Issue 21

October 2014 - Issue 21

Letterkenny Youth Information Centre Newsletter 16-18 Port Road, Letterkenny Tel 074-9129640

ECHO Autumn Edition

Party In The Car Park One Donegal Project Event Celebration Teen Talk EVS

STAFF PROFILES GARETH GIBSON Gareth started working in the YIC in October 2001 and he has a background in Business Studies, Youth Work and Research.

What do you do in the YIC? My job is to coordinate the YIC and the Loft, which involves quite a bit of desk based work, dealing with budgets and funding etc and ensuring we have the best possible services and facilities available for young people to use.

What do you like about working for the YIC? Honestly, I like the variety and scope that comes with working in the Youth Service. It’s great to be able to help others and work with young people on so many exciting projects and initiatives.

What would be your hopes for the YIC? Apart from the obvious hopes like better funding etc, I just hope that the YIC continues to develop and grow as it has done since 1998, and that the young people that use our service continue to get a lot from it and enjoy coming back again and again.

LOUISE LYNCH Louise began working in February 2013 and has a background in Psychology, Youth Work and Photography.

What do you do in the YIC? The role here is so diverse; I do centre based work; taking queries from the public, advocacy, supervising the drop-in, working with the development officers in overseeing our social media, video production, podcasts, newspaper column etc. As part of our out-reach I deliver information sessions around cyber bullying and study skills.

Why do you like working for the YIC? The best part of my job is the people. The young people are great and theYIC team is so positive, fun and creative yet work hard and innovative. I love the diversity of the job, the flexibility and how we are allowed to work around what young people want and need.

FRANKIE MC GREEVY Frankie started working at the YIC in March 2002 and he has a background in Politics, Community Youth Work and Restorative Practice How did you come to work at the YIC? I don’t know I was just visiting my Mom in Letterkenny and spotted the job ad and went for it, I knew there was something different and exciting about the place when I visited before the interview and I am still here 11 years later.

What do you do in the YIC? I do Youth Work, this is all about building positive educative relationships with young people individually and in groups, We provide informal education opportunities for young people helping them build confidence, recognise their own strengths and work for positive social change together.

FRANCK SAUCIAN Franck began working in August 2013 and has a background in Art, Graphic Design and youth work How did you come to work in the YIC? I was involved with the Loft a few years ago as a drawing workshop facilitator and subsequently did some voluntary work and work on a few project design posters. So when the opportunity of a CE Scheme arose I applied and got the job.

What do you do in the YIC? I work as an Assistant Information Officer and part of my job is to provide information to young people and their family about any kind of queries, and I am also involved with the media group, world 11 and the world wide voices project. I have also a background in Art and Graphic Design which came in handy whenever the opportunity arises to design posters for any sort of campaign that we would take on.

Why do you like working for the YIC? I really love working with young people, their carefree attitude and the creative ways they have in taking on any situation.

I am looking forward to going through the learning process this job is going to provide, and will

ABOUT LETTERKENNY YOUTH INFORMATION CENTRE The Youth Information Centre is a well established resource for the local community providing Young people and those who work with them a one stop shop for information and training opportunities in the following areas: Job and Housing Lists - Law and Justice - CV Preparation - Travel opportunities - College applications - Student Travel card service - Practice for Driver Theory Test - Leadership training - Media skills training - Drop in service

Letterkenny Youth Information Centre, 16-18 Port Road, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal Tel 0749129640 or email yicletterkenny@ donegalyouthservice.ie

Party In The

Car Park

Donegal Youth Service - Party in the Car Park in conjunction with ‘Cross Border Connections’ Intercultural Youth Day.

Now in its 10th year, Donegal Youth Service held its’ famous ‘Party in the Car Park’ on Saturday 23 August. This year it was a just a little bit different - the venue was the ‘Grill’ (outside and inside space) and the adjoining Donegal County Council car park and for the first time, the Party was held in conjunction with the ‘Cross Borders Connections’ Intercultural Youth Day. The young people from the Intercultural Youth Day made their way to the Party in the Car Park to join in with the celebrations.

