My Streets tours ready to be your personal guide

Drogheda’s successful My Streets project is looking forward to a busy period during the forthcoming Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann.

The initiative, which sees people who have used the services of Drogheda Homeless Aid being trained up to give guided tours of the town, is gearing up to lay on extra tours during the week-long festival.

“We have been training up our guides in recent weeks to focus more on traditional music and the rich heritage we have here in the town, so we can share it with visitors and locals alike,” says Austin Campbell, one of the coordinators of the project. “There are so many different characters connected to Drogheda and we are also seeing a renaissance of traditional music and storytelling in the town, so we will be bringing that to those who come on our tours.”

Started in 2014, ‘ My Streets’ allows individuals who have experienced homelessness to become walking tour guides of ‘ their’ town through training and support. The unique tours provide a mixture of local history and personal insight from a guide who has experienced the streets of their town first hand. “It started as an idea between Drogheda Civic Trust and Drogheda Homeless Aid four years ago, and it has become so successful now, we became a proper company last year,” explains Austin, who works in the aid shelter.

“We have had 28 through the training programme, who have guided 9,000 people, and over 50% of our guides go on to further employment.”

The tours are currently on demand, but they are expecting a lot of interest during the Fleadh. “Our guides have had extra presentation skills training and have worked with comedians to improve their humour and confidence, so the experience is even better for the customers,” explains Austin. “We were on Today with Sean O’Rourke on RTE 1 two weeks ago, and John Creedon came down last week to interview us for his televison programme “The Road Less Travelled” which will focus on Drogheda on Sunday 6th August at 6.30pm too, so we are really getting our message out there.”

One of My Streets proudest endorcements was from Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy of Focus Ireland who is patron of the programme.

“This is a great new project that will help to breakdown stereotypes around people who are homeless, and help people who are homeless to secure housing and move on by giving them more confidence and skills enhancement,” said Sr Stan. There are now plans to bring the tours to the streets of Dublin and possibly other towns and cities around Ireland.

The cost is just €5 per head, and tours can be run at specific times if people want to contact www.mystreetsireland.com or Austin.Campbell@gmail.com.