Foroige groups honoured

YOUNG People from Louth excelled in the Foróige Youth Citizenship awards recently.

At the event FYI (Foróige Youth Innovators) from Louth presented their work on the ‘Mental Health’ campaign aimed at promoting positive mental health in their community.

Dillonstown Foróige Club realised that promoting positive mental health in young people was an important issue in the community. They researched the issue, created motivational posters and promoted the campaign on social media.

A club spokesman explained: ‘ They discovered that one of the biggest issues was a lack of positive mental health promotion. Some group members had attended a talk from Aware and they spoke with other experts in the area.’

He added that after carrying out an initial awareness and needs analysis within the community, the young people decided on a ‘Community Hearts Project’.

‘ They made a collection of heart and star shapes, which provided information on mental health and the importance of positive thinking. They then distributed them to members of the local community.’

The group plans to extend the project into local schools and to create a display in the school hall that will be open to the community.

In a separate project, Louth Foróige Youth Innovators also launched a ‘food drive’ for local homeless charities.

After observation and engagement with local people, the group discovered that homelessness was a big issue in their community. They researched the services available in the area and decided to organise a food drive for Drogheda Women’s Aid, and Drogheda Homeless Shelter.