It was a glorious day, the sun was shining and the atmosphere was laid back and relaxed. There was over 500 young people from across Donegal and Belfast enjoyed Intercultural foods from across the world, prepared by each ethnic group, face painting, bouncy castles, penalty shoot-out, basketball-hoops, and various group & solo performances through song, dance, & music all delivered by young people. Some of the performers included young Loyalists from East Belfast who performed on flutes and

drums, Castlefinn Drummers Group from Castlefinn Youth Club, Cockhill Youth Club Elite Dance Troupe, African Drumming, Phat Kidz, Eve Murtagh, Joel Harkin & World Wide Voices who penned a song for the occasion to name but a few. This was closely followed by a Fashion Show and junior Disco.

Donegal Youth Service would like to thank Donegal County Council, Peace III, The Grill Nightclub, Bobby Rao – SECA, Billy Banda – Donegal Intercultural Platform, Claire Devine – New Horizons, Paula Leonard – Donegal Travellers Project, Robin Frampton – Prison to Peace, Sinead Murray – Breakout for facilitating the seminars and to all who supported the event in any way.

Watch out for 2015!!

“This project is supported by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund, through the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation managed for the Special EU Programmes Body by Donegal County Council”

Irish/Finnish

Study Visit

Pauric Bell, Amanda Boyle, Michael Dullaghan, Patricia Murphy, Sheena Boyle Laverty, and Dominic Mc Glinchey represented Donegal Youth Service on an international study exchange to Finland in September also accompanied by Michael Ward from Youth Work Ireland Galway.

The objective of the exchange was to forge working partnerships with the Finnish Youth Workers and acquire knowledge on applying for EU funding for further youth exchanges.

The Finland contingent visited Ireland for a week in June taking ideas from many of our good practices back to Finland with them including the mental health promotional pictures displayed in the LOFT. In Finland all Youth Workers are in paid positions so they were quite astounded at the level of volunteering in Ireland. One of the most notable differences the Donegal group witnessed in Finland was the utilisation of the youth houses (youth clubs) for groups

of older adults in the morning and afternoon hours; just imagine up to 40 pensioners playing pool, doing Yoga, and drinking tea/ coffee in the LOFT! This exchange was funded by the Erasmus+ Programme, which also funds Youth exchanges, Youth Initiatives and the European Volunteer Service. For information on any of the services offered through Erasmus+, please contact Donegal Youth Service on 074 91 29630.

It’s no secret that young people are suffering significantly in the current economic climate with unemployment and emigration at such high levels it is incumbent in organisations such as ourselves to ensure that we are continuing to meet the needs of young people who use our service.

Donegal Youth Service Plans for 2014

This year like other years we will continue to work with young people on employability with an individually tailored approach that works with the young person to develop their skills to improve their employment prospects.

Providing one to one support for young people experiencing difficulties is a huge focus of our work and will continue in 2014, issues such as parental separation, stresses at home or school as well as bullying are particularly on the radar for some young people.

Providing support and training for youth clubs is key to the work of Donegal Youth Service with over 5000 young people engaged countywide supported by over 500 adult volunteers.

Our one to one supported education project is the only project of its kind in Donegal and provides a lifeline to young people who find themselves for various reasons; out of school or struggling at school.

This work will continue in 2014 with a focus on building resilience and re-engagement

with education.

Donegal Youth Service works with young people on a range of issues to help be better informed, to help them to develop their own strengths and challenge attitudes and behaviour.

These issues include alcohol and drug use; mental health and well-being, sexual health and sexuality, road safety, community engagement, socialising safely, keeping safe online, racism, lack of education attainment,

THE LOFT

Summer Programme

On the 1st of July the LOFT kicked off its summer activities and adventures and oh what a summer they made it!

From surfing to drama, circus skills to cookery, the LOFT catered to a huge range of ages and interests.

