Young People From Tipperary Excel In Foróige Youth Citizenship Awards

The Foróige Youth Citizenship Awards in partnership with Aldi took place last Saturday 2nd July 2016 in the Citywest Hotel and Conference Centre, Dublin.

The awards celebrated the work of young people in the community over the past year with over 2,000 young people in attendance as well as hundreds of volunteers. 160 community enhancement projects were exhibited at the event with all 26 Counties represented.

Seán Campbell, CEO of Foróige said, “Community wellbeing was the clear winner when it came to driving forces behind this year’s projects, with the vast majority of projects built on a pride and passion in community that bodes well for the future. It is so inspiring to see what young people can achieve when they work together and put their minds to something. We are extremely proud to be working in partnership with Aldi for the second year running on the Foróige Youth Citizenship Awards and the numbers of young people and communities involved have been going from strength to strength.”

Finbar McCarthy, Group Buying Director at Aldi Ireland said today, “Foróige’s underlying aim of building self-esteem and confidence in young people through challenging experiences is something that we at Aldi strongly believe in, and with our 126 stores nationwide we will continue to look at ways we can support this very worthwhile organisation at a national and regional level.”

The event was opened by Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Dr Katherine Zappone TD, MC’d by 2FM’s Eoghan McDermott, and also featured talks from disability rights campaigner Joanne O’Riordan, and social media expert Darragh Doyle.

It celebrated the inspirational contribution that these young people have made to their communities with music from Keywest, giant indoor rock climbing and abseiling, a snowboarding simulator, recording studio, miniature golf and a variety of other activities. The young people in attendance also got to learn about the amazing work of their peers taking place throughout the country.

The projects from Tipperary were as follows:

Nenagh Foróige Gardening Project, Co Tipperary – A community garden to commemorate the 1916 rising

After brainstorming various ideas the Nenagh Foróige Club decided on a Gardening project. They were provided with an area of grass outside the Town Court House and designed the garden themselves. Working with the Tidy Towns Committee they decided to base the theme of the garden on the 1916 Rising and the Committee provided the young people with plants and flowers. The project is on-going and the garden continues to improve.

They said “we have learnt that there are many opportunities to help and improve your community and that people are always grateful for your help”.

Cosy Café, Co Tipperary – A fundraising campaign for the local youth café

After a meeting to discuss how to raise money and awareness for their youth café, the group decided to organise a Santa Grotto for Carrick on Suir. The young people felt that it was a project that would also build community spirit as it would be the first time in 20 years that there was a Santa Grotto in the town. They researched the cost involved in buying costumes and decorating the centre. The young people engaged the wider community to provide prizes, set up the venue and approached the town hall to get permission to run the event there. The event was a success, with funds being raised for the youth café, while also providing a low cost opportunity for families to meet Santa.

Carrick-on-Suir Youth and Family Project, Co. Tipperary – A short film about the dangers of e-cigarettes

This group of young people were midway through a mural project as part of the Foroige Youth Citizenship Programme, but for reasons beyond their control, this project had to be put temporarily on hold. After brainstorming meetings and observation of social media, they felt that e-cigarettes and how young people are being targeted is an issue that needs to be addressed. The group researched, recorded and edited a short film about the dangers of e-cigarettes and how young people can be attracted to using them. They increased their knowledge of e-cigarettes and are putting the final touches to their communications plan to pass this information onto other young people.

Angels in Wellies, Co. Tipperary – A project to respond to the flooding crisis in Carrick On Suir

After seeing the devastation caused by flash flooding in Carrick On Suir recently the group immediately decided to offer to help with the massive clean-up operation. Using social media to recruit other volunteers, the young people contacted a local Councillor for guidance on the worst affected areas and what supplies people needed. The group appealed for donations of food, blankets, heaters and cleaning supplies.  They then went about delivering them to flood victims. The group borrowed a shopping trolley to store their equipment and went from house to house to help with the cleaning. Given the nickname ‘Angels in Wellies’, the efforts of the young people attracted a lot of attention online and in the media. The group are still in contact with some of the elderly people they helped out and have attracted new volunteers because of their project.

Nenagh Foróige Girls Afterschools Group, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary – A project to boost relations between the generations

The girls brainstormed for ideas on how they could help their local community. They decided they wanted to help the elderly and wanted to “put a smile on their faces”. The got permission to go into St Conlon’s Nursing Home and in the weeks coming up to the event practiced music and poems to perform. After the performances the girls chatted with the residents, gave them sweets and biscuits and took photos. The visit was enjoyed by the elderly and the girls were invited back again.

They said “we learned that older people share the same interests as ourselves and that we can make a difference in our community”.