Foróige young people Michael Collins, Dean McKeon, Brandon McDonagh and Daniel O’Halloran received the Asgard Perpetual Award from Sail Training Ireland on Saturday at the Mansion House. The Galway teenagers participated in a 10 day Tall Ship voyage on the seas around New Zealand in 2014 and the award was presented to them in recognition of their exceptional achievement.
Four young men who attend the Local Drugs Task Force Project in the Kerrigan-Tyrell Youth Centre in Mayfield, Cork had a fantastic opportunity to spray paint a van and stencil and graffiti their own personal messages onto it as part of a Trócaire sponsored initiative with the local Mayfield Arts Centre.
The ‘Splattervan Project’ is a custom designed mobile arts facility used to engage with groups in the community in a fun way and to promote participation and active citizenship with young people in their communities.
Our Reference Panel is a group of young people who are brought together to represent the views of all members of Foróige, from Clubs to Projects to Youth Services. Meeting twice yearly, they exchange ideas and influence local, regional and national Foróige decisions. Previous members have initiated anti-bullying campaigns, appeared on TV and radio representing Foróige and have developed our Charter of Rights etc. They also have serious banter and craic. In 2014, they invented the word, ‘slendiferousness’. Very important business altogether.
The consultation process for the National Youth Strategy being developed by the Department for Children and Youth Affairs is now underway. This is an important milestone for young people and we are asking for your co-operation and engagement with this process as you are ideally placed to ensure that young people and those working with young people have an input into the development of the National Youth Strategy.
About the National Youth Strategy
As a youth development organisation, it’s essential for us to consult with young people to ensure we are meeting their needs.
For over 30 years, the Foróige Reference Panel has been fulfilling the role. This group has had a huge influence on many decisions and initiatives in Foróige.
So how do you get on to Foróige’s Reference Panel – a group of 64 young people who get together make recommendations to our National Council and bring about change, while representing 54,000 young people involved nationally?
FAB Feb (Foróige Against Bullying month) is coming soon and we are urging Foróige Clubs and Projects to get involved. The central purpose is to create awareness of positive self image among young people. Positive self image is about being happy in yourself and comfortable in your own skin. It is about being able to express yourself when with others and not being confined by negative pressures and put downs by others. It is the ability to accept your own limitations and flaws and focusing on the positives. It is about finding your own path in life - not following the crowd.
