Echo Spring ediiton

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Staff Poster

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Youth Information Center Letterkenny Youth Information Centre provides a free, confidential information service to young people and those who work with them.

The centre managed by Donegal Youth Service, operates a one stop shop approach where all the information is available under the one roof.

The youth information centre exists to help and support young people on both a personal and group level. Through our work we have campaigned on youth related issues on a local and national basis, while also working to encourage and motivate young people to overcome barriers and achieve their goals in life.

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YIC Services&Programes Social Networks Radio Website YouTube

Information Seminars Peer Mentoring Training Bullying and Cyber Bullying Workshops Student Council Training Intercultural Awareness Training

If you want Improve your job seeking skills Check out 3rd level and other training courses Find accommodation Get help with applying for student grants Travel and see the world Study abroad Find ways to use your spare time Know about rights and entitlements Or just someone to talk to

Youth Action Group Employment Skills

For more information: twitter.com/yicletterkenny

facebook.com/yicletterkenny/ 074-9129640

Eurodesk is one of the most comprehensive and most accessible source of free youth information about international learning mobility opportunities. Letterkenny YIC is your place to visit. We have access to regularly updated learning mobility information and publications containing EU information in the youth field.

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Welcome EVS Donegal Youth Service is so glad to welcome our new EVS , Elena and Claudia from Spain, Kemal from Turkey and Dima from Ukranian.

They are staying with us until January 2017 working in the different projects: Elena and Dima are working on media, design and video projects.

Claudia has come is in the youth outreach team Kemal is involved in the Donegal Youth Council.

Donegal Youth Service would like to take the opportunity to welcome them and hope they have a wonderful experience in the organisation.

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European Volunteer Service

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Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is a form of bullying which happens a lot on social networking sites, online forums, apps and by text or email.

Are you are a child or a parent who has been affected by cyberbullying?

Donegal Youth service can help you Children and Young People growing up in Ireland are continually being bombarded with the ever increasing influx of Online Tools, smart gadgets, widgets and social networks. Most of whom cope well with this increased sophistication and flourish amidst the many positive aspects of work, play and social interaction. However, the online “connected� world has many hidden dangers.

Donegal Youth Service provides workshops to educate people about the dangers of the Internet and in particular Cyberbullying, the following areas are dealt with: Types of Cyberbullying Dangers of social networks How to deal with Cyberbullying How to ask for help What can you do to stop it?

Additionally, we strive to encourage both parents and young people to have positive attitudes towards the Internet and embrace it in a responsible and age appropriate manner.

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Donegal Youth Service has a team of experienced staff who facilitate a mixture of age appropriate workshops and seminars to children, young people, parents and teachers. These sessions are available at both primary and secondary level as well as to other education providers and community groups.

So if you would like us to work with children and young people in your school or group, please contact us and speak to one of our staff team now! Our sessions last about 70 minutes and are designed to get young people thinking about this topic. We aim to encourage young people to improve their empathy and to develop “positive online behaviours” and become more aware of risk taking behaviour and associated dangers. We can never ensure that a child or young person will never be cyberbullied: BUT we can ensure that we empower them with the knowledge and information to deal with it appropriately if it does happen.

Personal & Family Support If you are a young person who has been affected by Cyberbullying or indeed currently being bullied, please contact us for information and support. For parents who would like help and support to deal with cyberbullying DYS will provide information, advice, suggestions, support and an advocacy service. Don’t delay

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World Wide Voice

Worldwide Voices group have recently been carrying out work on the ‘No Hate Speech campaign’. The group recently had a residential to Belfast with another local group of young people where they gained more knowledge and exchanged views on promoting the awareness of the No Hate Speech campaign. While in Belfast both groups were given a historical tour of the city.

The Worldwide Voices group are currently working on a mural that is going to be placed on a wall on a nearby boxing club. The mural is to symbolise equality and diversity, this is an ongoing project which the youth work on weekly, during this work many discussions take place relating to human rights, politics, inclusion and diversity in modern society.

