In association with Magherafelt Youth Drama Group We are making a short film about where we live in Co. Derry. Magherafelt is a small town but since the cease fires in 1994 it has grown massively because it is seen as an idyllic rural location with easy access to both Belfast and Derry. A small group of property developers have had an enormous impact on our town, buying up every available scrap of land and building desirable houses but little else. There aren't many facilities and for those activities there are, young people's parents drive them to them in their cars.  This means that children from families who are not well off lose out.  We are exploring issues of exclusion, as there have been several suicides of young people, mostly young men, in our town.  We see the film as being a mixture of drama and documentary and we want to have the freedom to develop the theme in a revealing way. Some of the issues we have been talking about include the new housing developments, underage drinking, drugs and bullying, isolation, personal safety, social exclusion and citizenship in general. Magherafelt Youth Drama Group Magherafelt Youth Drama is a group initiated and run by Patsy Ward, a drama therapist who lives locally. The group meet weekly and have recently completed a 15-minute drama video  - Journey in Time - about time travel and lawbreaking. The young people are aged between 11 and 15 and they meet in a small studio behind Patsy's house.