ECHO Autumn- Winter 2018 edition

ECHO

Letterkenny Youth Information Centre Newsletter 16-18 Port Road, Letterkenny Tel 074-9129630

WELCOME EVS PARTICIPANTS!

Autumn-Winter Edition 2018

summer media group party in the park time to move 2018 study visit and more!

STAFF MEMBERs

Gareth Gibson

Katarzyna Kurzeja

Dominic Mc Glinchey

Youth Information Manager

Youth Information Officer

YIC Youth Worker

Emma Wilkie

Tara Faulkner

Maria Gnad

CE Assistant Youth Information Officer

CE Assistant Youth Information Officer

EVS Participant

CONTENTS summer media group 1 CHIARA & GIULIA secondary school students from Italy 7

EUROPEAN VOLUNTARY SERVICE 8

pride’s parade 9 PARTY IN THE PARK 11

OUTREACH project 15

DONEGAL YOUTH COUNCIL’s showcase 17

GOOD PraCTICE IN YOUTH INFORMATION 19 youth work in-form-action study visit 21

TIME TO MOVE 2018 25 DOYIT 27 OTHER interesting stories 29

SUMMER MEDIA GROUP Letterkenny Youth Information Centre’s free media week took place from the 30th July until the 2nd of August, starting at 1pm each day. Throughout the week the group of over 15 people from Donegal and 4 from France were working on video production, design, internet safety workshops, social media usage.

We had fabulous collaboration with a group of French students from Mjc Région d’Elbeuf organisation on an audio visual project. It was great opportunity to try out a variety of things and meet new people at the same time.

All participants learned how to storyboard and how to use a camera during workshops delivered by our experience teamTara, Maria and Patrick.

A participant is storiboarding

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In terms of photography, group learnt how to focus with the camera, how to record, how to use a chroma panel, importance of shutter speed and aperture. We also acquired acting skills: make-up and clothing, repeating scenes several times.

In terms of shooting: finding locations, preparing a set with only a few resources (no budget), and basic lighting. We also recorded short videos, and video edited in order to create two amazing movie trailers.

If you want to see final results of our work, please visit our youtube channel @yicletterkenny.

One of the storyboards

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Some of the participants

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The whole group together

Participants from French group ADIC TV, Mjc Région d’Elbeuf

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Someone dividing the story in scenes

Patrick explaining some theory on storytelling to three young people

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chiara & giulia This summer we hosted two secondary school students from Italy, Chiara and Julia. They spent two weeks in Letterkenny Youth Information Centre gaining new skills and knowledge, getting necessary experience in work with information provision, as well as more confidence in using English language. Check their interview at our youtube channel!

This opportunity is part of Erasmus+ programme and it is called Erasmus+ VET Mobility. For more information contact us on 0749129630, yicletterkenny@donegalyouthservice.ie or Irish National Agency Leargas (www.leargas.ie).

Chiara and Giulia during their interview

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EUROPEAN VOLUNTARY SERVICE

In June we have welcomed three new European Voluntary Service participants. We are happy to host two Spanish girls, Maria and Marta, as well as one from Romania- Maria. They will be with us here in Donegal Youth Service until the end of May 2019. You can follow their journey and read about their experiences on their blog: https://3evsindys.wordpress.com/

Our EVS participants during their first trip around Donegal

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pride’s parade Celebrations in the sunshine and the world’s first National LGBTI+ Youth Strategy

A group of young people from Donegal Youth Service’s BreakOut project travelled to Dublin for Pride 2018. On Friday they attended the launch of the National LGBTI+ Youth Strategy, the first of its kind in the world. Saturday saw the group enjoying a special breakfast with other member youth services, hosted by Youth Work Ireland and BelongTo before joining the Dublin Pride celebrations.

Tens of thousands of people attended the Pride celebrations again this year. making Pride the second biggest festival in Ireland after St. Patrick’s Day. Businesses and organisations from around the country took part in the parade, sending a clear message of acceptance, and support to LGBTI+ youth. BreakOut welcome the historic National LGBTI+ Youth Strategy. It is a three-year action-oriented Strategy and its Mission is to ensure that all LGBTI+ young people are visible, valued and included.

The Strategy revolves around three main goals: Goal 1: Create a Safe, Supportive and Inclusive Environment for LGBTI+ young people, Goal 2: Improve the Mental, Physical and Sexual Health and Wellbeing of the Entire LGBTI+ Community, and Goal 3: Develop the Research and Data Environment to Better Understand the Lives of LGBTI+ Young People.

