Kingscourt Youthreach students lend helping hand to homeless
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Each hygiene pack contains this personal message from the learners at Kingscourt Youth Reach. Alex Coleman.Image 2 of 3
Sonya McMahon, founder Help Our Homeless and Maggie Regan, DkIT student, with some of the hygiene packs funded with the proceeds from a Kingscourt Youth Reach coffee morning. The hygiene packs will be handed out to the homeless on Sonya’s trip to Dublin. Alex Coleman.Image 3 of 3
The Kingscourt Youth Reach students loading up the Help Our Homeless van with the hygiene packs, which they funded thanks to a recently held coffee morning. Alex Coleman.Youthreach students in Kingscourt raised money recently to put together hygiene packs to distribute to homeless people on the streets in Dublin.
They were guided by youth worker, Maggie Regan, who has been on placement with the training centre since January. A third year student in Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT), Maggie is studying for her Bachelor of Arts degree in community youth work.
She explained how the project developed.
“Part of the placement was to run a programme with the young people on a chosen topic.
“I chose to do it on homelessness in Ireland and I know Sonya fairly well from the charity ‘Help Our Homeless’, which is also based in Kingscourt,” begins Maggie.
“The work they do is incredible,” she continues.
Maggie said the aim of the programme was two-fold - to support the charity and the important work it does, while also promoting the local YouthReach facility and the young people who attend it.
She feels the Youthreach programme is most worthwhile.
“There is so much stigma around Youthreach and the students who attend it. These young people are amazing and did everything I asked of them,” praised Maggie.
They hosted a coffee morning on April 1 and raised a good sum of money, which helped buy supplies for the hygiene packs, which were presented to Sonya last week for distribution.
Fourteen students were involved in the project and Maggie also acknowledged the support of Micheal Murphy, Youthreach co-ordinator.
A mature student, Maggie went back to education in 2018 - firstly attending Cavan institute for one year and then progressing to a four-year honours degree in Community Youth Work in DKIT.
“I lost my son at age of 28 to drugs overdose in February 2018 and this has what pushed me on,” revealed Maggie.