Scene Magazine, Issue 83, June 2015_Youth Work Scene Redesign.qxd 04/01/2016 11:00 Page 15
Pro jec tP rof ile
Issues to Address & Strategies for Moving Forward
I try to do a lot of fundraising for the project so that the young Travellers are not missing out. I go into the community and I try to track and meet them at their own level. You’ll find that especially in small communities everybody knows everybody. Even if I haven’t met a particular family, chances are I would have worked with other members of their family or people they know, particular in Middleton many families there are related. Maybe they would hear about me from other members of their community who are in the homework club or out with the project, and it would make it easier for us to engage with them.
and time to work with young Travellers i.e. to provide transportation and programme incentives. I don’t think that this is recognised across the board. It could take six months to build a relationship with a child in the settled population, but it could take twelve months to build one with a young Traveller, because the inherent distrust is there. I know things are changing but it is very time and resource constrictive.
For more information on this project or to contact Catherine Donaghy see www.trys.ie
Working with the Traveller community requires extensive resources and time. Our project is only allotted 20 hours which is not enough! It takes a longer time to establish relationships with Traveller youth than it does with settled youth. You need a lot more money
Scene Magazine
Issue 83, June 2015
15