It all began with Cookery week where those involved produced the finest dishes about.

With a little helping hand, these teenagers evolved from masters of disaster into master chefs! From cookery one week to DIY the next the LOFT aided the young people of Donegal to gain new interests and acquire new skills.

In the Upcycling challenge week the LOFT let creativity flow and got people turning their old unwanted items that were once lying about the house into something they could put on display and be proud of! The multiactivity weeks made great use of the summer weather with sports in the town park, beach trips and outdoor pursuits. The ever popular Rockschool brought together musicians of a range of levels to build their skills and explore song writing and performance techniques.

A new departure for the LOFT was the introduction of a circus and multi-arts camp, which included stilt walking, juggling, tie dye and samba drumming. The LOFT would like to express a sincere thank you to all the volunteers and tutors who supported the programmes this summer. We look forward to an excellent autumn term and hope to see many of the summer participants continuing to be involved with the project.

Autumn Programme Monday – HIFY – Youth team (ages 15-17), 4.30pm – 6.00pm Tuesday – Afterschool Group (first year students) 4.30pm – 6.00pm Wednesday – Leadership for Life (ages 15-18) 4.30pm – 6.00pm Thursday – Afterschool Group (first year students) 4.30pm – 6.00pm Java programming classes 6.00pm – 8.00pm Trash N Fashion – 6.00pm – 8.00pm Maths tuition – 6.00pm – 8.00pm Groups are provided free of charge, to enrol please contact the LOFT on 074-9188271 or email loftstaff@gmail.com

Vintage Clothing Drive This term the LOFT are holding a charity clothes drive.

Donations of clothes, shoes, hand bags, belts, books, curtains and blankets are all welcome. We cannot accept magazines, paper or duvets however.

Donated items will be sold to raise funds for the personal development programmes at the LOFT. If you have items to donate, please drop them into the LOFT for the attention of Kevin. Thank you !

LOFT Group compete in Youth Work Ireland National Games Finals Eight young people qualified through the Donegal heats to participate in the National Games Finals which were held in Tralee, Co. Kerry in June. All of the group were competing at the National stage for the first time and in the quiz final Joe Friel, Paddy Sweeney, and Martin Boyle gave a good account of themselves finishing fifth. In the Table Tennis Paddy Kelly, Kyle Gormley, and Tommy Dorrian were up against tough competition and made their exit in the first round. John Sweeney qualified undefeated in the Donegal heats of the Draughts, but unfortunately made his exit in the National Semi Final after a tough encounter with a young man from Co. Laois. In the final Jordan O’ Dowd took home the National Draughts title defeating the Co. Laois man 2-0.

Award Cycle Against Suicide

Donegal Youth Service honoured by Cycle Against Suicide To coincide with Suicide Awareness Week, an awards ceremony recognizing the achievements of schools - North and South - was held Friday 12th September at the Department of Education by Cycle Against Suicide.

At the special reception, Donegal Youth Service was awarded the status of ‘Ambassador School’ by Cycle Against Suicide, in recognition of their exceptional commitment in the promotion of positive mental health and their efforts to break the cycle of suicide on the island of Ireland.

The year-long programme which targets mainly schools and required schools to fulfill five success criteria was first launched at the Cycle Against Suicide Student Leaders’ Congress in January. This event was attended by 4000 students and 130 schools and was the first of its kind, youth mental health congress in the RDS. Donegal Youth Service are unique both in being recognized as an ambassador organization and becoming involved in the project in an out of school setting, where early school leavers are also given the opportunity to attend.

the 30 schools and said ‘The work of Cycle Against Suicide is of vital importance. We are all only too aware of the tremendous pressures facing young people today. Many of the messages from peers, traditional media, social networks and commercial interests promote the myth that we all have to be the happiest, fittest, shiniest generation that ever walked the earth. Real life is very different.’

