e e at at he he ers Council ces ces etc). dition dition of the NewsNews g drivers event in vities including the learners and from staff TAC assessments in oject oject which all centres annual County Blitz

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n the county. It involved training, research and Menamin and Mary McDermott from Letterkenny, fourteen fourteen post-primary schools, the five Youthreach lmination of a two year Peace III funded project th d Julie Brown from Buncrana) also completed a Post- from Lifford attended the closing conference of th the University of Ulster. Further information on t ve r ther BodySpecial Donegal County Programmes EU by

rners, rners, parents and volunteers, residentials, resour to the Second edition of our 2013 newsletter. Learn e countyparticipating in a conferencediscussion;

Co DonegalCo YOUTHREACHDonegal YOUTHREACH Co Donegal VEC May. With summer programmes now started, the next e newsletter will be available in the autumn. Have aautumn.available the inHave be newsletterwill and staff alike have been busy with a range culmination of of the acti two year Restorative Practice pr have been heavily involved in. Centres attended the just before Easter and the annual cross border youn Welcome... Welcome... Bready, Co Tyrone, despite a heavy workload with FE SandraDr Buchanan, SandraDr Buchanan, YouthreachCounty Coordinator YouthreachCounty Coordinator PEACE III PEACE Donegal CDB Peace Reconciliation& Partne 2 2 3 3 4 Lifford Lifford Youthreach and Youthreach Coordinators who 2007-2013. 2007-2013. Pictured below l-r: Youthreach from staff across th June 2013 the National Development Plan Plan Development the National Youthreach is co-funded by the the by co-funded is Youthreach Volume 11,Volume Issue 2 Irish Government and EU under EU under and Government Irish Restorative Practice Project Closing Conference Project supported by PEACE III Project Programmebyfo managed PEACE supported sought to further embed Restorative Practices into centres and the two main youth work organisations i organisational activities (training with staff, lea Six Youthreach staff (Breda Rodden, Priya Mendes Mc Gillian Kennedy and Aidan Callaghan from Lifford an Graduate Certificate in Restorative Practices with projectat is available www.donegalvec.ie/restorati Inside this issue: this Inside Lifford’sRestorative Gortahork’s CommunityArt CountyBlitz BuncranaResidential YoungDrivers Event On Friday 3 May staff from all centres and learners Restorative Practice Conference. This marked the cu Journey Journey

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YOUTHREACHYOUTHREACH YOUTHREACHYOUTHREACH . . .. R E RR E ERE ’ ’ ’’ E E EE W W W W WWWWWW WWWWWW DONEGALVECDONEGALVEC DONEGALVECDONEGALVEC . . .. n n YouthReach and e the young people pictured pictured right with Co- WWWWWW WWWWWW Youthreach, Youthreach, along with learners from his FETAC clas eds. eds. As well as this, the group have also set radis ery for thelunch day Centre. within May Ballyshannon YouthReach learners ( the road! nd y services to a simulated ney ( e most powerful elements driving. A big thank you to everybody’s memory and willeverybody’s day as the programme featured many activities and i took took part in a Cross Border Road Safety event in Br stands that allowed them to learn more about safe driving. tested their driving theory, knowledge but could also in present their practical skills On On 2 along with learners from the Buncrana, Letterkenny The The young people not only Tyrone. Tyrone. Everybody found it to be a very exciting an Youthreach centres and young people from Northern I ) ) who won a trophy at the Bready Cross Border Letterkenny Gets Growing! Gets Letterkenny Co Donegal VEC Ballyshannon Attend the Young Drivers Cross Border Cross Border Drivers Young Attend the Ballyshannon could observe a very realistic response of emergenc caraccident. picture will That definitely stay in Shane Gilmartin who proudly represented Ballyshanno showed excellent driving skills and also Peter Swee of of the programme was an accident demonstration wher help recall and reflect on responsibility for safe ordinator ordinator Antoinette Clayton and on stay safe RoadCongratulations Event. Safety lettuce, scallions and many herbs which are used ev used herbslettuce,are which and scallions many getting ready to plant some seeds in their raised b Pictured Pictured below is Andy Dowds, Tutor in Letterkenny YOUTHREACH County Coordinator Coordinator County YOUTHREACH Buncrana Heights, Millfield 24 Donegal Co 20908 93 074 Tel/Fax: Email:[email protected] while driving a car or using a simulator. One of th Pa ge 2 Co Donegal YOUTHREACH News Volume 11, Issue 2 Co Donegal YOUTHREACH News Volume 11, Issue 2 Pa ge 3

