‘A little family’ at the local youth club

The Cootehill Youth Club provides a space in the town for young people to come together to have the craic, try new activities, get to know people and support one another.

From going race car driving to providing a hub for young people to grieve the loss of a friend, the club has supported Cootehill’s youth through various stages. The voluntary organisation supports young people from ages 10-18 years, with three different groups meeting weekly.

Established in 2023, Volunteer Jean Kirwan told the Celt that the group is open to all young people. She also described how they are constantly on the look out for new volunteers to help out and encouraged anybody interested to get in touch.

“It’s a place where children can come, relax and meet with other children. We take them out on trips. We go bowling, race car driving, we also went to that hideous horrible place for Halloween,” she laughed, adding that the Farmaphobia experience “scared the life out of me”.

“But they loved it,” Jean added, which is really all that matters to the volunteers.

They’ve also got the participants involved in fundraising for various causes, for example car washing and they also organised their own Darkness Into Light walk.

“It’s a very community-based youth club, it’s very active in the town.

“They make the decisions and we work with them.”

To get involved as a volunteer or as a participant, you can contact the Cootehill Youth Club Facebook page.

“Once you start you enjoy it... It’s more than just a youth group, it’s like a little family.”