Promoting Youth Development

As a youth organisation the YMCA exists to meet the needs of young people in communities across the island of Ireland. As the needs of young people change so the services and programmes that the YMCA offer must change and evolve to meet these needs.

Special Report: YMCA Cobh STEP Programme Community Garden Project

What Happened?

Collaborative project in the Bible garden with the Sisters at St. Benedict's Priory, Cobh. A large section of the Bible garden was overgrown and derelict. The area of the garden was inaccessible as it was completely overgrown and covered in litter.

Who was Involved?

This was an outdoor project during the pandemic between STEP Cobh, Mother Catherine, the sisters of the priory and the Bible garden volunteers. 10 young people of STEP Cobh with guidance from the co-ordinator and their tutor got involved each week to bring an allocated area of the Bible garden back to life. The project took over 6 months to complete and the young people committed themselves to physical outdoor work regardless of the weather.

Why did It Matter?

The young people took part in something that was completely alien to them, as it was outdoors, collaborative and physical. They took complete ownership of the project and fully immersed themselves in the work to ensure its success. On reflection there was huge learning for those who fully participated and also for one particular individual who did not not fully engage in the work. Projects are integrated into QQI modules and as part of this the whole group met to discuss their participation and after sharing they realised their journey from the initial stages to completion and how they progressed in the social aspects by engaging with new people, the physical aspect and the joyus aspect. The young people shared their sense of achievement having created a positive work environment through the use of music, food and fun and by working together as a cohesive team.

The results were clearly measurable: The transformation of the area in the Bible garden, the commitment of the young people and the joy they had in doing it. Even for the one young person who didn’t fully engage there was learning and personal growth. This young person was commended for sharing his feelings in an open, honest and heartfelt way to his team members. The Bible garden was set in a completely different environment outside of the classroom and this facilitated real ‘ youth work’ between staff and students. Relationships were built with Mother Catherine, the sisters and the other Bible garden volunteers. In the beginning there was resistance to have the YMCA young people involved in project work at the garden but this developed into a more healthy respectful relationship. Attitudes of others changed over time due to the hard work and dedication of the young people, their standing was elevated within the Cobh community. The young people developed their social, vocational, environmental and especially their team working skills. This was a valuable project in many ways and the young people engaged in sectors of the community that they normally wouldn't engage in, they each developed personally and this section of the garden is now open to the public.