Youth service projects helped out over 500 young people last year

The Clare Youth Service ran projects benefiting 521 young people last year, a youth worker has confirmed.
Junction manager, Jean Tierney has stated projects like the Special Project for Youth (SPY), which is funded by the Department of Children and the music project in Carmody Street has helped hundreds of people.

However, considering programmes are not funded by State agencies, the Junction relies on the huge contribution made by up to 30 volunteers to provide its wide range of services.

The Junction Youth and Community Centre, Ennis facilitates the development of young people through conversation and debate.

This is achieved through moving debates on a variety of topics, such as cyber bullying, sexual health, drug and alcohol consumption involving between 30 and 50 teenagers.

It is also facilitated through five or six junior information officers, who provide information boards.
Thanks to volunteers teenagers can also learn life skills such as cooking, web design and personal development.

Jean Guilfoyle decided to do volunteer work at the centre after her children benefited a great deal from activities at the Clare Youth Service. She has taught teenagers life skills such as cookery, card making, knitting and crochet with other volunteers.

Her daughter, Aoife Guilfoyle also completed volunteer work running the café and chill out area three days a week.

Youth information outreach workers Patricia Lynch and Rachel Dunne Lamb run workshops in outreach centres and schools throughout the county.

Andrea O’Regan, Cloughleigh, first became involved in the Clare Youth Service as a child with their summer camps in the mid-’90s and she and her brother, Russell became youth leaders in 2003. In addition to working as a leader in the Cloughleigh Community Centre, she is a member of the Junction Advisory Committee and has also been involved in youth programmes

“People can now see the Junction was built for the good of the community. It is important for us as leaders to give the necessary knowledge to young people to allow them make the right decision themselves.

“Facebook or Twitter wasn’t around when I was in school. Mobile phones only became popular when I was in third year. Technology is moving so fast, we all have to keep up with new developments,” she said.

Janelle Whyte from the Tulla Road, who is now living in Hermitage, started working as a youth volunteer in 2009 in Cloughleigh Community Centre on a Thursday night.

Janelle volunteers in the chill-out space and café on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday every week. While some people might consider this type of a commitment a chore, she enjoys it immensely.

“There is a great buzz in the Junction. All the teenagers are easy to talk to and I like the fact they are not hanging around the streets with nothing to do. There isn’t anything for teenagers to do in Ennis without spending a lot of money.

“If teenagers are not interested in sport or video games, they can come in here and enjoy the company of their friends. It helps them grow as a person and provides a great social aspect.

“If anyone comes for advice, you try to give them as much information without imposing your own personal opinion on them. Aoife and Janelle are great if I need to ask their opinion,” she said.

She believes some young people say things on social networking sites without realising the consequences. If anyone is a victim of cyber-bullying, she stressed you can’t take away their hurt and have to be there and help as much as you can.

“There needs to be more awareness of the impact of comments on the internet. Youth workers try to keep up to date with measures of how to deal with these situations,” she said.

She proposed an anti-bullying programme in secondary schools would be helpful.