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PARTY IN THE PARK Donegal Youth Service’s annual one day festival extravaganza for young people took place on Friday the 24th of August in the Letterkenny Town Park. All young people were invited to come along for the last party before summer end.

There was live music and performances all day with up and coming young bands and musicians of all genres taking to the main stage. There also was a wide range of other entertainment, with something to suit all ages, including: storytelling, sports, games, bouncy castles, food, face painting, as well as a space to get festival ready with henna and festival hair and makeup!

A talented singer

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Laura during the Party in The Park 2018

Face painting was a success!

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One of the many amazing performances

Maria and Laura

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Some of the assistants

Carlyn and Cameron

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OUTREACH project LET’S DO IT We began our summer programme at the end of June and finished completely on August 22nd. We worked with 6 clubs across the county, spending two days at certain clubs. We were in Planet Youth, Club Dhobhair, Glengad YC, Muff YC, Cockhill YC & Pettigo YC. We worked with over 220 young people. The staff who were involved and contributed to the summer programme were Claire, Michelle, Siobhan, Niamh, Jason, Kathleen, Layla & Teresa.

VOLUNTEER FORUM We held our first Volunteer Forum of the club year on October 1st.

We used this meeting to discuss future events throughout the club year, elect a new chairperson to represent the forum and to officially launch the Youthclub Handbook. Mary McFadden (Club Óige Chríost Rí) stepped down from her post as chairperson as she has taken up a new job.

Shaun Dorrian from Fanad YC put himself forward for the person and everyone present was very happy to support this, therefore he was elected as our new chairperson for the forum. We officially launched the Youthclub handbook and each club present received a copy on the night.

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DONEGAL YOUTH COUNCIL’s showcase

Celebrating their two year term

All good things must come to an end. The 2016-2018 Donegal Youth Council’s term has just concluded, with a special showcase event celebrating all of their achievements over the past two years. The 33 young people who made up the Youth Council were from all over Donegal, elected by their post-primary schools, youth groups, and the Donegal Traveller’s Project.

The Showcase took place in the Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny on September 15th and was attended by proud parents and guardians, project workers and funders. It was opened officially by Donegal Cathaoirleach Seamus O’Domhnaill who said “I, like all of the Councillors had the honour and pleasure of meeting with the Youth Council on numerous occasions, and we were absolutely blown away by them. The work they have done has not been short of brilliant, and I want to respect that and to honour that tonight.”

And continued: “The one thing that I would say to each of them is: Don’t ever forget the responsibilities that you took on, on behalf of your peers, and carry it through life.”

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The Showcase covered all of the work the Donegal Youth Councillors did over their term. From the major agenda items that were voted on at the beginning of their term by their peers, like their Body Image ‘Shape of You’ event, Sexual Health and Education ‘Beyond the Birds and Bees’ event, Sports Recognition for Girls Roadshow, Facilities in Schools, and the months of preparation work that went into each one, to the work they did with the Older People’s Council, Donegal Road Safety Working Group, The ‘4 L’s’ Positive Mental Health Campaign with Donegal GAA, and briefing politicians, both local and national to name just some of their achievements.

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GOOD PRACTICE IN YOUTH INFORMATION “Every two years, ERYICA publishes a Sheryica Good Practice Booklet, which presents a large selection of quality examples to be adapted within youth information and counselling services.

All our members have the possibility to share tried and tested models and methods for the benefit of the whole network.

This supports the sharing of good practices in the youth information and counselling sector, and enables necessary professional peer support.

The publication includes all the necessary contact information in order to facilitate the exchange of ideas between organisations. Networking and sharing information play a major role in developing the themes important to youth information and counselling, as well as in our efforts to reach young people more effectively.

The 2018 Sheryica Good Practice Booklet is the 5th edition of the publication. We have highlighted interesting and topical issues: media and information literacy, youth information outreach to disadvantaged groups, digital youth information and counselling and youth participation and empowerment. “ Jaana Fedotoff- President, ERYICA

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INTERNET SAFETY AWARENESS WORKSHOPS WITH PARENTS AND YOUNG PEOPLE

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youth work in-form-action study visit

Recently, Letterkenny Youth Information Centre was hosting 10 youth workers from Czech Republic, representing different oragnisation: Decko Nachod, Déčko - DDM Rychnov nad Kněžnou and MěDDM Sluníčko. Study visit was funded by Erasmus+ programme that gives many opportunities for young people, as well as for professionals to develop their skills.

