Bray Youth Service gets a grant of over €20,000

BRAY Youth Service has been allocated a sum of €20,299,03 under the latest round of capital funding for youth projects and services.

This was part of a total of €2.3 million announced last week by the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration, Roderic O’Gorman.

The Bray organisation applied for the funding for outdoor sports equipment and a projector for their sensory room.

While the main focus of the service is to work with disadvantaged young people, their Youth Information Service is for all young people in County Wicklow. They are based in two locations in Bray (Herbert Rd and Adelaide Rd) and runs a number of targeted projects around the county. The Seomra Youth Centre provides drop-in and some group work (2nd level up to age 21). They also run an LGBT support group (13-18years). Some of their other activities include Adventure Sports Projects, Drugs Education, Garda Youth Diversion Projects and MindOut. Their counselling service (12-18 year olds living or attending school in the Bray area) is currently not running but will be resumed as soon as possible. All services are free.

They were one of 147 targeted staff-led youth projects/services and 25 national youth organisations across the country to receive grants.

The grants provide for youth services to purchase and replace essential equipment to support the running of their services for young people and for national youth organisations to provide innovative models of safe online communication for staff and with young people.

The sixteen Education and Training Boards have supported local youth projects throughout the crisis and the Minister acknowledged their diligent work in processing and assessing applications for capital funding from local youth services.

Commenting on the awarding of the funding, Minister O’Gorman said: ‘I am delighted to be announcing these capital grants. Throughout the Covid-19 restrictions, youth services adapted, moved online and continued supporting young people’s well-being and social connections. The role these services play in our communities cannot be overstated. ‘ The grants announced today are part of the Government’s commitment to support and enhance youth services right across the country. Young people are facing unique and significant challenges this year, and helping them overcome these challenges is a key priority for the Government.’ Youth services were invited by their Education and Training Board to apply for support.