About Kinsale Youth Support Services
Kinsale Youth Support Services are a group of local people who have come together to support young people and promote positive mental health in our community.
Kinsale Youth Support Service (KYSS) is an organisation that has been set up with the aim of providing information and support for Young People, their families and the community in general.
Every community in the country is facing issues surrounding Drug Addiction, Alcohol Addiction and Mental Health difficulties. These are issues that are currently facing all young people and our community is no exception.
A group of concerned local people from the Kinsale, Innishannon, Ballinhassig, Clontead, Courceys, and Tracton Abbey areas came together to look at how we could begin to tackle the issues facing our community. It began by gathering professionals (Doctors, Teachers, Gardaí, Business people, voluntary leaders, sports clubs, youth clubs) along with concerned parents and active members within the community. The main committee consists of about 20 members in total. It was felt that by taking an area of about 10,000 houses we would be able to reach members of the community and the families of those attending the local schools.
The meetings began in the summer of 2010 and the initial discussion was on how it was best to support the Young People in the community with these difficult topics. There are many challenges facing Young People in relation to Drugs and Alcohol and where support in regard to Mental Health issues could be made available. These issues are important and it was thought necessary to try and address this.
From this idea it was agreed to consult with a number of second and third level students to ensure that we were addressing the needs of the young people within the community. From these lengthy discussions it was decided that the first approach would be Awareness. That if as an organisation we were able to generate Awareness around the issues facing Young People and members of our community then we could provide them with the information to get support in facing these challenges.
It was decided that we need to take a positive approach and to highlight the ways in which people can help themselves by accessing appropriate supports. It was decided that a three tier approach to generate this Awareness would be important.
The first approach will be a Booklet. This booklet is unique in that it gives a brief description of the various issues that were identified by the young people themselves.
The second approach is an Awareness Day in conjunction with the Launch of the booklet that would allow the young people and members of the community to have actual contact with the support organisations that can help them through the difficulties associated with Mental Health, Drugs and Alcohol. This Awareness Day coincides with World Mental Health Day. It was decided after lengthy discussion that the Awareness Day on the 10th of October would be for the young people linked with the school running from 9:30am to 3:30pm. It was decided that to get the best message across to the general public that a second day would be needed for them. This is to run on the 11th of October from 3pm to 9pm. By splitting the days it allows us to facilitate our message of positive mental health and also how to deal with the issues associated with Drugs, Alcohol and Mental Health.
The final approach was decided on because most of the young people now have such a huge interest in technology and the Internet that a website with more detailed information than could be included in the booklet with direct links to websites and information around the issues facing the young people in our communities.
These three approaches we hope will be the first step in this project, which we hope will allow us to develop supports that can help make a difference within our community.
In May we invited 90 community leaders from the different parishes within the community to a meeting where we discussed our ideas to date with them and took their opinions about what they would like to see at the Awareness Day. We also discussed if they would be willing to distribute the booklets to every household in their areas. We felt that it was important to give these people ownership over the project so that we could ensure that our message would reach as many people in possible.
The information gained from this meeting was compiled and the information was incorporated into the booklet and helped form the ideas about the groups needed to attend the Awareness Day.
We were fortunate in that we were able to secure the backing of the HSE for this very worthwhile project. We also feel that due to the nature of the project that it is something that other communities would be able to develop in their own communities in the future. We feel it is a model that could be easily adopted in other areas. It is only by researching the organisations operating in your local areas that you will be able to best support the people within your community.
We are at present in further discussion with the HSE and community organisations about putting programs in place to support parents and young people in the future to address the issues of Drugs, Alcohol and Mental Health.
Current KYSS Committee
Andrew Sheehan Cathy Kelly Kathleen Meaghar Liz O'Callaghan Dr. Michael Hynes Dr. Tony Foley Margaret Buckley Denis Twomey Jack Walsh Honor O'Brien Carisa lynch Garda Colin O'Mahony Sgt Ian O'Callaghan Sgt Pat Ryan |
Karen O'Mullane Tom Reilly Eddie Kelleher Eddie McCarthy Andrew Lynch Charlie Dolan Julie Cummins Edel Foley Mariel Twomey James O'Mahony |
News & Events
Anxiety in Young Peolpe
Robert O'Connell from Out and About is presenting a talk in our series of `Minding Young Peoples Mental Health` focusing on Anxiety in Young People. Roberts talk will take place on 16th May at 8pm in the Trident Hotel, Kinsale
Latest Blog
Minding Young Peoples Mental Health
Posted : 10th March 2012
Wristband Slogan Competition - €100 up for grabs!
Posted : 10th January 2012
A Community working together: A real KYSS of life
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