Katarzyna Kurzeja, Youth Information Officer, project coordinator, said: “Working side by side with youth workers from other countries always open our eyes: we can see different styles of work, various methodologies in approaching same problems and challenges, but first of all we learn from each other. And that type of informal learning is truly priceless, both for us and young people we are working with. We hope to get more partnerships with organisations across Europe in a future”.

Czech youth workers spent 5 days with Donegal Youth Service, shadowing jobs in YIC and working on principles and good practices of youth work in Ireland. They also delivered their own workshops: dancing and mindful art workshop.

YIC team paid particular attention to provide information about CB and internet safety, to discuss advantages of being part of networks, like Youth Work Ireland, Eurodesk and ERYICA. There were also several activities where Czech and Irish workers had to think about youth work ethos, importance of inclusion and equality. It was fantastic time!

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Kasia delivering a workshop during the visit

Edgars, Pavel and Terka are brainstorming

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Kasia and some of the Czech youth workers at the band room

Tonda sharing some ideas about youth information work

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Some of the Czech visitors

Josef, Daria, Katka, Eva and Pavel at the Motley Crow

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TIME TO MOVE 2018 Time to Move is a collection of events for young people and people working with them, organised during October across whole Europe. These activities introduce hundreds of possibilities through which young people aged 17- 30 years can go abroad and take part in an international project, explore Europe or gain experience they need in future.

All the activities are run by Eurodesk information experts, always ready to have a discussion and help to find the international project most suitable for young person’s needs. Volunteering in another country for a few months? School exchange for a semester? Internships abroad? We have you covered.

This year we had join event in Sligo and Letterkenny Youth Information Centre was one of the organisers. It was fabulous, busy day, great networking and meaningful talks. We are very proud as our European Voluntary Service participants, Maria, Marta and Maria delivered fantastic presentation on their experience with EVS project and its importance for young people.

Get inspired! For more information contact Youth Information Centre on 0749129630 or yicletterkenny@donegalyouthservice.ie or visit www.eurodesk.ie

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DOYIT DOYIT Project accomplishes its aims!

The Developing Online Youth Information Trainings (DOYIT) project has reached its completion, which was marked by the final consortium meeting and a launch event in this year’s European Youth Capital, Cascais, Portugal. Our Youth Information Manager, Gareth, and Youth Information Officer, Kasia, have been involved in different tasks during this 2-years long process.

Kasia also became ERYICA accredited e- trainer ready to deliver the training to colleagues in Ireland. The consortium meeting reviewed the project’s achievements and planned the future exploitation of the new eLearning platform.

The next day, during the launch event, the consortium members presented the project’s outcomes to interested youth professionals and discussed the role and potential of eLearning in youth information work.

The DOYIT project has adapted ERYICA’s Digital YIntro, YoMIM, JIMMY and ALTYO training courses to an eLearning platform, in order to increase the outreach of our training system and upgrade the training opportunities provided for youth information workers.

To find more about the ERYICA opportunities, please visit www.eryica.org

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Our Youth Information Officer during panel discussion in Cascais

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OTHER interesting stories

Donegal Youth Service were on the big screen. A TV crew from Virgin Media One came to visit us in October to film a segment for the inaugural National Lottery Good Causes Awards. It aired originally on Ireland AM in the week running up to the awards show.

Thanks to the crew for the great job they did capturing Daybreak, and to the past and present participants for sharing their stories.

We didn’t win, but it was truly special to have made it so far. To stand beside so many other wonderful community projects from throughout the country, and for the recognition for the work we do here. Congratulations to all of the winners and a huge thank you to all of you for your support over the past few months.

Annual Report 2017: Supporting more young people than ever before. A record number of young people engaged with Donegal Youth Service in 2017. The Annual Report shows that 11,665 young people engaged with various projects, youth clubs and services throughout the county last year.

Lee, Malcolm and Amy

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The College Survival Guide was a workshop run by Emma, Youth Information Assistant. The main aim was to help anyone going away to college or moving out of home for the first time. It was designed to help young people with the reality of going ‘out into the big bad world’ and being responsible adults. This can be an exciting yet nerve wrecking time for many young people as they now have to deal with things they never had to deal with before.

The main topics covered in the workshop were: budgeting, saving for emergencies, being a student, issues that may arise from renting property and sharing accommodation with other people. It was great to see so many young people interested in the workshop and eager to learn. If anyone missed it but is interested in any of the topics covered you can always come talk to us in YIC, we will be happy to assist you.

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MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM LETTERKENNY YOUTH INFORMATION CENTRE! 16-18 Port Road, Letterkenny, Ireland 074 - 912 9630 yicletterkenny@donegalyouthservice.ie

@yicletterkenny