Citizenship and Leadership Project engaged 120 young people across Donegal: Picture Special
All good things must come to an end, and that includes the short term CLIC Project at Donegal Youth Service. The CLIC Project, or Citizenship and Leadership in Communities engaged a total of 120 young people across Donegal in 2019 and 2020.
Two young people from Project Orange in Newtowncunningham showing off their artwork depicting the importance of friendships across various border communities titled “The same rainbow falls in both our skies.”
Like everything else in 2020 things changed for the CLIC Project due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. The project continued online, and later a blended programme of online and face to face youth work took place keeping in line with Government guidelines.
CLIC Project Manager Charlene Logue said: “Donegal Youth Service would like to acknowledge the awarding of funding by Donegal ETB through the Peace IV programme for Citizenship and Leadership in Communities (CLIC) Project. DYS staff worked with various groups around peace and reconciliation, exploring diversity and looking at ‘the other’. We used Art, Drama, Performance and Accredited training programmes to deliver messages in a safe, fun, educational and interactive way. COVID may have tried to scupper our plans but the staff and local volunteers persevered and delivered high quality learning initiatives through zoom and also a lot of face to face delivery.’
Two young people from the Ray Community Centre group looking at why youth clubs are an important feature of the community for young people
The project commenced in September 2019, and initially engaged three groups from Donegal Youth Service. The International Mentors Group, a group of young people from all over the world who attended St. Eunan’s school, a group from The Daybreak Programme, a programme for early or potential early school leavers, and a weekly young women’s social and activity group from the LOFT.
In December 2019 these groups travelled to Belfast for a tour of Radió Fáilte, an Irish language radio station and a guided tour of the Peace Walls in Belfast. The group even got to record their own jingle for the radio station.
In 2020 the CLIC Programme engaged young people from two DYS affiliated youth clubs; Club Óige Chríost Rí in Magheroarty, and Project Orange Youth Club in Newtowncunningham and Ray Community Centre, Rathmullan took part in the programme. They learned about how Youth Forums work, and then set one up themselves, so that their voices and ideas could be heard alongside the committee members for the Community Centre. Young people from Colaiste Ailigh, Letterkenny were part of the CLIC ‘Events’ group, and they participated in a series of workshops and talks aimed at raising their awareness of active citizenship, community, diversity and leadership. Guest speakers facilitated these workshops in conjunction with the CLIC Youth Worker.
Some of the CLIC Leaders enjoyed scaling new heights on zip-wires and treetop adventure activities on their course completion trip at Oakfire Adventure Centre
Nine ‘Young Leaders’ received accredited training and obtained OCN Levels I & II qualifications in Leadership. This work was facilitated by Youth Action NI. Since completing this training, three young people from the Young Leaders Group have secured employment.
Project Orange Youth Club took part in various activities including t-shirt painting, mask making, mug decorating. A final piece on canvas portrayed the theme of community and working together. Their chosen theme was ‘friendship, caring and sharing’.
Donegal ETB’s Youth Officer, Paddy Muldoon thanked Donegal Youth Service for successfully rolling out the project on behalf of Donegal ETB; “It was great to see so many young people involved in this project and learning valuable citizenship and leadership skills for life.”
This project is supported by the European Union’s PEACE IV Programme managed on behalf of the Special EU Programmes Body by Donegal County Council.
Young people from Colaiste Ailigh took part in a team building exercise to try and build the tallest free standing tower using only spaghetti and marshmallows
Donegal Youth Service offers a wide range of programmes, supports and services for young people across Donegal. For more information please contact DYS on 0749129630, visit www.donegalyouthservice.ie, or find DYS on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. DYS is a registered charity. Registered charity Number (RCN): 20050696