Founder of Cycle Against Suicide, Jim Breen said: “On behalf of Cycle Against Suicide, I commend the extraordinary commitment of the 30 Ambassador schools in 2014.

Each of them has gone the extra mile to promote the objectives of Cycle Against Suicide, drive awareness and encourage help-seeking behaviour. Together, we are creating a movement that schools, and students in particular, can take a leading role in. Cycle Against Suicide’s ambassador programme provides students with the tools and strengths required to build resilience for their own mental health. It empowers them to ask others are they feeling ok; in the knowledge that it’s ok not to feel ok; and it’s absolutely ok to ask for help.”

Donegal Youth Service looks forward to continuing the work of the Cycle Against Suicide Ambassador Group in 2014 and 2015. This is undertake through offering reassurance that it’s OK not to feel OK; and it’s absolutely OK to ask for help and through directing people to where help is available both locally and nationally. Young people who would like to take part in the project should contact Orla O’Reilly, Project Worker in the LOFT Youth Project on 0749188271, e: loftstaff@gmail.com or call to visit the LOFT.

Together, shoulder to shoulder, we can break In a statement, Minister for Education and Skills the Cycle of Suicide on the island of Ireland Jan O’ Sullivan added her congratulations to

EVS

It is that time of year again when we will be saying goodbye to our EV Alba, Ana and Anne-Cecile have provided Donegal Youth Service with t would like to take the opportunity to thank them for all the hard work and If you would like to find out more about their experiences plea

European Voluntary Service is the European Commission’s project that allows a young person to become a volunteer in another European country for between 2–12 months. This is an excellent opportunity for young people between 17 and 30 years of age to do a bit of travelling, live in another country and experience other cultures as well as have the time of your life and gain unforgettable experiences.

VS volunteers. Over the past nine months our EVS volunteers, Victor, their excellent skills, dedication and friendship. Donegal Youth Service d fun they have brought to the organisation, they will be missed greatly. ase take a look at their blog at: http://4evsindys.wordpress.com/

Event Celebration

VOLUNTEER AWARD

Donegal Youth Service has over 500 volunteers currently working with youth clubs and other DYS projects. There two volunteer awards presented on the night; The Youth Project Volunteer of the Year was Young people, parents and youth awarded to Lorraine Daly who has volunteered club leaders gathered in the Regional in the Daybreak Project for 5 years and has Cultural Centre, Letterkenny for the provided invaluable support to young people to annual celebration evening hosted by return to education.

The Youth Club Volunteer of the Year was Donegal Youth Service. awarded to Eamonn Mc Connell who is a founding member of the Castlefinn Youth Club The highly energetic event is reflective of the and has been instrumental in the success of the dynamic service that works with over 5000 young Youth Club and the acquisition of the new youth people all over Co Donegal and supports almost café.

500 adult volunteers.

The event is an opportunity to showcase the YOUNG PERSON OF THE YEAR great work of the service and the diversity of work which takes place within Donegal Youth Service The Young Person of the Year Award is presented projects and youth clubs throughout the county. annually to recognise the young people who Performers on the night included Castlefinn triumphed over adversity, dedicated themselves Drummers, Ronan Friel, Dancers from Cockhill to participation, social enterprise, volunteering Youth Club and The World wide voices group. and altruism. The 2014 winner is Kevin Carter Special DYS recognition awards were given for from The BreakOut project for LGBT Young Youth Initiative, Volunteer of the year, young People. Kevin has invested his time and energy person of the year and Youth Club of the year. to support other young LGBT who are struggling The first award presented on the evening was with issues such as ‘Coming Out’. Kevin has now the Youth Initiative Award, an award which become a dynamic activist and advocate for the recognises the projects developed by young LGBT community and a young man who is a people within Donegal Youth Service. The winner force to be reckoned with. was the Youth Café Committee from Club Oige Criost Ri – a group of young people who work with adult volunteers in the planning developing and creation of a new youth café space for their peers.