The Worldwide Voices group encourage young people to come and take part on a Wednesday from 6pm-8pm in The Loft.

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Donegal Young Carers

The Donegal Young Carers project provides support for young people who care for someone else.

The Young Carers group are currently working towards completing First Aid training. This group meet on a fortnightly basis from 12am-2pm on a Saturday, they provide an inviting space where young people can share their experiences

with other young carers and gain knowledge, it is also a space where they are provided with support. They are currently investigating rolling out the project to other areas of Donegal like Moville.

The team here in the Loft are currently finalising a range of summer programmes that are going to be run during the summer months. Many of these programmes

have been run before and have always been a great success. The summer programmes will entail a variety of activities to meet the nterests and needs of the young people.

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TEEN TALK ‘Teen Talk’ is a free one to one support service for young people for any young person who is experiencing difficulty in their life who feel they could benefit from some support to help them cope with issues such as bullying, family conflict, problems at school or friendship/relationship difficulties.

Young can come in and meet with a professional youth worker who will use active listening and a youth-centred approach to support young people in achieving their own personal and social development goals.

The ‘Teen Talk’ service is available to any young person aged 12-25 years and is not limited by time. The work continues until the young person and the youth worker come to an agreement that it is time to stop.

Ultimately, this service aims to provide young people with the kind of support they would like and in a way that suits them.

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Youth Council On November 9 th The newly elected Donegal Youth Council gathered in the Clanree Hotel Letterkenny to take part in Agenda Day 2016. The Youth Council with their school’s took the day to decide and vote on key issues for young people in Donegal. 99 Young people from across the county selected their top four.

TOP 4 RECOMMENDATIONS FOLLOWING VOTING PROCESS SPORT- More sports and Recognition for girls. Less competitive team sports with a focus on female participation with a fun element.

SEXUAL HEALTH & EDUCATION- Raising Awareness of Mental & Physical Aspects of Sexual Health through surveying young people on their knowledge and campaigning.

FACILITIES – Carry out a facility check to make sure toilets, sports facilities are of an appropriate standard and are hygienic for the student’s health. Then Take Action BODY IMAGE – Organise Workshops on Self Esteem & Positivity in schools. For their first meeting together the youth council met in Gartan Adventure Centre for their residential. The team bonded through the various water sports provided and in freezing conditions had a great weekend.

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For their first meeting together the youth council met in Gartan Adventure Centre for their residential. The team bonded through the various water sports provided and in freezing conditions had a great weekend.

The group celebrated Christmas in style after their monthly county meeting they took part in a hip hop workshop.

The Youth Council in conjunction

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with the RSA & the Road Safety Working Group distributed High Vis Material in Letterkenny.

The group distributed over 1,500 high vis vests, rucksacks, armbands and hats on the shortest day of the year in December. (1)

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As part of the work with the Road Safety Working Group the young people recorded two road safety adverts in Highland Radio Letterkenny.(2)

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Youth Outreach Project Active8 Project

Youth Leaders from Strabane who received certificates at the presentation ceremony in the Mount Errigal Hotel.

Local residents and community representatives from Donegal and Tyrone came together to celebrate the achievements of the latest participants of the ‘Activ8’ Project run by Donegal Youth Service.

The event also marked the conclusion of this highly successful two year project, funded by the International Fund for Ireland under its Peace Impact Programme, which brought together young people from both sides of the border to take part in communitybased training and development.

Over the two year period, the project worked with over 100 young people aged 16-24 years, providing hands-on community engagement and Open College Network accredited training in Community Development, Practical Youth Work, Youth Leadership Training, Mentoring Training among other activities. Other elements of the project included cross-border trips focusing on anti-sectarianism and peacebuilding. These included workshops with ex-prisoners, visits to Orange Halls and round table discussions with local politicians on both sides of the border.

