarianism and racism.
While Charmain works with a diverse range of people, from youth to the elderly, she explained that it is actually rural men that are often the hardest to reach:
For the most part, women have bought into the peace process in some capacity and continue to ‘buy into’ community projects. Men are less likely to engage and there’s a gap there that needs filled.
That is precisely what fuels one of Charmain’s current projects, which brings men from different villages together, focusing on ‘shared history’ – a term revisited throughout this series. She explained that ‘shared history’ is fast becoming one of the sectors greatest tools to building commonality between people whose histories are fragmented.
This project, too, has built upon Charmain’s collaborative work with Marion Jamison and the Armagh-based community organisation, REACT, entitled ‘One History, Many Stories’. This project became a turning point for Northern Ireland and its civic support for rural communities to explore their shared history and heritage. Putting shared history and heritage in the spotlight has contributed to and reinforced a shared sense of belonging.
Reflecting on success
On detailing her secrets to success, Charmain drew upon the importance of working in partnership:
I’ll probably never do anything on my own again. You need everyone around a table and thinking about the needs of that community: Who can deliver? Who can resource and bring skills into that community? What specifically does that community need? These are the gaps that need addressed and we can’t get there alone.
I am very blessed to call the people I work with not just colleagues, but friends. And you wouldn’t get that if you said, ‘Oh sorry, this is my project, you can’t have any!’
Charmain has worked with 42 organisations over the last year alone.
This project would not be the last time Charmain and Marion would be mentioned in the same sentence. The two would make a career out of partnering, often aspiring people to participate in cross-community projects, which have transformed relationships and empowered both communities to work together.
Charmain and Marion would be recognised for their communal impact in 2019, when they were awarded the Community Relations Council’s ‘Exceptional Achievement’ Award for promoting community relations, intercultural work or peace building.
Keep in mind, this is only a narrow lens into the impact of Charmain Jones. You can take my word for it, but all you have to do is meet Charmain and you’ll instantly see the passion that exudes from this extraordinary woman. It is evident in every iconic smile and her infectious laughter.
We all aspire to peace; Charmain lives it.
AvilaMedia is a social enterprise running community and research projects across Northern Ireland. If you’re interested in being interviewed for the #AtsUsNai project, you can get in contact with AvilaMedia here.