Lifford’s Journey in Restorative Practice Ballyshannon Enjoy Annual County Blitz On March 28 th the learners of Ballyshannon Youthreach took part in a very successful annual County Blitz On Friday 3 May 2013 learners from Lifford Youthreach were special guests at Co. Donegal VEC’s Restorative organised by Gortahork Youthreach and joined by other Youthreach centres. The Ballyshannon Youthreach Practice closing conference. Lifford Youthreach were showcased at the conference, due to their innovative DVD on team proved to have excellent technique, determination and teamwork skills and showed a great sporting Restorative Practice. The DVD charted the journey taken by staff and learners in embedding restorative practice into attitude that encouraged competitiveness and a winning spirit among all Youthreach teams. The the ethos of the programme. As well as producing this DVD, staff and participants received awards for 1 st place in pool and 2 nd place in the soccer blitz. Well done everybody! learners in the Centre undertook extensive RP training, facilitated by Editor’s Note: Soccer competition was won by Buncrana; pool competition runner up was won by Lifford Rita Gleeson. Learners also participated in a residential in Carrowmena and bowling was won by Gortahork with Letterkenny as runner up. Activity Centre and Hostel in Limavady. The video was played for the first time in public at the closing conference of the Restorative Practice project. It can be viewed on Co Donegal VEC’s website at http:// donegalvec.ie/?p=6924

Jigsaw Training On 18 and 26 June thirty-two staff from all centres will undertake Jigsaw’s Level 1 training—Understanding Youth Mental Health. Buncrana’s Restorative Practice Work Jigsaw projects across Ireland work with communities to better support young people's mental health and well being. The Jigsaw programme has been developed and supported by Headstrong, the National Pictured below are learners from Buncrana Youthreach recently finishing off their year of Restorative Centre for Youth Mental Health. The Jigsaw project, with its Hub based in Letterkenny, opened its doors Practice work with a residential at Gartan OEC. The day involved training with RP trainer Margaret last September and is extremely busy. Youthreach has been involved in its planning since the start nearly McGarrigle and some team building exercises. two years ago and now sits on its management committee. This universal training is very important as mental health issues affect a huge percentage of the young people attending Youthreach. Gortahork Brighten Up Local Community Gortahork Youthreach, linking with the local tidy towns group, have produced a series of painted murals which depict the origins of the river, through the town with wildlife, past the old woman's cottage and out to the sea. They will be erected by local community workers and will help to enhance the attractiveness of Gortahork. Pictured are staff, Co-ordinator Pat Morgan, Counsellor Terry Monaghan and Resource person Mickey Mc Hugh and trainees, Leanne, Michael, Aidan, Dean, Fiona and Teresa who is with us Good Luck! o n w o r k Good luck to the Buncrana/Glengad football team who will represent the NAYC’s Northern Region (Co experience, beside Donegal) at the Youthreach All-Ireland Football Competition in Athlone on 20 June! the drawings. Mickey Mc Fadden, our Art tutor was the lead Ballyshannon Enter X-Hale Youth Awards person in this Learners at Ballyshannon Youthreach have entered a short film Chemical Reaction about smoking into the project. X-Hale Youth Awards competition. It can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwEJp_D-AUw