Teen project facilitated by donation to introduce suicide awareness programme

An education centre for marginalised teenagers will introduce a suicide awareness programme after securing a major philanthropic donation.

The Cork Foundation announced it is donating €120,000 over the next three years to the Cork Life Centre, which helps early school-leavers complete second-level education.

The donation, possible thanks to an anonymous gift from a businessman, will fund two counsellors and a teacher, who will join the two full-time staff and 70 volunteers at the Sunday’s Well voluntary organisation.

The Cork Life Centre now plans to roll out the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training initiative to communities and clubs across Cork. The mental health promotion project targets young people through education, therapy, and outreach.

Cork Foundation board member Áine Collins said the donation is an inspirational example of Cork people helping each other and is typical of the Cork Foundation ethos.

“I am so proud of what we have created and thankful to all the stakeholders and funders who all said ‘yes’ to me when I approached them with the idea of the foundation back in 2011,” she said. “This donation, made privately by a Cork businessman, proves that with the continued improvements to the economy, the Cork Foundation is more relevant than ever to philanthropists who would like to give back to the Cork community.”

Life centre director Don O’Leary said the substantial donation was a massive vote of confidence and will improve the opportunities of the teenagers the centre works with.

“We provide an important service for young people, and the value is on their social education as much as their academic,” he said.

“We are committed to engaging the young people we work with in learning and development, and in doing so, making a lasting difference to their future. This donation will enable us to continue our work.”

Opened in 2000, the centre caters for 47 students aged 12 to 18, who receive one-to-one tuition in Junior and Leaving Certificate subjects.

Such is the demand for its services that the centre turned away up to 100 applicants this year.

Part-funded by the Department of Education, the centre was on the brink of closure two years ago due to a shortfall in core funding.

A private benefactor stepped in to plug the gap but the centre is appealing to the department for a further €80,000 to secure its future.