Foróige is seeking Galwegians to take part in Big Brother Big Sister, an internationally recognised youth mentoring programme.
Big Brother Big Sister seeks to form supportive friendships between a young person and a caring adult volunteer. Young people between 10 and 18, are referred through the HSE services, schools, Gardaí, parents, youth projects, and other support services for young people.
They are matched with an adult based on common interests and complementary personalities. The match meet once a week and the initial commitment is for one year. The idea is that a friendship will form to support the positive development of the young person.
The programme was evaluated by the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, NUI Galway, over a two year period. The findings show that having a big brother/big sister in their life is significantly improving young people’s emotional well-being; they are happier in themselves, calmer, more confident and more hopeful about their future. The findings also show improvements in young people’s relationships with their peers, siblings, and parents.
Big Brother Graham Clarke and his Little Brother Noel Joyce have been matched in Galway for almost three years now. They have been spending hours working on a project called The Irish Lego Man in Space. They intend to send a Lego man into the outer reaches of the Earth’s atmosphere by attaching a plastic figurine to a helium filled balloon. The journey into space and back will captured on camera.
Graham and Noel hope that it will soar to more than double the height of a commercial jet’s cruising altitude – some 24km into the upper atmosphere from where the Earth’s curvature can be seen. In order to do this they will attach a GPS receiver to the styro-foam box carrying the cameras and Lego-man.
Graham and Noel will be creating a Fund:It video in July in order to raise €1,000 to fund the project. A Facebook page will be set up for the launch of the Lego man which is expected to take place towards the end of the summer..
There is a high number of young people on a waiting for the service in Galway and volunteers to be a ‘big brother’ or ‘big sister’ are needed. For more information contact Andrea Gallagher on 087 - 7996268 or see www.foroige.ie/bbbs
