Pages 6 June - City of Dublin Youth Services Board

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16 secret successes OUR REGULAR FEATURE ON THE HIDDEN GEMS OF YOUTH WORK FROM AROUND THE CITY Jimmy's fixing it in Inchicore Nearly 40 years on from its humble beginnings, an Inchicore based youth club is still going strong and still has some familiar faces Set up in 1968, the Bulfin Youth Club in Inchicore has been going for almost 40 years. Jimmy Hendrick, at the ripe age of 72 years, has been volunteering at the club almost since its beginning. "One of the interesting things about it is I've had children coming here to the club whose parents came to the club," he says. Last year he was recognised for his amazing voluntary community work with an award from the Lord Mayor of Dublin. Almost 40 years on from when it was founded, the club is as popular as ever with a membership of over 60 young people. On Tuesday nights, the club has a drop-in night for 7-11-year-olds. On Wednesdays it's the turn of 12-17-year-olds. Drama classes are held on Thursday from 7 to 9pm. The variety of drama activities the club does depends on what time of year it is, according to drama teacher Jacinta Sheeran. "We spent 10 weeks this year preparing for the St. Patrick's Day parade," she says. The club was part of the multicultural community based "City Fusion" collective which won the best pageant award. The youth club members are currently rehearsing for this year's "MAYTRIX", organised by CDYSB. "We're devising something to have on the day, something without talking, just movement," says Jackie. Photography is a very popular activity at the club. In February, the club launched a book featuring pictures taken by members of their local area. "We went to Dublin Bus, we went to the fire station, all different places," says Jimmy. The centre is run on a voluntary basis from September to June. The highlight of the year is in June, when the club goes for a weekend away to an adventure centre in Cavan. Aidan Lannigan, aged 21, was a member of the youth club and now serves as a volunteer there. "I did a 10 week course and learned the basic skills needed to be a youth leader," he says. Jimmy Hendrick believes that training for the club volunteers is vital. "Any training programmes that we get - for instance at the moment there's photography training being funded by Dublin City Council - anything like that we send people on to do them, particularly the junior leaders because I'm going to retire some day," he says, laughing ● MF Jimmy Hendrick, club chairman, and Aidan Lannigan, volunteer Common Ground breaking new ground Maura Fay visits a unique arts organisation that believes arts should be central to young people’s lives. Common Ground believes anybody has the right to engage in arts projects in their local community. We are endeavouring to give everyone that opportunity," says Siobhan Geoghegan, Common Ground's Artistic Coordinator. Founded in 1999, the arts development organisation works within the areas of Rialto, Bluebell and Inchicore. "We develop art programmes in collaboration with youth groups and community groups, whether they be children, young people or adults," Siobhan says. "The whole idea is that they get to work with professional artists on a common theme, an issue they might be interested in or just because they have expressed interest in the arts. Our aim is to create long term arts development work with key partners across the Canal Communities area." The organisation is run by three key staff and is funded from a variety of sources including the Arts Council, CDYSB, Dublin City Council, the Dormant Accounts fund, the Canal Communities Drama teacher Jacinta Sheeran with the youth club members
Local Drugs Taskforce, and the St. Stephens Green Trust. One of the organisation's recent projects involved Rialto Youth Project and mural artist Fiona Whelan. "They've just come back from a trip to Philadelphia to be a part of the Mural Arts Program there. Young people from Dolphin House participated in creating a mural as part of the mural program over Easter," says Siobhan. The Music for Me programme is another successful initiative by Common Ground. Twenty-six children from Dolphin House homework club, aged between 6 and 12 years old, began working with four professional musicians in Easter 2005. The group showcased their talents at a special recital at the Dublin City Council's Rotunda Hall in April this year. Chairperson of the Arts Council, Olive Braden introduced the performance saying:"It is clear that the Music for Me programme has had a very positive effect on the children's artistic and creative development. It is wonderful to see accomplished Irish musicians and composers nurturing the development of young musicians." This programme is now also being piloted in Fatima Homework Club and in the Family Resource Centre of St. Michael's Estate After- Schools Project. Common Ground also runs projects involving drama, dance and photography. Common Ground's goals are long term, says Siobhan. "It's not just about viewing art as an activity, it's about creating opportunities for people to really develop meaningful relationships with artists". Check out www.commonground.ie for more information ● MF Chloe & the Ice Cream Van. A collage from the Stick Stories photography project – a collaboration between photographer Darragh Shanahan, the After Schools project of the FRC, St Michael's Estate, Inchicore and Common Ground The Dolphin D'Art group from Dolphin House flats complex launch their mural 'Dare to Dream' - a visual arts collaboration between artist Fiona Whelan, Rialto Youth Project and Common Ground (photograph: Darragh Shanahan) Ballymun fast rise Built from scratch in 1999 up to a team of 38 this year, the Ballymun Regional Youth Resource has achieved a lot in a short space of time but it's not done yet, as Sarah Doyle finds out. Aimed at young people aged between 10 and 21, the Ballymun Regional Youth Resource (BRYR) was established to help Ballymun's youth population make the tough transition to adulthood. Judging by their figures they're doing just that and Donnacadh Hurley, programme manager at BRYR, is proud of the initiative's progress. "A lot of the work here is learning by doing, and I find that quite interesting - that helps keep me going," he says. Almost all of the 50-plus group of volunteers and two thirds of the 38 paid staff are locals, meaning that BRYR has a focused and willing team. Donnacadh says it's important to have fulltime professionals to cope with the demands of BRYR's youth clubs, something which is ensured by their staff development programme. "Young people connect with us on a voluntary basis, so unless the adult they are in touch with is competent and gives a sense of sincere commitment, we won't get many young people turning up," he explains. "You need to have a happy team to put the energy in to work like this." Last year, over 1,100 young people took part in BRYR's diverse range of social activities and training. According to Donnacadh, the job can be quite hard going, with a lot of work taking place on the streets of Ballymun in a face to face approach. The Reco, also known as the Ballymun Central Youth Facility, is the epicentre of the action. It offers a safe environment for its 450-plus members to enjoy a wide range of activities, from cookery classes to theatre training with the well known Roundabout Youth Theatre. Over 150 people also meet regularly for the CITY → 17
Page 1: Special Feature: Youth Work in the
Page 4 and 5: 2 Welcome to Our Services CDYSB pro
Page 6 and 7: 4 ‘Young people are not citizens
Page 8 and 9: 6 leadership in service It is hard
Page 10 and 11: 8 SPECIAL FEATURE Go for it Ballyfe
Page 12 and 13: 10 SPECIAL FEATURE International Yo
Page 14 and 15: 12 SPECIAL FEATURE Finglas Travelle
Page 16 and 17: 14 SPECIAL FEATURE Big Brother Big
Page 20 and 21: 18 computer club. About 50 activiti
Page 22 and 23: 20 Work Committee will reflect the
Page 24: A call for quality contributions Y

Pages 6 June - City of Dublin Youth Services Board

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