Kerry Diocesan Youth Service (KDYS)

For over thirty years, Kerry Diocesan Youth Service (KDYS) has provided recreational and educational opportunities for young people throughout County Kerry.

Here is an outline of the programs

A Model Programme
Connect Magazine visited the founding site in Killarney where KDYS began in a small gate lodge of the local Diocesan Secondary School. Today in Killarney the KDYS Centre is a large operation housed in a Former Franciscan Friary which sits atop a hill in the Centre of Killarney town. This former Franciscan Novitiate College, built in 1860, has been completely transformed into a state of the art Centre for young people and while it boasts many contemporary facilities for today’s needs the tradition of this building in providing an invaluable support to young people in the region continues into a third century.

The reach and success of KDYS now goes beyond Killarney where the first Centre is located. Thanks to help and guidance from KDYS, the neighboring area of Ballyspillane now has its own volunteers running a similar programme. “Our goal is always to establish projects which can be sustained within the local community” says Tim “it’s unfair to simply start things, particularly in rural areas, without the capacity to keep them going. So we truly focus on quality and go slow if need be.”

Youth Cafés
KDYS has created Youth Cafés, which provide safe, comfortable places in which young people can socialise in a drug- and alcohol-free environment. Activities in the Youth Cafés include youth band performances, karaoke sessions, sport match parties, arts programs, mentoring programs and youth empowerment sessions. The Youth Cafés have opened with great success in Killarney, Tralee and Listowel, and have developed specific activities and interventions in response to the particular needs of each of these communities. KDYS aims to open additional Youth Cafés in the communities of Castleisland, Kenmare, Killorglin, Caherciveen and Ballybunion, where surveys have shown that 66% of young people (12-17) believed that young people in their communities did not have a safe, fun place to socialise with their friends.

We visited the Youth Café space in Killarney that is funded directly by The Ireland Funds. It is a bright and colorful place, filled with murals and lit by big, sun-filled windows. On a Saturday night upwards of 70 teenagers stop by for music and supervised socialising in this space of safety and positive influence. But the room serves other purposes as well; during the week it is used for forums on youth issues as well as serving as a centre for literacy training.

In addition to meeting their social needs, young people attending Youth Cafés have access to trained Youth Workers, who are on-site to advise participants or offer information. Young people experiencing stress at school, problems at home, peer pressure or questions about career paths can discuss these issues with a trained Youth Worker in a confidential setting. “Our counselors move throughout the entire space that the kids occupy” says Tim “It’s never ‘come into my office’ because the whole space becomes their office.”

Music Space
In 2003 KDYS began providing rehearsal space, funded in part by The Ireland Funds, for young musicians. The musical equipment is owned by KDYS and local children can use quality instruments they would otherwise not have access to. “The first time we offered use of the instruments we had twenty ‘bands’ ask to use the space!” says Tim “We now work with the Killarney Music Festival and have kids from KDYS open for larger acts. We find the music programme is a great incentive to reach the older 15-16 year olds who can be self conscious about participating.”

Childcare
In 2001 KDYS established a daycare space for children in Killarney. Marian O’Brien, the Childcare Coordinator shared that at that time young parents had few resources and daycare was often prohibitive in cost. Marian shared seven years later, a point of pride for the KDYS programme is that the quality of care is recognised by the community and draws paying families as well as those whose costs are subsidised. As a result, the daycare is 50/50 in terms of integrating children from lower-income families with those who can pay the full cost. Parenting courses are also offered so that the excellent care these small children receive at the Centre can extend to their home life.

Ensuring Education
Over the years, KDYS has identified a need to ensure that early leave-takers do not slip through the cracks. There are many reasons why a student might drop out from school ranging from learning disabilities to social issues. KDYS’ YouthReach programme provides classroom space for these students where they can receive individual attention from top teachers. Over the last decade the service has formed collaborative partnerships with three statutory organisations: Kerry Education Service, FAS and the Gardaí for the provision of an integrated approach in response to the needs of young people at risk of leaving school or involvement in crime. These include four Youthreach Programmes in partnership with the Kerry Education Service (VEC), A Youth Education and Mentor Programme in partnership with FAS and two Garda Special Projects in partnership with the Gardaí.

Linda O’Caroll, a YouthReach resource worker now in her fifth year with KDYS once worked at a mainstream school. “Teachers at KDYS here receive so much support and specialised training; it is wonderful to work in a space that provides such resources for children. Two girls from the Traveller Community came through our programme and are now nurses at the local hospital. They come back often and the younger children really look up to them and see the possibilities that come from getting their education.”

Structure and Challenge
As we walk the enormous space that once housed Franciscan monks, it becomes apparent that the sheer upkeep of the infrastructure is a necessary focus for the Centre. The transformation from monastery to youth centre is impressive and the building now houses classrooms, day-care and large gathering spaces that serve the community. “A building of this scale represents a huge ongoing investment into the community” says Tim. “The assistance we have received from The Ireland Funds has been significant and we look forward to building on the success to date through expanding the services with a plan to develop the top two floors of the Youth Centre.”