Personal challenges lead to huge rewards

Personal challenges are one of the main ingredients in the vibrant mix that is Gaisce - the President's Award, which celebrates its silver anniversary this year. The personal part is particularly important, says Mary Yore, the regional development office for the north east: "It involves everybody, regardless of ability, you set your own personal goals and once you achieve them you get your award," said Mary. "I could meet 20 young people today, all of them different, and they can all do the award. Gaisce is flexible... that's why PALs (President Award Leaders) are so important. They know the young people, they know what they're capable of, they know how to stretch and challenge them." Mary says that as a development officer she relies heavily on the PALs, who are an important part of the team. "They're my link to the young people," she explained. Mary's first contact with Gaisce was when she was a schoolgirl at the convent in Carrickmacross and the executive director at the time, John Murphy from Cork, was there telling the students about it. Monaghan was one of the venues selected for that pilot project in 1985; since then more than 300,000 have participated in Gaisce, and this year it has attracted 16,000 young people, the highest number in its history. In Cavan, Gaisce mainly operates through second level schools, plus Youth Reach in Cavan town and Kingscourt, the cycling club in Swanlinbar and Foróige at Tullacmongan. The idea is to make it accessible to many as 15 to 25-year-olds as possible, another reason the nationwide network of more than 800 volunteer PALs (about 20 in Cavan) is so important. The development officers encourage more groups and clubs to get involved: "If there's anybody that's working with a youth group, we would be interested in linking up with them to operate the award within their clubs," said Mary. "The great thing about Gaisce is the young people are doing something they enjoy, and they can use their own clubs as part of their community involvement. It's a win-win; the club holds on to the young people, the young people are doing activities they enjoy and getting recognition for that. "It's about trying new things, there's a variety of activities to try, we always encourage them to take on something new... if they're already playing piano or playing sport, that's a challenge too. Stickability is one of our key terms, if you can stick at something at a young age, it's good training for the rest of your life. They're all important things to learn at young age... getting out of your comfort zone and trying new things - that's how we learn what we enjoy doing." Mary paid tribute to John Halton from Bailieboro, who received his gold award in 2000 with his PAL Patricia Sheridan at Bailieboro Community School. John, who died this year, was working with a CE scheme in 1998 when Mary went to talk about Gaisce. "His eyes lit up," she remembers, "he was the only one that wanted to do it." John's projects included setting up and maintaining school and community websites, weight training and an exploration of Bailieboro to survey how accessible it was for wheelchair users. (He compiled a report and submitted it to the county council.) John is an example of Gaisce's greatest strength - its inclusivity - something that will stand to it as it continues to develop and attract more and more young people and volunteer leaders. The feedback Mary Yore has received from some of the guests who present awards at the twice yearly ceremonies is also telling. People like Sean Gallagher, Hector Ó hEochagáin, Mark Little, Dáithí O'Shea, Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh, Michael Lester, Ray D'Arcy and Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh have attended over the years, and Mary says, always love the night, especially when they see what's involved. Ashling Conaty, the PAL with the Foróige 365 Garda Youth Diversion Project based in Tullacmongan, became interested in Gaisce though colleagues in the area of youth work. "The kids were doing a lot of the stuff and interested in learning new skills," said Ashling. "They were doing it but had no recognition for it, Gaisce is a way to recognise them." Four young men in Ashling's group finished the bronze this year - Fintan Smith, Ryan Murray, Jason Jermyn and Ryan O'Rourke. Their skills were FAI coaching, (training a team of underage footballers in the area), driving theory, going to the 365 every week (community involvement) and their expedition was a two-day, 23km mountain hike with guides from Donegal Adventure Centre. This was Ashling's first Gaisce group: "It's been very, very good," she said. "It's hard to motivate them all the time, but we got there. We had one day a week when we sat and discussed Gaisce and there was a display of their record on the walls... if they weren't doing well they could see for themselves without me putting the pressure on them. I tried to encourage self motivation, when they see it for themselves they react differently to it." Has she seen changes in the individuals? "Their self confidence definitely improved, there's been some relationship building among the four of them, they're more mature, more respect, more time for each other and they've become friends." The lads turn 18 this summer, as they finish the 365 project, and two have agreed to go back as volunteers. One is "talking about doing the silver award", four girls are doing the bronze from September, and another group of boys are ready to start in January. See gaisce.ie, and facebook.