Riverstick right to be reliant on its youth

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Sometimes they get bad press, but many young people can and do make a difference in their communities.

In some cases, they make a very big difference indeed. Take, for instance the creativity and originality displayed by a group of youngsters in Riverstick, Co Cork.

These members of Riverstick’s Foróige Club recently came up with an innovative idea to promote their positive mental health project.

After much deliberation, the members decided to purchase a run-down, three-wheeler Reliant Robin car, and renovate it to a standard that would have made Del Boy proud. (Perhaps the world’s best known Reliant Regal Supervan is Del Boy’s dirty yellow van owned by the Trotter brothers in TV’s Only Fools and Horses.)

Riverstick Foróige’s idea was that since the Reliant Robin has just three wheels, it can become unsteady and even overbalance in adverse conditions. This potential difficulty they felt, made the three-wheeler a great symbol for promoting the care young people need to take with their mental health which can, at times, be precarious.

The Riverstick youngsters began fund-raising through everything from lawn cutting to bag packing in Tesco, and soon raised the €1,400 they needed to buy and renovate a run-down Reliant Robin.

Last week all their hard work was rewarded when they were placed in the Top Ten at the permanent tsb Foróige Youth Citizenship Awards 2012, in Dublin.

“It was in terrible condition, so it was a lot of work,” said Foróige member Amy Morgan. “But then it was finally finished and ‘sometimes life can be a challenge. We have to try and keep a balance’ was painted on the side, we knew our idea was a good one.

“It looked fantastic and it was really eye-catching. ”

The group had paid so much attention to detail that they had even managed to exactly match the colour of the Trotters’ iconic Reliant.

“Normally, when you are giving out leaflets not everybody’s that interested. But the Reliant Robin always draws a crowd,” Amy points out.

“Then we can give out leaflets and our booklet, have a chat with people, let them know what we are all about and make sure they have the information they might need if they should ever want help.

“We all decided that making sure young people realise they are not alone, that they know about the help that’s out there, was one of the most important things we could do as a group.

“We came up with a questionnaire which we sent out to other clubs and schools, and we know that some young people might feel awkward about telling their parents or other adults that they are having problems, feeling depressed, or maybe even being subjected to cyber bullying.

“They often find it easier to talk to someone their own age. We can tell them that if they have a problem, they should sort it out as soon as possible, before it gets worse.

We can make sure that they know where to go for help.



Mise, a booklet issued by Kinsale Youth Support Services, originally inspired the Riverstick group.

“We did a lot of research beforehand,” Mise community worker and Garda Juvenile liaison officer James O’Mahony said. “And, of course, we relied heavily on the input of young people.

“We decided not to use the normal postal service, but to get each copy delivered in our area by hand, by volunteers who could explain just how important the information it contains is. And because of the fantastic support we got, we delivered 10,000 copies.”

The Mise booklet contains a wealth of information on vital aspects of mental health — cyber bullying, alcohol dependency, self-harm suicide and much more. In addition to clearly defining these areas in a user-friendly way, Mise contains two pages of vital contact numbers for young people in difficulty, with the message that help is at hand.

Like all Foroige clubs, Riverstick has adult leaders who add their experience. Farmer Eddie Kelleher is one such volunteer. He had just returned from the victorious Youth Citizenship Awards trip to Dublin with the group, when I caught up with him.

* Congratulations! To have made it into the top ten at the TSB National Citizens Award is some achievement.

>> It’s fantastic! We were all delighted. We had a great day up in Dublin and it was made even more special by the fact that there were over 140 entrants. The standard was very high and there were two other mental health projects.

* So what happens next?

>>“We’re into the finals in November and may be picked to feature in the TV3 Special Teens Award to be shown then. So it’s all very exciting. The lads have worked so hard and this is very much their project — they’ve done all the hard work. We have our fingers crossed for them.”

* How long have you been working with Foróige Eddie?

>>“It would be about seven years now I first got involved because I’ve four young ones of my own, and I had a son who wasn’t all that into sports, but he’d got to the age where he was looking for something to do. Foroige offers so many differentactivities and a safe place to go, to meet your friends on a Friday night.”

* How did your group get the idea for their positive mental health project?

>>“There was an Awareness Day organised by Kinsale Youth Support Services which we all attended and it was fantastic. Gary McCarthy, a rapper, performed and there was much more in the way of speakers and information for parents and youngsters. There were a couple of lads speaking there who’d been in prison. ”

* Were you surprised by the Reliant Robin idea?

>>“Well I already knew that this was a group of youngsters with great ideas and initiative. I’ve been really impressed with them, not just for their original ideas, but also their grasp of what it is that young people need, especially from their parents. What’s really important for them is that their parents listen to them and thank them when they deserve it.”

* What impact do you think your group’s efforts have had?

>>“Considerable. It’s fantastic to see the way people respond to them when they take the Reliant to Wilton or other shopping malls. Everybody wants to know more about what we are doing and they are always impressed by their knowledge and the passion they have for helping their peers. I’d love to see them win!”

* Kinsale Youth Support Services www.kyss.ie

* Riverstick Foróige www.riverstickyouth.ie