‘It’s like a friend and a support network’

SUPPORT YETI aim to help young people find meaningful employment

The Youth Education Training Initiative (YETI) is calling all Cavan young people who are looking for employment to get in touch.

Operated and managed by Foróige, it is aimed at 16-25 year olds who are not currently employed.

It helps young people develop new skills with a focus on goal setting, providing a range of courses to enhance employability.

Emma McCrudden and Edel Cox are the faces of YETI Cavan, who have relocated their services from Bridge Street to Tullacmongan Resource Centre.

YETI was designed to allow people to “consciously and actively” open their own doors to employment opportunities.

In the “heart of the community” they provide a drop-in centre for young people who may be worried about their future.

“It is voluntary and is open to young people who may have disengaged from the formal education training system,” said Emma, who is a youth worker with Foróige.

Having just graduated from college after studying health promotion and public health, Emma understands finding a career path can be a major source of stress for young people.

“It’s more than just education and employment,” Emma emphasised.

“We’re working with developing their skills, coming into adolescence and how to support themselves.

“Just growing up,” she said.

The Monaghan woman explained how the project helps young people.

“When a young person comes into us we do their goal setting, what they’re interested in and then job match or course match them to their interests.”

Workshops

The programme sets young people up for work with CV enhancement and interview preparation workshops taking place. Good Relations Training is offered to help people build up good working relationships while Driver Theory Training is provided to help participants get out on the road, ticking another box on their CV.

A range of taster, part time, and full time courses are offered in conjunction with Cavan and Monaghan Education Training Board (CMETB). Emma gave examples of courses undertaken in the past with participants studying psychology and sociology, construction, office administration, hospitality, sports and fitness and security among others.

The YETI works closely with the local community employment scheme with apprenticeships also available.

“We are committed to finding potential employers in the local Cavan area and job matching each of our young people to their ideal application,” Emma said.

On the completion of courses with the local ETB, many students find employment in the health sector and childcare.

“We’re very fortunate that in Tullacmongan we actually have a crèche down below us,” Emma said of the opportunities available.

She explained “especially during the pandemic” a lot of people went on to become health care workers.

“They were front line workers and they had opportunities in places such as nursing homes.”

Comfortable

Recently, the government introduced a new Pathways to Work programme which was designed to boost employment after the pandemic.

The girls plan to use this initiative to its full potential with the organisation noticing a lot of young people presenting to the centre with “heightened levels of anxiety” due to Covid 19.

“We are taking in referrals every day,” Emma detailed, explaining ‘Recharge the Batteries’ was introduced to focus on the mental health of the young people.

“This workshop focuses on personal development and confidence building,” she said.

They expect a further intake of young people come September.

“A lot of young people are quite anxious and nervous when they first come in so it might just take a few initial sessions to build that relationship up.”

The youth worker explained it “just takes time” for young people to feel comfortable.

“We are committed at YETI and we work around the young people,” she said, mentioning they provide an outreach service, going to the young person’s home if they prefer.

“We work it around them and what suits the young people so it makes them more encouraged to come into us.”

Grow

Emma has been working on the project since May and has found the experience very rewarding so far.

“It just gives me great happiness to see young people grow and see their confidence grow,” she said.

She has noticed a lot of young people “coming out of their shells” because of the programme.

There is currently a group of eight people who are “finding their purpose and working towards their goals.”

“They definitely all have shown great confidence in themselves compared to when they first came into us,” Emma said.

The programme does not run for a set time, it is individual to each person how long they need to spend with YETI, with many people remaining on the programme for up to two years.

“It just depends on how the young person is progressing with themselves,” she said.

Emma said “to be that support” and “empowering the young people” means everything to her.

“It’s just been great and all the young people have just made my first job amazing,” she praised.

“I couldn’t ask for a better group.”

With a Cavan presence since 2018, the programme is funded by the International Fund for Ireland (IFI). Emma thanked the IFI for their support, particularly Katherine Ryan.

She also said “a massive massive thank you” to Patricia Walsh who allows them to use the Tullacmongan facility for their vital work.

“Myself and Edel just love working on the project,” she said, adding that they are looking forward to taking more young people in.