Young SVP Day
The Society of St Vincent de Paul Mid-West hosted their second Young SVP Day in Thomond Park last Wednesday.
Young SVP is a youth development programme which aims to provide opportunities for young people to engage in social action in their own communities, encouraging personal and social development. It allows students to learn new skills, develop their understanding of social justice, give back to their community and gain experience of youth led social action.
The programmed was first introduced in the Region last school year, and it has already doubled in size with more than 800 students across Limerick, Clare, Tipperary and Offaly taking part.
This was a fantastic opportunity to acknowledge all the young people in our communities who selflessly give of their time and talents to help others through the Young SVP programme.
During the day, the young volunteers not only inspired each other, but also learned and shared advice on how to plan their activities and ensure they have impact. Each group had a stand where they interacted with others, and some groups were also asked to present one of their projects on stage, to share tips & tricks with others who might never have done such a project.
We have much to be proud of in Co.Tipperary, as we had six groups representing all parts of our county.
The group from Nenagh College organised a clothes drive in aid of SVP charity shop, Vincent’s. They have also been running a paired reading programme with the local primary school where they meet students and read together every Friday afternoon.
Colaiste Mhuire Co-Ed from Thurles had a fantastic combination of an educational and direct-aid project. They also decided to support Vincent’s, and to raise awareness in the school and encourage their fellow students to support their cause, they prepared and delivered classes on SVP and social justice.
Presentation Secondary School from Ballingarry have been hard at work all year, organising the Giving Tree to provide Christmas presents to their community. They also wanted to reach out to the elderly and organised a tea and coffee morning in their school which was a huge success.
St Anne’s Secondary School from Tipp Town started their conference a few months ago and have been hard at work since. In a short space of time they organised a bake sale and are now very busy working on their campaign and donation. They are focusing on the cost of education, wishing to raise awareness of the costs parents have when sending children to school, and also to support someone in their pursuit of education by donating to SVP.
Presentation Secondary School from Clonmel has been running a food appeal and supporting SVP for many years. Last year they started a conference which continued strong this year working on an education project about Women’s rights. They did research on the topic and prepared a lecture and workshop for students in their school. During the Young SVP Day, they were asked to present this project on stage and give advice to others who might want to do something similar.
CBS Highschool Clonmel continued with their traditional Christmas food appeal, and also had a project focused on education. Their project was around addiction and support services that exist in their community. After doing their research they delivered classes for students in their school.
This year the Loreto Secondary School Clonmel continued strong with their conference. During the year they’ve been raising awareness of SVP and they organised a bake-sale the proceeds of which will be donated to SVP. During the Youth Day they engaged with other students encouraging them to take part in karaoke organised at their display stand.
During the day the students were also joined by SVP members who were impressed and inspired by all the work that has been done already. As the event was organised mid-year, there is still plenty of time for all groups to build on existing or work on new projects, as well as for other groups to come on board if they are interested.