Young women from border counties told ‘Own Your Own Future’ in business
OVER FIFTY young women aged 16 -25 from Louth and the border counties, gathered for a special workshop designed to encourage them to consider business ventures as possible future career opportunities.
The ‘ Own Your Own Future’ workshop, which was organised by Bridget Kilrane of the New Beginnings PYDP project in conjunction with the other PYDP projects in the border area, brought together participants in eight projects that are funded through the International Fund for Ireland’s Personal Youth Development Programme (PYDP). The Programme aims to help young people build and develop life skills that foster good relations, build confidence and resilience and make them more employable.
Participants sampled bitesize sessions of what a career could look like across a wide range of disciplines including beauty therapy, childcare, fashion design, hairdressing and health and fitness. Speaking at the event, Mr Paddy Harte Board Member, International Fund for Ireland said: ‘In some communities, there is disillusionment and a sense that traditional youth efforts are not effective in engaging with young people or the complex and polarising issues that they face. Our PYDP programme is designed for those people who feel let down or left behind.
‘ The workshop is designed to show young women the diverse range of employment opportunities that exist within their own counties, including within the digital economy, and to help give them confidence and self-belief and, most of all, to inspire them to reach their true potential.’
In the past year 1,158 young people have taken part, with 431 progressing to education and training, receiving a combined 1,675 accreditations, with 153 securing employment.