Our Lady of Lourdes Community Services Group CLG

West End Youth Centre

 

Introduction

 

The West End youth centre is located in the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes, Limerick. Ballinacurra Weston, which lies at the heart of the area, is one of the most marginalised communities in the country and is a designated Limerick Regeneration Area. We are determined that the West End youth centre will serve as a focal point of activity and purpose for the local young people. Our overall aim is to create a framework of ownership within the community and to offer the best possible youth service for all young people. The youth centre is open five days a week and four week-nights. Structured programmes such as cooking, art, pool, woodwork and beauty are offered directly after school, while drop-ins and group work are scheduled for the evening time and on weekends. During the summer we offer over eight weeks of summer programmes and camps. In September 2017 our Strategic Plan (2017-20) was launched. The Framework for Strengths-based Youth Work in Limerick City and the new National Quality Standards Framework (NQSF) are at the heart of the document.

 

Our Activities

 

• After schools programmes such as art, baking, sport

• Late night drop-ins which offer somewhere safe and warm and as an alternative to other decisions

• Small group work for those who request extra support such as personal development or sexual awareness etc

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 Our Annual Highlights

 

• Mutli-Award winning St. Patrick’s Day Parade entry

• Infamous Halloween Haunted House

• Family Friendly Santa’s Grotto

 

Our Ethos:

 

• Young-person-centred (start with where the young person is at)

• Strengths-based (instead of starting with what a young person can’t do, we start with what they can)

• Restorative justice (practises to address conflict)

 

Our Principles:

 

• Empowerment (for example the Apprentice Programme)

• Ownership (input into our strategic plan and programmes)

• Empathy (seen through our approach of being young person centred etc)