Youth Club is praised for impact it has on community

OVER 150 people attended Foróige Newcastle Youth Club’s one-year anniversary celebration last Friday, March 3, in Newcastle Community Hall.

While the club is still in its infancy, it already has 145 members aged between 10- and 16-years-old who have happily engaged with its activities.

Each week, four different groups of young people gather to participate in the youth club, which is run by a dedicated team of volunteers.

Explaining what young people get out of their involvement with the club, chairman of Foróige Newcastle Youth Club, Declan Lonergan said: “It gives them the opportunity to take part in a social outlet while working with each other or working on a project.

“What we do is try to get the youth engaged and we do events every year, like parades and charity walks, and games – they love it.

“They’re exposed to things they’re not normally exposed to, like arts and crafts, playing things like bingo and draughts, and tug-of-war.

“Those things have kind of gone off the radar of young people with the explosion of video games, a lot of the kids weren’t aware of them.

“They really enjoy it, because it’s something different for them to do.”

The success of the first year of the club was celebrated last week by the young people who attend the club, the volunteers, and other local community groups joined in as well.

“We invited the community,” said Mr Lonergan, who is originally from Rathcoole.

“All of the club’s members were invited to bring their families and friends along, and we had the local Tidy Towns group, folk group and women’s group.

“And anything we do, we make – we made the banners and the decorations.

“It was brilliant.”

Two members of the youth club, John Hally-McGrath and Isabelle Hayden gave speeches at the event and praised the impact of the club.

John detailed his positive experience of being a member of the club’s youth council and the new organisational and event management skills he has developed as a result.

Isabelle extended her thanks to all of the volunteers who have given their time to the youth club, and expressed the importance of volunteerism in the community.

“We just want to help them with social interaction and social engagement,” explained Mr Lonergan.

“In the youth club, they get to mix, share ideas and learn how to develop new friendships.”

Now that the group has been established for 12 months, Mr Lonergan is keen for the club to continue to grow in the coming months and years.

“The biggest one, for me, is that we remain stable and that we have longevity,” he said, “so that the 10-year-old that starts with us stays until they’re 18.

“The hope is that those 18-year-olds will then help us out, and volunteer in the youth club too.”

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