L-R: Caoimhe Mac Dermott from Bryson Care pictured with firmus energy local energy advisor, David Ramsey and Niall Cooke from Include Youth.
The Antrim-based energy company made a financial donation to Include Youth following a nomination from Bryson Care.
The financial assistance will help fund the last of the group’s busy December activities before it starts to wind down for this year’s festive period.
Located in the Queen Street area of the city, Include Youth provides a wide range of programmes for young people that are designed to open up new opportunities through support and training.
On Monday, representatives and members from Include Youth met firmus energy staff before enjoying an adventurous Christmas outing at Oakfire Adventures.
In January, firmus energy’s advisors will visit Include Youth’s offices in their mobile ‘Energy Saving’ van to deliver a workshop on useful energy saving tips.
Speaking about firmus energy’s newly formed relationship with Include Youth, energy advisor David Ramsey said:
“We all appreciate just how important it is to give young people the best chance in life – especially when it comes to offering careers advice and support with their education and studies.
“It has been great for firmus energy to contribute positively to Include Youth’s fantastic work, ensuring the time young people spend at its programmes are both fun and beneficial.
“We recently launched our new energy saving van which we can take to community groups, schools and businesses across our network to help consumers save money and help the environment by using energy more efficiently.
“If any other organisations or community groups feel they would benefit from visiting our energy saving van we would love to hear from them.”
Include Youth works with 16- to 21-year-olds who’ve been assessed as being unable to participate in mainstream training and employment opportunities.
Include Youth does this by providing them with a supported work placement and essential skills, mentoring and also personal development.
Accredited and non-accredited training courses and experimental learning are also offered, with programming available to 16- to 24-year-olds not currently in education, employment, or training.
Sheila Stalker, Senior Social Worker at Include Youth, said: “The young people are incredibly dedicated to the programme, and we are delighted that this generous donation from firmus energy allowed the young people to enjoy a festive experience at Oakfire Adventures.
“We also look forward to working with them in the new year so they can supplement our programme with additional information on energy conservation and efficiency in the home.
“Taking the group away for adventure activities is a lovely way for them to celebrate all they have accomplished this year.
“Thanks to firmus energy and Bryson Care for the support.”
firmus energy was introduced to Include Youth by Bryson Care as the latter provides various social work placements there throughout the year.
Caoimhe MacDermott – Assistant Director of Social Work Services at Bryson Care – said the partnership between Bryson Care and Include Youth is integral to shaping social work placements in the city.
“The staff at Include Youth work to provide social work students with excellent placements that enable them to hear and listen to Experts by Experience and add to their learning journey.
“We work together to ensure social work students have a wide range of diverse learning experiences so that they get a much better understanding of the core issues facing young people today.
“Issues such as homelessness, financial pressures, mental health, and addiction can all present barriers to employment, education and training but the valuable work of Include Youth aims to help our young people remove those barriers.”
Tags: