2017 DYS Board of Directors
As Chairperson of Donegal Youth Service, I am delighted to report another action-packed and thriving year in DYS. As a volunteer I am very passionate about the work conducted by DYS and I am privileged to work with a team of directors, staff and volunteers that are all so committed to providing the best service possible for the young people they serve. Donegal Youth Service is a County wide youth organisation and the service is continuing to grow and diversify into areas of need. 2017 is the second year of the current three year Strategic Plan which sets out the work of the organisation and once again I am delighted to report that all targets were met and many surpassed. This report sets out a sample of the wide variety of activities, services and supports in place and the numbers of young people engaged with a vibrant, appropriate and needs led approach. Donegal Youth Service operates an integrated approach where everyone works together to ensure young people are supported to be happy, safe, connected, healthier and achieving their full potential. It is incumbent on all responsible for the delivery of the service that all areas of child safeguarding are adhered to so DYS can offer young people a safe space to be part of. Young people are central to the work of the organisation and this ethos is reflected in the services that are so well received by the young people who are part of them. It is important to acknowledge the commitment and dedication of our volunteers who give up their time to ensure young people have access to youth services in all parts of our county. They are the foundation of DYS, the building blocks on which the service can continue to flourish on. Finally I want say that it has been the biggest privilege of my career to have been the Chairperson of Donegal Youth Service for the past 3 years. I want to specially say a warm thank you to all the young people, the staff and volunteers and my fellow board members for helping me throughout the term of my Chairpersonship. The outstanding success of Donegal Youth Service’s work in reaching young people is only possible because we are all working together. I look forward to continuing on our journey…… Marina Carlin
Donegal Youth Service vision “All young people are encouraged and supported to realise their potential and play a part as valued members of society”
DAYBREAK PROJECT
Chairperson
Marina Carlin
Vice Chairperson
Frank Dooley
Treasurer
Paul Mc Cusker
Secretary
Ciaran Maguire
Mary Mc Fadden
Brid Foley
Tara Quinlivan
John Byrne
Paul Kernan
Aoife McCullagh
Frank Larkin
Nicole Monaghan
2017 DYS Staff Members Donegal Youth Council Youth Worker
Regional Director
Carlyn Maguire
Gareth Gibson
Youth Information Manager
Frankie Mc Greevy
Charlene Logue
Youth Outreach Manager
Louise Lynch
Maria Crossan
Administrator
Sinead Murray
BreakOut/Loft Youth Worker
Katarzyna Kurzeja
Youth Information Officer
Lee Stephenson
CE Supervisor
Dominic Mc Glinchey
Youth Information Youth Worker
Claire Bradley
Daybreak Youth Worker
Michelle Wylam
Daybreak/ ReActiv8 Youth Worker
Sheena Boyle-Laverty
Youth Outreach Worker
Helen Simms
ReActiv8 Youth Worker
Michael Campbell
LOFT/ Social Worker
Lorraine Thompson
LOFT Youth Worker Teen Talk Youth Worker
is an individually tailored and supported formal/informal education programme working with young people aged 12-15 yrs across the County who may be experiencing difficulty in school. We are located in Letterkenny, Ballybofey & Carndonagh
6
Young people completed their junior cert
6
Field Trips and Days Out
33
Enrolled on the programme
108
YOUTH INFORMATION CENTRE
provides a free confidential service to young people aged 12-25
224 Internet safety/cyberbullying workshops with 38 sessions for 6223 Young People and 1116 parents 37722 youth contacts
Personal Development Workshops & other Training
34
WORKSHOPS
Adult Volunteers
1.
POSITIVE MENTAL HEALTH
2.
COOKERY SKILLS
3.
RELATIONSHIPS
4.
PERSONAL HYGIENE
5.
SELF-ESTEEM
6.
DRUGS & ALCOHOL
1469
hours of supervised Drop-in
4924
Information Queries
AWARENESS 7.
ANTI-BULLYING AWARENESS
8.
ARTS & CRAFTS
9.
MINDFULNESS
103669 Social media impressions
34
Media Group videos uploaded to Youtube
2000
2017 DYS Overview 11,665 641 1,467 6,224 110 23 31 53
Young people engaged Adult volunteers Adults trained Young people trained Young people engaged in one to one support Youth clubs and projects Youth events Strategic Partnerships
2017
Youtube views
Charity #: CHY15027
REACTIV8 PROJECT
Funded by IFI, commenced in September 2016 had a target of 36 participants aged 16-25 yrs across the county on personal & social development, employment & training and civic responsibility. This project is located across Strabane, Sion Mills, Ballybofey, Letterkenny and Buncrana. At the end of December 2017 we had worked with 45 participants. Participants have recieved both accredited and non-accredited training. Two residentials and field trips to the Bloody Sunday memorial, Indian Temple, Dunree Fort as part of Good Relations training. 8 in Full Employment, 4 in part time. 2 in full time education, 2 in part time education, 2 back in school.
Completed our 10th consecutive European Voluntary Service (EVS) project, hosting participants from Turkey, Spain, and the Ukraine
Donegal Youth Service mission “aims to offer young people opportunities to learn and develop through youth work processes in a safe and enjoyable way.”
Sara Nairn, Principal, Drumfad NS “ “Thanks to DYS for providing an innovative and inspiring workshop for our pupils and a highly informative presentation for parents. The children took home lots of facts and age-appropriate information from their internet safety workshop, and parents found the internet safety presentation to be informative and highly relevant to the issues they face as parents”.
www.donegalyouthservice.ie
BREAKOUT
is an LGBT project for young people aged 12-30 years, which provides a drop-in service, training, information and one to one support.
