Invitation to support the development of KDYS Youth Café for Castleisland

The year ahead will see KDYS enhancing its commitment and investment to the future generations of youth in Castleisland and its surrounds with the commencement of remedial works in the historical corner of Paddy Hussey’s in order to facilitate the proposed opening of a Youth Café in mid-2012.

A youth café is a safe, dedicated, quality meeting space for young people ranging in age from 10 to 25 years. It is determined by young people for young people, in partnership with adults in the locality. In more general terms, a youth café offers the following to young people.

• A relaxed meeting space, which is safe, friendly, inclusive and tolerant;
• A place for all young people to socially interact with their peers in a safe and supportive drug- and alcohol-free environment;
• A location for relaxation, recreation and entertainment, and as a site for information, advice and additional support.
• A place where young people can develop good quality relationships with their peers and with adults.

KDYS has been operating in the Sliabh Luachra area since its inception over 40 Years ago and is currently involved in delivering Youth Clubs and other support services. These Projects have empowered many young, enhanced their lives and provided opportunities to young people to engage in both local and national events. Young people have partaken in North /South Exchanges, achieved in the annual Garda Youth Achievement Awards, represented their area in Comhairle na Nog, assisted in local Tidy Town Initiatives and engaged in after school supports with both educational and recreational focuses.

KDYS already operates Youth Cafes in Tralee, Killarney, Listowel and Killorglin. These rely on the dedication and involvement of volunteers and young people in their planning and on-going operation. KDYS envisages a similar development at Hussey’s Corner and are inviting any interested adults or young people with the needs of young people at heart and willing to commit to the development of the Youth Café to contact Madeleine or Robbie at 066 7142648 or at KDYS in the Island Centre. Full training and support will be provided to all Volunteers engaging with KDYS.

Youth Clubs

There are 7 Youth Clubs in the Sliabh Luachra Mini Region –

-          Ballymacelligot

-          Brosna

-          Castleisland

-          Cordal

-          Dromtariffe

-          Killeentierna

-          Scartaglen

Youth Clubs are run on Friday evenings from September to April by volunteers and supported by the KDYS. Services provided to clubs include training courses for volunteers and young people, mini region structure and meetings, Games and Youth Factor events, Youth Day, child protection and Skills Day. The 7 youth clubs have a combined membership of around 450 young people and are run by around 60 volunteers on a weekly basis.

Study Support Project

A project for young people in Secondary School, especially those at risk of early school leaving. Young people can come and do their homework and study in a supervised space. The group lasts for two hours and in the second hour after young people have completed their homework they are free to use the resource room to chat, go on laptops, play pool, etc. This group meets on a Monday and a Wednesday from 4-6pm.

Young Boys and Girls Groups

After schools groups for girls and boys aged 8-12 years. The girls group takes place on a Monday from 2.30–4pm and the boys group takes place on a Thursday from 2.30-4pm. During these groups young people are free to use the resource room to chat, use laptops, Playstation, WII, do art and craft activities and play pool. 

Homework Club

A group for young people aged 8 to 12 to come in and do their homework. This takes place on a Tuesday from 2.30-3.30pm and is for boys and girls.

Art Group

A group for young people aged 8 to 12 to develop their creative skills and take part in arts and craft activities. A varied programme of arts and craft activities is provided, taking into account seasonal events such as Halloween and Christmas as well as theme-based work. This group is open to both boys and girls and has a large number of young people from ethnic minorities. For this reason, recently a cultural project using art as a medium took place to enable young people to find out more about their own and other people’s cultures. This group meets on a Wednesday from 2.30-4pm.

Personal Development Project

A project for young people to discuss and learn about issues of importance to them, and concerning themselves and their personal development. Topics include building self-confidence and self-esteem, communication skills, drug and alcohol awareness, body image, healthy eating and physical activity and mental health. This group meets on a Tuesday from 4-6pm.

Summer Programme including annual soccer blitz

A variety of summer projects take place each year. Activities include drop-in’s, day trips, overnights, community initiatives, movie nights and outdoor activities. Trips are for young people who have attended after schools groups throughout the year and are based on good behaviour. A soccer blitz is also run annually for young people living in the 5 housing estates in town as well as for other outlying areas.

Drop-In’s

These are held during school holidays throughout the year. Young people are free to drop into the Island Centre during set hours. They can use laptops, Playstation, WII, play pool, etc. During term time young people can drop into the centre for an informal chat or youth information.

Transfer Programmes for 6th class preparing to go to Secondary School

A programme for 6^th class to make the transfer into secondary school easier. This programme takes place in local primary schools between April and June. Topics covered include rules, timetables, making new friends and bullying. In 2011 this project took place in 15 primary schools in the Sliabh Luachra area.

Training courses for young people and adult volunteers

Training courses are provided for all volunteers in youth clubs and SPY projects. The volunteer induction training lasts for 6 hours and volunteers must also complete Child Protection Training, which takes 4 hours. Young people who would like to take on a leadership role within a youth club or project can do so once they have taken part in a training course. Youth Participation Training, which lasts for 4 hours, is a course for 1^st to 3^rd years and Youth Empowerment Training, which lasts for 12 hours, is for Transition to 6^th Years.

Day trips and overnights

  

       


Day trips take place during school holidays as a reward for good behaviour and attendance at after schools groups throughout the school year. These trips can also be for specific one-off events. In the summer of 2011 an overnight trip took place in Dublin.

One to One Support

One to one support is available to young people on a needs basis. Young people can access information relevant to them in terms of life choices, for example, driver theory test, career choices and CV development. Young people can also discuss issues that may be affecting them.

Comhairle na nOg

Kerry Comhairle na nOg is the local youth council that feeds into Dail na nOg, the National Youth Parliament. The Kerry Comhairle na nOg holds an AGM annually. This year over 100 young people came together to discuss issues relevant to them and their community as well as nominating and electing young people to represent them. Young people elected onto the Comhairle then spend the next year working on recommendations made at the AGM and seek support from policy-makers.

www.comhairlenanog.ie

www.dailnanog.ie

Tidy Towns Projects

           


Over the past number of years, young people in Castleisland have taken part in community initiatives to enhance the area in which they are living. A number of different projects have taken place, for example, fence painting, gardening and mural painting. These projects generally take place during school holidays.

GAISCE Awards

The Gaisce award (also known as the President’s award) is an individual challenge award for young people aged 15 to 25. To earn the award each young person must participate in 4 challenge areas – community involvement, personal skill, physical recreation and adventure journey – for a set number of weeks. The young person sets their own challenge and does not compete with other participants. Any young person over the age of 15 can take part. For more information please see www.gaisce.ie.

For more information on any of the above Castleisland projects, please contact Madeleine Frissung at KDYS, The Island Centre, Castleisland or on 087 277 4919 or 066 714 2648. Alternatively, you can email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .