CEO visit to Caw Youth Centre
This evening, EA CEO Richard Pengelly joined us in Caw Youth Centre, to meet with the staff team and hear more about the work of our local and regional teams based there.
The visit which was hosted by Senior Youth Officer for Derry and Strabane, Deborah Cross, supported by Ross from FLARE, Chris, Kerrie, Erin and Eddie, Caw YC. The evening started with a visit to the FLARE OK Cáfe.
The FLARE OK Café consisted of a drop-in style session. The café focussed on emotional health & wellbeing, with activities chosen to help young people regulate their emotions.
FLARE have also been working with some keen young gardeners honed their green finger skills at the outdoor planters, in a practice which encourages mindfulness and promotes the development of regulation skills and teamwork.
During the visit, Richard got to meet young people in the sensory room, where several members relaxed whilst developing peer connections in a safe space fostering a sense of community, belonging and unconditional support, allowing young people to connect with peers that may be going through similar experiences.
Peer support can be empowering, helping to forge lifelong positive friendships and help combat feelings of isolation.
Richard was able to speak with some of our senior youth volunteers about the various EA opportunities which they have had the opportunity to participate in.
These include Horizons, Small Grants, TBUC, Local Voice, Youth Voice as well as future progressive leadership opportunities/ pathways available to them such as the LYNC Programme and the Youth Support Worker qualification.
The emphasis of collaborative working was threaded through the visit, discussing examples of collaborative work with other local voluntary youth sector providers and partnership working with groups such as Caw Nelson Drive Action Group, ensuring youth work is firmly embedded in communities.
The evening concluded with a few intense games of chess taking place, winners not yet to be announced, let’s just say it wasn’t a staff member who called checkmate, well done Ryan, future chess champion.
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