A PROJECT for children and young people has been launched in Letterkenny.
The ‘ASPIRE’  Project was unveiled by Donegal Youth Service at its Letterkenny headquarters.
The ASPIRE ‘aim higher’ Project will work with young people aged 10-18 years  across designated areas of Letterkenny, with LGBTQI+ young people, young travellers, early school leavers and in over 27 youth clubs currently affiliated to Donegal Youth Service.
Clubs and projects, agencies and service providers were in attendance both face to face and on Zoom.
Funded by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth under ‘UBU, Your Place, Your Space’, ASPIRE is the result of a merger of the Daybreak early school leaver programme and the Youth Outreach Project (Youth Club supports across the county).
Since the beginning of 2021, ASPIRE staff worked to provide access to youth activities, training and events to ensure they were able to sustain youth work programmes in line with their two-year strategic plan.
A very successful summer programme took place in 17 locations across the county with over 300 young people engaging in fun, outdoor activities including games, challenges, quizzes, T-shirt painting, gardening, mosaic, clay formation, get on your bike road safety and bike tour and much more.
Project staff facilitated a successful Transition Programme for 6th Class primary school children who were transitioning to secondary level education.
Seven schools (145 pupils) availed of the programme.  Due to Covid-19 no visits were permitted to any secondary school for their annual Open Days. It was important that pupils got an insight into secondary school before arriving there on their first day. Feedback from principals, teachers and pupils was extremely positive.
A comprehensive programme for training youth leaders was delivered as well as Child Protection Awareness Training.
Activities
The autumn/winter plan is currently underway and programmes including, arts and crafts, baking, music, life skills, health and well-being workshops, personal and social development workshops, Halloween plans and Christmas plans as well as accredited Child Protection training, all of which will be facilitated and delivered in local Youth Clubs across the county. If you are interested in setting up a Youth Club in your area, contact Charlene Logue, Youth Outreach Manager on 0863817959,  or at the office (074) 9129630.