A Year With Solas@School

Solas@School is made up of three parts; Solas College, Solas Business and Solas Sports. This particular programme is run in conjunction with local schools and our aim is to keep children interested in education and to start them thinking more about their future and the different possibilities.  By providing fun in-school activities, we believe this can help increase student attendance and participation in school.

So with the summer holidays now in full swing, we've decided to take a look back over our year with Solas@School!

Solas College got involved in College Awareness Week at the end of November which involved going in to 8 primary schools to have an interactive classroom discussion about 3rd level education. Six of these schools also went on a trip to Trinity College Dublin where, after an introductory talk, they completed a treasure hunt style quiz and had a tour of the college. All of these activities are based around breaking down the perceived barriers some of these children may have towards going on to 3rd level education.

There were 9 primary schools and 1 secondary school involved in Solas Business this year, as well as 9 different business. Solas Business is our 'Dragon's Den' style programme where a group of young people are paired with a business mentor to come up with a new product or idea which they then pitch to the judges. The overall winners at the Community Final were St Audeons primary school who came up with 'The BullyBug', which was a small pocket-sized gadget to stop bullying by having a hidden camera and microphone to monitor a child's surrounding and make them feel safer. All of the ideas on the day were amazing and we were astounded by the confidence shown by all of the children while carrying out their pitch in front of a crowd of over 190 people, it can't have been easy!

Solas Sport was ongoing throughout the year with weekly sports sessions happening in 8 different primary schools. To mark the end of the year, we hosted a Tag Rugby Blitz where the children from all 8 schools and some of our corporate volunteers from Google, WebSummit, Savills and Maples & Calder gathered in Terenure Rugby Club for a day of sports and fun. With over 250 people there it was a great day!

It has been a great year and to top it all off , the boys from Francis Street CBS came down to The Yard on their last week in school to read out some Thank You letters they had written for us. We would just like to say how touched we are by their kind words, you're a great bunch! Check out their lovely letters below.

One of our Youth Cultivators, Amy Ryan, said:

"We are so incredibly proud of all the young people graduating from 6th class this year and we have really loved every minute of working with them. We wish you all the best of luck in secondary school, we know you'll be fantastic!"

Sporting Proud Triathlon

Solas Project is delighted to have been chosen as one of three children's charities to be involved in the Sporting Proud Triathlon this year on September 5th. This event caters for all fitness levels and is sure to be a great day out - whether this is your first triathlon or your 100th! 

When you choose Solas Project as your charity of choice, we are guaranteed to receive every cent raised by you and 100% of your registration fee. The money we hope to raise from this event will help us to change the lives of an additional 15 young people, giving them access to our After Schools Programme for a full calendar year. By providing them with purposeful activity in a caring and secure home-like environment you will have helped them to discover their abilities and their self-worth in order for them to overcome limitations imposed on them by their social and educational disadvantage.

Sporting Proud Triathlon 2014

Registration Details:

• The minimum fundraising target for an individual is €250 - this includes your €100 registration fee.
• The minimum fundraising target for a team of three is €500 - this includes €250 registration fee

An individual can enter and do all three legs of the triathlon themselves or it is possible to enter as a relay team of three and do a leg each.

There are 2 distance options on the day:

1. Sprint Distance                                                     

• 0.75 km swim 
• 20 km cycle 
• 5km run 

2. International Olympic Standard

• 1.5 km swim 
• 40 km cycle 
• 10km run 

For more information and updates on the event, follow the links below.

The Yard Crew

The lads in The Yard Crew have been very busy these past few months with lots of exciting projects on the go. The ultimate goal for The Yard is to equip young people with the skills and knowledge they need to gain employment and through personal development, identify their own life goals. 

The Yard Crew is made up of eight young men aged 16-23 and it is a four month long programme which involves learning how to build and repair bicycles, the art of carpentry and learning IT skills which will all benefit these young people in the workplace when they go on to employment or running their own businesses. As well as the confidence these young men gain through learning new skills, they also receive personal development coaching each week which aids them in realising their true self-worth and potential. 

In their woodwork classes, The Yard Crew take on projects of all shapes and sizes throughout the programme, building on their individual and teamwork skills. At the moment the big project they are working on is building a canoe, which is now starting to take shape and looks amazing! They also make beautifully handcrafted bowls, bottle openers, doorstops and pens. 

Here are a couple of pictures of the lads hard at work this week!

Step Up Girls Over-night

Step Up is a one-to-one mentoring club for teenagers and has been running since 2011. There are currently 36 young people involved in Step Up who all meet with their mentors one evening each week. Step Up was originally started to help young people with the transition from primary to secondary school but since then has continued to grow and now consists of students from 1st to 6th year. We believe that in order to tackle educational disadvantage young people need not only academic support, but support in their personal development, including a focus on their self-worth and confidence in their own abilities.

Last Thursday the Step Up Girls departed on their annual over-night trip which is always lots of fun and a great way to build the young people's characters. At 10.30am Thursday morning the group met and headed off on their adventure for the night. On their arrival to Knockree Youth Hostel in Enniskerry the girls jumped straight in to activities organised by EcoAdventure Ireland. There was a huge variety of outdoor activites to keep them busy including grass sledding, archery, obstacle courses, paintball shooting and attempting the climbing wall which was a lot harder than it looks! We wrapped up our hectic day by having a chilled out movie night with some yummy treats. The following morning we hopped up and had breakfast before going horse riding before it was time to get back on the bus and head home. It was such a wonderful day and evening and we already can't wait until next year! 

End of year parties @ The Club

This week marked the end of year for The Club. The Club is our Primary After Schools programme and consists of three different groups comprised of Junior, Senior and Transition depending on what class the children are in. 

The Club supports children to grow up to be healthy, confident and caring members of their community. The children are collected from Monday to Thursday each week of the school year and brought to one of our three After School's locations. During their time there, they all sit around a table to have a home-cooked meal before getting some help with their homework and then finishing off their afternoon with a fun activity. 

As school has finished up for the Summer holidays, we decided to throw an end of year party with each of our clubs this week. All of the children (and adults!) had an absolute ball and, luckily for us, the weather was on our side so we even got to have some water balloon fights and face painting outside. This time of year marks a new beginning for some with 5 children graduating from our Junior Afterschools into our Senior Afterschools and 4 graduating from Senior Afterschools into our Transition Afterschools. As well as 3 young people making the big move in to secondary school in September. 

We are very proud of what our young people have achieved in their time with us and look forward to following their progress in the future, they are all destined for great things!