positive attitudes to all things youth work during the All Ireland Games and Youth Factor. This This year, Donegal Youth Service initiated a award is presented to just one club nationally Special Recognition Award reserved for those and Donegal Youth Service were delighted to who go above and beyond the call of duty for be in a position to present the prize to Chriost R the organisation. The recipients of this award for their commitment to showing support for their in 2014 are Aisling Ni Fhearraigh and Sinead fellow Donegal Youth Clubs at the All Ireland Nic Phaidin (Club Oige Chriost Ri) who have event in June. been instrumental in getting the girls in the club to become more physically active through YOUTH CLUB OF THE YEAR their persistence, encouragement and showing leadership to others.

The final presentation of the evening was the DYS Youth Club of the Year award, which Planet ALL IRELAND RECOGNITION Youth and Chriost Ri shared the winners prize . This award is presented to the club which The Board of Directors of DYS gave a token participates in the most DYS activities, events of appreciation was presented to the young and training. people who represented their club and Donegal The night concluded with a global cabaret Youth Service at the Youth Work Ireland All- performance by the World Voices Group. In Ireland finals in Youth Games and Youth Factor closing the evening, the Regional Director of in Tralee. Donegal was well represented at the Donegal Youth Service, Lorraine Thompson, finals with Castlefinn Yc, Cockhill YC, Chriost Ri, commended the work of all the young people Fanad YC and The LOFT all making the journey involved in the evening. She noted that despite difficult times for the county, there is great to represent their county.

Following this year’s Youth Sport and Youth vibrancy and dedication among the young people Factor National Finals, Youth Work Ireland and volunteers and commented that “this is why decided to award the “Fair Play” award to the we do this work”. club who demonstrated sportsmanship and SPECIAL RECOGNITION

c

Donegal Youth Service launched ‘Teen Talk’ a one to one support service for Young People The launch consisted of an exciting morning filled with informative presentations about Teen Talk by Frankie Mc Greevy (Donegal Youth Service Staff member), an opportunity for questions and answers and off course tasty breakfast refreshments.

Teen talk is a one to one youth work service providing young people with an opportunity to talk through any issue they may have with a professional youth worker.

12 and 25 years who would like extra support with any issue they are experiencing and DYS have a dedicated drop in service for this.

As part of our Teen Talk service we offer a specialised listening, advice and information

service for young people who have been affected by separation or divorce within their family. This service is provided in conjunction with the Relationships Ireland Teen Between Service. Teen Between is supported by the Teen Talk is a confidential universal service Family Support Agency. suitable for all young people aged between For more information contact 0749129630.

One Donegal School Conference

The conference came about after Letterkenny Youth Information Centre were successful in their application to Inishowen Development Partnership for the delivery of ‘One Donegal’ Schools Programme.

Last week, 107 transition year pupils from Colaiste Ailigh, Crana College and Scoil Mhuire Buncrana descended on the Inishowen Gateway Hotel for a conference addressing the various issues. The day was presented in a youthful and fun manner that saw a host of young people considering the key issues through a range of methods including drama, multi-media, debate and music. A key note address from Idan Meir, who brought an international dimension coupled with a powerful vocal performance from Andrew Galvin made for an inspirational day for all attending. Youth Information Coordinator Gareth Gibson said the conference has proved to be very successful with regard

to increasing young people’s awareness of how people from other cultures can experience discrimination. “In fact, our evaluation shows that the conference has brought a 19 per cent increase in awareness levels of those attending with regard to how people can experience sectarianism,” he said. If you would like to know more about this project or any other information about the Letterkenny Youth Information Centre please contact 07491 29640. “This project is supported by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund, through the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation managed for the Special EU Programmes Body by Donegal County Council”.

