After the last few years with covid and lockdowns, it has become apparent that more and more young people are requiring medium to longer term counselling due to the complexity of the issues or challenges they are facing in their lives.
Claddagh Credit Union, having seen this change, has worked with No 4 Youth Service for the last year as part of three-year partnership as a result.
“No.4 Youth Service are a charity we had worked with previously and we knew the tremendous resources they offer to younger people so we sat down with the team to see how we could help,” said Ted Coyle, Deputy CEO of Claddagh Credit Union.
No 4 Youth Service provides a range of supports for young people aged 13-25 years in areas of Education, Physical and Mental Health, Homelessness Prevention and Employability. The demands on their service in the community continue to be many. The project that the credit union is working with the charity on is based on providing additional counselling hours to the young people that use their services.
The counselling support that the charity currently provides is for young people in Galway City and County who may not otherwise be in a financial position to access therapy. A particular strength of the service is that it is incorporated in the network of youth specialist supports and programmes provided by No.4 Youth Service . Supports include Youth Work, Careers Guidance, Learning Support and Homelessness Prevention.
The counselling services can be availed of by young people aged between 15 and 25 years. It is a free, (€5 donation ) community-based youth counselling service delivered by qualified and accredited counsellors. The service is person centred and needs led in that a young person can avail of both short, medium and longer term support depending on their particular requirements. The service offers a youth friendly and accessible environment to young people. Strong links are maintained with groups and individuals working with young people in the community.
In the first 6 months of 2023 No.4 Youth Service has made 558 counselling sessions available to 67 young people. There is an ever-increasing demand for the service with 35 young people currently on a waiting list to see a counsellor. The need for medium to longer term counselling is evident for the young people availing of the support. Claddagh Credit Union will help fund additional counselling hours through the charity by means of continued financial support in an effort to ease the pressure building on this precious resource.
Find out more about this hard-working charity or make a donation at www.no4.ie Claddagh Credit Union, your loyal financial partner.
