Youth Citizenship Awards

The large number of Dublin 15 youth groups honoured at the recent Foróige Youth Citizenship Awards held in the City West Hotel was testament to the vibrant state of community activism among the young people of the area. The awards honour young people who have chosen to become involved in making a difference in their local areas and celebrate and salute their positive actions.

In all, fourteen local groups were recognised as having had a positive influence on their locality with a special surprise being reserved for Huntstown group, Mar Shampla.

Their project was chosen as one of ten projects to take part in filming for a new TV show highlighting the positive contribution of young people to their communities, which will be broadcast on TV3 in the autumn. The two part show will document youth citizenship in action and will give viewers an insight into the great work, energy and challenges facing the young people as part of their involvement with the citizenship programme.

The group organised a charity gig which gave five local groups the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience. Drawing a crowd of over 150 people of all ages, the event raised €2,000 which the group donated to the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Irish Cancer Society.

Two further Huntstown groups, Huntstown Youth Factor and the Foróige Flames, were both awarded a special merit award for their projects which were deemed an outstanding example of citizenship in action.

Huntstown Youth Factor worked with a local Foróige club and organised a charity concert in aid of St. Vincent de Paul. The group took on the responsibility of all aspects of staging the concert including entertainment, a Christmas theme photo booth and a novel idea of producing fake musical instruments to encourage audience participation.

The Foróige Flames project conducted research which highlighted the increased pressure being put on St. Vincent de Paul in the area due to the increased levels of unemployment and the recession. To help alleviate some of the stress for the charity the group organised a toy and food appeal which benefited 70 families in the area. They also organised a Christmas Fun Day in the community centre which raised over €850 for the cause.

Amongst the other recipients of wards were Ongar Youth Club; the 70th Porterstown Scout Group; the ORB ABC group; the Get it Benefit Group and the Kids in Blue, both from Mulhuddart Community Youth Project; two Mountain View groups, the Girls and the Rebels; Blanchardstown Peer Education Project; Foróige Odd Club; the Vibe Consultation Group and Corduff Community Youth Project.

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