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Members of the management and staff of the Donegal Youth Service with guests from the nternational Fund for Ireland at the Activ8 presentation.

Charlene Logue from Donegal Youth Service thanked the IFI for the funding support, “without which this project would not have been possible to begin with, never mind to extend over a second year. This project has encouraged people to get involved in community life, to learn and accept history, culture and tradition as well as receive training.

It has been rewarding to see so many people come together to support the project and get involved in activities.

Feedback from the participants has been very positive and there can be no doubt that the young people’s comfort with and tolerance and respect for diversity has increased”.

Some of the leaders happy to receive their certificates at the Activ8 presentation.

Youth Leaders enjoying the presentation of certificates for the Active8 programme.

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Youth Outreach Project Re-Active8 Personal youth development programme For 16-25 years old with a focus on employability the programme is currently in Strabane ,Sion Mills, Buncranna, letterkenny and Ballybofey for more info contact Donegal Youth Service 0749129630

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DayBreak

Daybreak is a specialist one to one education programme for young people aged 12-16 years across Donegal.

Our aim is to support young people to remain in, or return to full time education.

Daybreak builds on the strengths of young people to support them in achieving their personal and academic goals and reach their full potential. The project is targeted at young people who are early or potential early school leavers, those who are occasional attendees, and students who are experiencing difficulty in their current education setting.

Daybreak is a safe and stable environment providing formal and informal educational support in the following ways:

- Individually tailored programme - One to one support - Literacy and numeracy support - Life and social skills - Problem solving and coping skills - Study groups and exam preparation - Arts and crafts

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DYS Community employment

The DYS Community Employment Project employs 17 participants and 1 supervisor, which is funded by the Department of Social Protection and provides valuable support to the staff and volunteers around the county enhancing the services that the DYS can supply to young people and the local communities.

CEThe CE Project provides participants with skills through training (ranging from computer training to Youth Work Degree), work experience and personal support to progress into employment or education.

The CE project assists all areas of the DYS Ltd and increases the services we are able to provide to the young people of Donegal as well as providing a positive experience for the participants involved on the project.

For more information on how you could become a CE participant please contact our CE Supervisor Lee Stephenson on 074 91 29630 or e-mail lee.stephenson@ donegalyouthservice.ie

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My Community Employment Experience

Community employment is a scheme that helps one from unemployment and gives you valuable working experience. It also offers you training on specified field and many other forms of training depending on one’s needs. As a CE participant ,you are encouraged to take part time employment while on the scheme and you are also encouraged to seek permanent employment elsewhere. The Community Employment programme is administered by the Department of Social Protection.

I join the CE scheme three years ago and am afraid to say this is my last year with the organisation. I have learned a lot on working with young people as I started off with a group of my own. I then got a place with CE working with Castlefinn and Doneyloop youth clubs for a year before I joined the YIC. I worked with these two youth clubs on a number of projects and learnt valuable lessons on applying for funding/small grants to sustain the youth clubs. We won the overall prizes in the Ballybofey StPatricks parade with Castlefinn YC and a recognition award in the Strabane parade with Doneyloop YC. We had qualified to the All-Ireland games for three years in a raw with Castlefinn in Basketball and football.

I joined the YIC as part of a great team that already existed and my involvement with young people strengthened.

I have worked with nearly all the groups in Donegal Youth Service and my relationship with each group has grown. My love for the work I do with young people has increased, hence my collaborating with all the groups within DYS. I find all groups are not the same and the different ideas coming up from these groups make it a worthwhile experience for me. I mainly work with the World wide Project and YIC but if called upon to supervise other groups I avail myself for the love of the work I do.

The training I gained in youth work and Restorative Practice will forever be useful to me whether I get another job in youth work or not. I will always be thankful for the CE experience especially DYS and the many staff whom I have formed a lasting friendship and the many young people I have come to work with or even just shared a cup of Tea. I would encourage young people to take up the scheme as it’s an experience they will never forget

and valuable to their lives.

Billy Banda

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