One Donegal Art Project

One Donegal, Challenging attitudes to sectarianism & racism and working with ethnic minority groups to build their capacity to actively participate in civic life Experience through arts program

invoked the idea of sharing resources with the primary elements of water, grass, mountains and Letterkenny Youth Information Centre recruited sunshine represented. The design represents young people from the new immigrant the idea that all of humanity regardless of creed community in Letterkenny. The participants or colour should share the planet together. were originally from from Ghana, Nigeria, South The young people explored various artistic Africa, Cameroon and Sudan as well as one methods in collaboration with an experienced young person from the travelling community to artist before settling on using spray paint on a take part in the experience through arts project. large stretched canvas that was large enough to The recruitment was carried out via connecting have a significant visual impact and would serve with the Donegal Intercultural Platform members as a backdrop for intercultural platform events. in order to identify young people that would be The group in consultation with the intercultural platform decided to present the final product on interested in taking part in the project. a 5 foot by 4 foot canvas and on five foot by four foot printed Fabric.

Project description This project was completed over four 2 hour workshops facilitated by an experienced artist from the Youth Information Centre team. The young people created a piece of art on a 5foot by 4 foot large stretched canvas that introduced the Intercultural platform and reflected the values of acceptance and tolerance whilst exploring the intercultural experience of the project participants. The first workshop involved exploring the broad themes of tolerance and acceptance with the young people. The young people then came up with design ideas in collaboration with an experienced artist that incorporated these themes.

The group settled on the idea of hands in the shape of a heart that could also be interpreted as doves in the foreground and a planet in the background. They decided on strong primary colours for the background and a design that

“This project is supported by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund, through the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation managed for the Special EU Programmes Body by Donegal County Council”.

Connection Intercultural Cross Border

On Saturday August 23rd we held the ‘Cross Borders Connections’ Intercultural Youth Day. In the morning over 80 young people took part in round table discussion and debate with discussions on topics such as rights and issues facing LGBT, Travellers, Ethnic Minorities, The Political Process in NI, and Disability Awareness.

Seminar & Youth day

They engaged with facilitators and asked questions around the various issues affecting minority groups today. Then after a top-table Q&A session, the group departed to join in with the Intercultural Youth Day. It all came together in glorious fashion, the sun was shining and over 500 young people from Donegal, Belfast and Strabane enjoyed Intercultural foods from across the world, prepared by each ethnic group, face

painting, bouncy castles, penalty shoot-outs, basketball-hoops, and various group & solo performances through song, dance, & music all delivered by young people.

Some of the performers included young Loyalists from East Belfast who performed on flutes and drums, Castlefinn Drummers Group from Castlefinn Youth Club, Cockhill Youth Club Elite Dance Troupe, African Drumming, Phat Kidz, Eve Murtagh, Joel Harkin and the Cross Border Connections Peer education group who penned a song for the occasion to name but a few. This was closely followed by a Fashion Show and a junior Disco.

Donegal Youth Service would like to thank

Donegal County Council, Peace III program, The Grill Nightclub, Bobby Rao – SECA, Billy Banda – Donegal Intercultural Platform, Claire Devine – New Horizons, Paula Leonard – Donegal Travellers Project, Robin Frampton – Prison to Peace and Sinead Murray – Breakout for facilitating the seminars and to all who supported the event in any way.

This project is supported by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund, through the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation managed for the Special EU Programmes Body

by Donegal County Council”.

Donegal

Youth Council A brand new Donegal Youth Council has been elected and are ready for action. All those elected will go forward to form the 7th Donegal Youth Council, which will see the 36 young people represent their peers in the county for the next 2 years.

and organisations that impact on young people’s lives.

Next up for the new Youth Council will be their Agenda Day, which is happening in Letterkenny on November 5th with over 150 young people The new election model for the Youth Council attending, which will aim at establishing the key has offered the opportunity for every secondary areas and topics the Youth Council will focus on school in the county to have a representative put over the next 2 years. Youth Council will also forward. Another aspect of the new model has travel to Croke Park in Dublin for the Comhairle seen the Donegal Travellers Project, Youthreach, na Nóg National Showcase event on November Foroige, Donegal Youth Service and Oige na 20th where they will display they work they have Gaeltachta all take up the opportunity to nominate done along with groups from all over the country.

