During the darkest year of The Troubles, a group of parents took over a shop on a North Belfast street to hold a Halloween disco to keep kids in the local area out of trouble.
But word quickly spread around Ardoyne, and Herbert Street Youth Club, as it was then known due to its location, became a regular meeting spot for kids living in the area.
Fifty years later, in a different location and with a different name, the team at John Paul II Youth Club are still as committed as ever to giving local young people a place to meet up with friends and thrive.
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Originally founded in 1972 by Owen and Bridie Maguire, operations of the club are now in the hands of their daughter, Jacqui, who was there on that first Halloween night when it all began.
"It started in 1972 in Herbert Street when there was really bad trouble," Jacqui told Belfast Live.
"The parents in the street got together and took over an old shop, they were just doing it for their children and children in the street. They planned to have their first Halloween party in it and the word went about the district that there was a youth club starting.
"Everybody turned up with their children to go to this youth club, so it just progressed from there.
"In around 1977, there were all these redevelopments being done in the area, old houses were being knocked down and new ones were being built, they said they needed somewhere for the young people to go.
"They got money to build John Paul youth club, and it opened in 1980. From that, it's grew into what it is today, it's a purpose built building."
Jacqui said it's "amazing" to see how much the club has grown over the years, and to see how it's impacting the area. Most of the members of the youth club's management committee went to the club as children, with two staff members first joining at the age of five.
As well as this, many young people have been inspired to go into youth work careers after attending John Paul as children. Two original members of the club's committee are still involved in its operations now, despite being 90-years-old and 81-years-old respectively.
For Jacqui, she said the youth club has always been a "safe place" for young people to meet up. After the pandemic, the team at John Paul are also helping the kids build up their confidence again.
Jacqui said: "I came through the youth club in The Troubles, and it was a safe place to go. It kept us away from the rioting and all the other trouble outside of that building.
"Our young people now have just come through Covid. When you reflect back on what we went through during The Troubles and what young people now went through during Covid, it brought up some things for yourself, and you were then able to help young people feel with that sense of isolation and not being able to go out of the house."
During lockdown, although not being able to meet up physically for a while, the club continued to support local children online with regular activities and catch ups.
An important aspect of John Paul II is it gives young people a space to take part in cross-community activities and shining a positive light on the Ardoyne area.
"We're trying to tell our young people it's not about where you come from, it's about what you do and what you become," Jacqui explained.
"They did a project where they went out with their cameras and looked at what they perceived to be positives and negatives of the district. If anyone says 'oh you come from Ardoyne?' it gives them the confidence to say 'Ardoyne is a great place to come from.'
"We have a lot in Ardoyne that a lot of other communities don't. It's all about the kids being the best they can be.
"People hear Ardoyne and they think of riots, joyriding, drugs, and antisocial behaviour. There's a handful who do it, but it's not all young people.
"We have real good children and young people in Ardoyne, and we just need to bring that out. We need to promote ourselves more, and that's one big thing we fall down on."
Looking towards the future, Jacqui said she would love to see the peace wall running behind the club to be pushed back further so the young people they meet from Hammer Youth Club on the Shankill can access the club easier.
She also said it's important to the team at John Paul II to make sure they're supporting their young people as much as they can.
Jacqui added: "We're trying our best to make sure the kids don't go hungry. If they turn up with no money to come into the club, we just let them in.
"That's what we're here for, we're here for the community and our young people, we just have to do the best we can for them."
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