Secondary school students who didn’t have State exams to contend with are already a month into their school holidays.
Apart from sleeping till noon as they decompress from another academic year, what is there to do for teenagers in rural Ireland over the summer?
Denis O’Brien is volunteer development manager with Foróige, the national youth development organisation which was established as the youth branch of Macra na Feirme back in 1952.
While most of the 400 Foróige clubs across Ireland wind down over the summer months, Denis says there are other services that run throughout the school holidays.
“A lot of money has been invested in youth services in recent years and UBU schemes run throughout the summer, ensuring vulnerable young people are getting the support they need,” says Denis.
UBU-Your Place, Your Space is a funding scheme which provides local services for young people.
“These are run mainly by the Education and Training Boards and recognise the growth of youth services in rural Ireland, and the need to offer support to young people throughout the year.”
Sharon Ivers is a senior youth officer with Cavan 365, which serves both Cavan and Monaghan across two main initiatives; the UBU programme and a Youth Diversion Programme. Combined, the two schemes are supporting over 160 young people in the region.
“The Youth Diversion Project is a targeted service, where young people are referred to us from parents, teachers or the Gardaí, to develop a positive outlook and we engage them in citizenship programmes where they give back to their community,” says Sharon.
“Our UBU programme is a nationwide scheme that here in Cavan is supporting more than 100 young people. We open this up to the wider community during the summer months.
“We primarily work with early school leavers, those who are newly arrived in the country and members of the Traveller community, and we do a lot of collaborative work with the sports partnership programmes in Cavan and Monaghan, as well as the Family Resource Centres in both counties.
“A lot of the participants on the UBU programme come from rural areas, with a bus bringing young people from Baileborough, Cootehill, Kingscourt and Mullagh into Cavan town.
“Young people aren’t shy about telling you what they want to do and we work with them to develop new programmes, including taster courses in the trades that they can do before they return to education in September, to see if this is something they’d like to pursue.
Volunteers need a break and the young people themselves have plenty on over those three months to keep them occupied
“Transport is a massive issue as we cover both counties and we draw from a large rural area, yet we only have one nine-seater minibus, so that presents a huge challenge.”
While UBU schemes run all year round, Foróige clubs take a break over the summer months.
“Young people tend to associate youth work with something that happens during the school year so they expect to take a break over the summer holidays,” explains Denis.
“Volunteers need a break and the young people themselves have plenty on over those three months to keep them occupied, they head to the Gaeltacht or on family holidays. They have cousins visiting from other parts of the country or they’re heading off themselves to family relations, and the whole routine they have during the school year breaks down over the summer.”
Subsidised camps
One county bucking this trend however is Cork, where summer recreation schemes, co-funded by Cork Education and Training Board and Cork County Council, offer camps for young people during the summer months.
“These schemes have been running for almost 40 years and they’re very popular, with nine running in the city and 10 more around the county,” says Denis.
“We have 1,500 young people signed up to them this year and they give people something to do for a week during the summer. It costs a lot less than a commercial summer camp because of the funding we get from the council and the ETB.”
Vicki Murphy is a volunteer adult leader in Castlemartyr and Ballintotas youth club which runs an annual summer recreation scheme in east Cork that is currently under way.
“We have 70 kids from Castlemartyr and Ballintotas Youth Club taking part in the three-day camp that was open to children from 11 to 16, and it’s particularly good for those kids who may not be into sport, but love the chance to meet up with other kids and have some fun,” she explains.
“We’ll have a day trip on our first day, followed by a visit to Smugglers Cove which the kids are very excited about as the slip and slide there is always a big hit, and we’ll do a day at the GAA pitch where we’ll have a series of games and activities, followed by a BBQ and a DJ to finish the camp off on a high.
“The camp is subsidised so it costs a lot less than other camps and we try not to say no to anyone but we are restricted by the number of helpers we have.
“Throughout the year, we run three weekly youth clubs, catering to younger teenagers on a Thursday night where we have 60 members aged between 10 and 12.
“We then have a special interest club on Friday evenings, for those children who wouldn’t do well in the bigger club and who may or may not have a diagnosis. There are only 12 children in that group, with five leaders, so those kids can take things at their own pace. Our senior club is also on a Friday night where we have another 60 young people aged from 12 to 18 years old.
Sense of community
“It’s somewhere safe for the kids to hang out and the older kids enjoy having the autonomy to lead it and decide what they want to focus on.
We have them coming back year after year so we must be doing something right.
“Most senior clubs would finish up at the end of May but we keep going until June is out, by then we all need a break, especially the leaders who are volunteer parents who give a lot of their time throughout the year.
It also means we come back refreshed and revived at the start of a new year in September.”
Cork isn’t the only place you’ll find young people making waves this summer however. Next Saturday, the Foróige Amplified music festival, takes place in Knockmore GAA grounds in Co Mayo, where up to 3,000 young people will gather in what is the third year of the summer concert.
Later in July, a week-long international conference at Maynooth University will bring 250 young people together to showcase a leadership project that is accredited by both University of Galway and Queen’s University Belfast.
“We have a number of initiatives to hold on to our teenagers that bit longer and our Youth Leadership Programme, geared towards 15-18-year-olds is unique to Foróige,” adds Denis.
“We have delegates attending from all over Ireland as well as Northern Ireland, USA, and in the past we have welcomed young people from Palestine and Saudi Arabia. Groups of 15 young people work with a facilitator throughout the week to develop life skills, both personal and professional and to work on projects that benefit their own communities.
“Foróige clubs tend to be stronger in rural areas because they thrive in the sense of community and it’s in smaller towns and villages where you bring young people through the club to become the next generation of leaders.
“You are inculcating and passing on the skills of community and leadership to the next generation in a group where the committee of young people are elected by and representative of their peers.
“We pride ourselves on having a place for everyone in Foróige, whether you’re a diehard GAA player or a gaming wizard – ours is a space where everyone can be themselves.”
SHARING OPTIONS