The Donegal Youth Council is funded by Donegal representatives onto the Youth Council also.

The Donegal Youth Council is a group of 36 County Council, HSE Health Promotion and young people aged 12-17 years, who identify the Dept of Children & Youth Affairs and is coissues and promote projects to improve the ordinated by Donegal Youth Service. lives of young people in Donegal. The Youth You can contact the Youth Council via email Council aim to represent the views and opinions youthcouncil@donegalyouthservice.ie or you of the youth of Donegal who don’t have a vote, can contact Youth Council Co-ordinator Martin by building and strengthening links with people Keeney at 087-6806676.

Elections have been taking place in Donegal schools in recent weeks, with the majority of seats already filled, and the destination of the final names to be known shortly.

OutReach Christmas Card

Competition

2014

Closing date Friday 7th Novenmber Rules: Entries should be submitted on A2 or A5 or paper Entries should be 2 dimensional no glitter, wood etc. to be glued to the design as winning designs will have to be scanned onto a computer All entries must include (on the back): Name of Young Person AgeYouth Club Age Date of birth Entries must be sent to: Christmas Card Competion, Donegal Youth Service 16-18 Port Road, Letterkenny, Co.Donegal

2014

Picture This

Competition

Closing date Friday 7th November

The theme for the 2014 Competition is FAMOUS PHOTOS So entries must be a recreation of a famous photograph or picture (including paintings) All entries must be uploaded/scanned and submitted by email to yop@donegalyouthservice.ie Hard copy entries will not be accepted All entries must be saved under the name of the Young Person, with the Youth Club Name, Young Person’s Date of Birth and name of the original Famous Photo or Picture included in the accompaying email.

DYS

Website Launch Judge Paul Kelly launched the exciting new and improved Donegal Youth Service website last night, at the Donegal Youth Service Headquarters in Letterkenny

The launch was attended by various board members, Judge Paul Kelly, DYS staff and the young people.

The Donegal Youth Service website is a hub of information for all projects, events, services, training and inspiring work that Donegal Youth Service carry out on a daily basis.

The night consisted of presentations from Donegal Youth Service young people, visual presentations and Judge Paul Kelly sharing his personal positive feedback of Donegal Youth Service and the website said, “I am impressed by what is on offer here, particularly

the training that is provided for young people, and how it helps them get on in life.

“Through visiting the website I was intrigued by all DYS projects and I am delighted to launch the website.

Lorraine Thompson, Regional Director, Donegal Youth Service said, “We have put a lot of hard work into developing a website that is both enjoyable and informative for everyone who visits it.

“We are delighted to have Judge Paul Kelly here supporting what we do in Donegal Youth Service.

Media Camp

This Summer the Youth Information Centre ran a week long summer camp for young people aged 13-18. Throughout the week participants had the opportunity to learn photography skills, how to shoot a short film and editing. Young people involved then went on to use the skills learned to cover the Party in the Car Park event. iam, eget dapibus augue arcu eget arcu.

Help Donegal Youth Service help Donegal young people!

Are you involved in a group or business that may be planning to do a charitable fundraiser? Why not consider Donegal Youth Service as your chosen charity?

Donegal Youth Service provides a very wide range of services for young people; from the young person who goes to their local Friday night youth club in a small village to a young person who needs help finding a job, to a person who has dropped out of school due to severe social anxiety and needs one to one educational support.

Donegal Youth Service is a charity and whilst it receives some government funds it is heavily reliant on the generous donations of the public to ensure that our vital services for young people are maintained.

The service receives statutory funding for its projects but this has been reduced by almost 40% in the last 5 years. We are a locally managed service by a voluntary board of management and work with young people in their local areas and our funds are all allocated locally.

If you would like to help Donegal Youth Service we would love to hear from you. Call into our offices on 16-18 Port Road, Letterkenny or call us on 074 9129630 or email lorraine.thompson@ donegalyouthservice.ie.