84 15 16 896
YOUTH OUTREACH PROJECT
is a County wide service for clubs and projects providing support for youth club development, training for adult volunteers, as well as a range of programmes for young people aged 5-25.
COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENT SCHEME
engages 18 participants who provide supports for youth work in various projects and clubs across the County.
parents/guardians and 19 young people supported in a one to one capacity
489
Participants in the “Lets Do It” Summer Programme
3
Volunteer Forum Meetings
363
8
NQSFVLG Cluster Sessions
volunteers undertook Child Protection Awareness Training
is a one to one listening ear support service for young people aged 12-25 years
110 young people and their families were supported by Teen Talk
young people accessing the service
professionals supported in relation to ‘Best Practice’ in supporting LGBTI young people
TEEN TALK PROJECT
402
after school / homework club sessions
1784
youth club sessions/events
50
nationally certified training courses
17
12 referral pathways utilised 8 support Youth work staff
172
44
Facilitated LGBT Awareness training with 338 Teachers & Health Care Professionals Hosted a student exchange with an LGBTI youth group from Finland with 36 young people engaged
Young people took part in Consent Workshops
10
Young people undertook Personal Development Training.
289
Garda Vetting forms processed
138 entries in Christmas Card Competition with 1 Youth Work Ireland Nollaig Winner
16 Nominations to DYS Volunteer Achievement Awards 8 adults First Aid trained
Our two main Flagship Events in 2017 were the Annual Party in the Park in August which showcased some outstanding County wide talent and the Annual Celebration Event in November which highlighted the work young people and volunteers across the service.
Youth Councillors completed Sports Leader Training
25
20
10 10
Emma Wilkie CE Assistant Youth Information Officer “I have gained so much experience during my time on CE Scheme. My confidence and self-esteem have grown. I have had the opportunity to complete various courses which I otherwise would not have been able to do.”
Workshops with local organisations on Employability Skills and Integration Workshops on Political Advocacy and Campaigning Young people undertook a Leadership Training (Open College Network Level 2)
591
350
young people
hours of
hours of one to
engaged
Drop-in
one support
young people participating in 4 weeks of Summer programme activities
young people were provided with peer support sessions, respite care and bi-weekly meetings through the Young Carers Project
young people engaged in the “European No Hate Speech”. campaign
locations
County Meetings
920
22
National Meetings
40
44
about various parts of society and how to respect others as well’
2
87
Non-Binary
Supporting young people from different ethnic backgrounds working on programmes including: ‘Social Inclusion’ project, The ‘Breaking through Politics and Polical Advocacy’ project, ‘Employability Skills’ project and citizenship queries and support. We have a strong partership with the National Youth Council of Ireland
15
Hudie Coyle, Club Oige Chriost Ri “The personal development course helped me bettter myself by learning
19
Transgender
is for young people aged 12-24 which provides activites and programmes including a drop-in service, group work and one to one support
Young people engaged at the Body Image-”Shape of you” Event
WORLD WIDE VOICES PROJECT ANNUAL PARTY IN THE PARK & ANNUAL CELEBRATION EVENT
€ 9,410 raised during the County Flag Day
15 year old Trans Male “ Breakout is my safe place, the place that I know that I won’t be judged. I can be myself there. Everyone is lovely and kind. I don’t know where I’d be without it.”
One-to-one support work delivered in across the County
114
Participants in Youth Work Ireland National Competitions
45
Males
LOFT Youth Health Café project
Youth Councillors competed at YWI National Games
6
Provided CE Youth Work Support in 11 DYS clubs/project
24
is an elected group of 36 young people who work together to represent young people in the County and they work on projects they feel will make the lives of young people better
934 individual one to one sessions were completed
Females
young people received LGBT Awareness training in schools
DONEGAL YOUTH COUNCIL
24
special interest youthwork programmes
25
young people worked with in the “Artist in Residency” project
Regional Meetings
Programmes
The Youth Council social media pages have
•
Leadership for Life
•
Multi Activity summer camp
•
‘ Be Healthy Be Happy ’
•
Film & Drama group
•
Primary to Secondary level
•
Rockschool
Transition Programme
•
Multi Arts programme
Peer Mentoring ‘Working
•
LOFT TV group
Things Out’ programme
•
Retro Gaming group
‘Film Critics’, personal
•
Maths skills group
development programme
•
‘Tea and Tunes’ group
•
1141
Twitter Followers
1365
Facebook Followers
•
2 hour sessions completed
Past Teen Talk Participant “I used to think my problems were too much for me, that I was weak and needed someone else to fix them. From going to Teen Talk I have learned a lot about my own strengths and I have learned new skills to deal with my own problems, it is the best thing I ever did for myself.”
Mother of Youth Council Member “ Since my daughter has joined the Donegal Youth Council I have seen an unexpected maturity in her. When she was younger she didn’t like to “join in” that much, but had a great group of friends. Now I notice that she puts herself forward, and gets involved in projects. She enjoys it and feels part of the community. Seeing things from her perspective and now being able to see views from our wider community too”
Lorraine Thompson, Regional Director, Donegal Youth Service “ Donegal Youth Service were delighted to be the chosen charity for the 2017 TrashnFashion, its an amazing showcase event for young people and the funds raised will go towards supporting young people in need ”