Volunteering Opportunities If you would like to contribute in a different way perhaps you would consider volunteering your time.

Donegal Youth Service works with over 5000 young people countywide and we are always looking for volunteers. Volunteers are vital to Donegal Youth Service programmes to young people. We have a wide range of programmes, projects and youth clubs that require volunteers to keep them going.

If you had a few hours to spare you could help run your local club or get involved in organising a fundraiser for your local club.

If you are interested in voluntary work with Youth Work Ireland you should contact DYS for an application form. This should be completed and returned to the Youth Service. All applicants are required to participate in a selection process which is designed to assess their suitability to work with young people. Please note all volunteers are Garda vetted.

Once you have completed this process and been formally accepted by DYS, you will receive orientation or induction training, engage in a consultation about the role and responsibilities you are about to take on, and be provided with support for your first steps into the world of youth work!

Take on a challenge and make a difference with Donegal Youth service Donegal Youth service are asking people to help build a brighter future for all our young people by joining Team DYS this year for any sporting event or challenge. Anyone can join and take part in any event of their choice and raise money for Donegal Youth Service while achieving their goals.

Donegal Youth Service is appealing to everyone regardless of fitness level for this campaign, whether a seasoned marathon runner or someone who enjoys a fun day out. So whether your aim is complete the Flora Mini marathon, Dublin marathon or any other sporting event you can think of Team DYS would be proud to have you join our ranks and together we can help equip young people for whatever life holds.

Run, walk, climb, hop, swim, dance, jiggle, cycle, crawl or do a marathon dressed as Elvis, it doesn’t matter which event you do as everyone involved in Team DYS will be helping to ensure that Every young person has the opportunity to get Tools For Life and change communities!

YIC LETTERKENNY SERVICES & PROGRAMMES INFO AVAILABLE ON: • • • • • •

Employment Rights & Entitlements Understanding Tax CV Preparation Interview Preparation Job Seeking Skills Dealing with conflict in the workplace • Self Assessment • Participation is FREE For more information contact: Letterkenny Youth Information Centre on 074-9129640

OUTREACH IN SCHOOLS

DROP IN HOURS The YIC drop in continues to open until 6pm Monday to Thursday, while we are open to 5pm on Fridays. The Loft drop-in remains open until 8pm on Wednesday and Thursdays and opens from 5-10pm on Fridays, as well as 2-6pm on Saturdays.

YOUTH MEDIA GROUP The Youth Media Group meets Tuesday evenings from 6-8pm. If you would like to get involved contact a member of staff now.

STUDENT TRAVEL CARD

Letterkenny YIC are reguarly providing outreach in different schools across the town and county. We offer workshops in a range of areas including peer mentoring, school council training, internet safety workshops, study skills & much more. Contact the centre if you feel we could be of benefit to your school.

Letterkenny Youth Information Centre is an agent for the Student Travel Card. We can process your card for you in the centre.

Log on to www.studenttravelcard.ie for more details on the discounts on offer.

EURODESK

WEEKLY ACCOMMODATION & EMPLOYMENT LIST

Thinking of travelling, working or volunteering in Europe. Letterkenny YIC are your local Eurodesk Relay. We have access to lots of European Information so give us a call today.

Our weekly employment and accommodation lists for Letterkenny can now be accessed online.

See www.donegalyouthservice.ie/yic for more details.

SOCIAL MEDIA At the Youth Information Centre we are making full use of the social media networks available to us to allow our service users to keep up to date with everything we do. Social media has revolutionised the way the information centre works; we can communicate instantly with people and events and groups can be organised and communicated with effortlessly.

Follow us on twitter @yicletterkenny, check out our Tumblr page and our Youtube channel.

Our EVS volunteers have been documenting their experiences here in Ireland, you can find their tales on www.evsletterkenny.wordpress.com And finally like us here on Facebook where we keep you up to date with all of our work and events.