\u00c1oibhe Higgins from Drumshambo has been selected to take part in the National Youth Council of Ireland\u2019s (NYCI) 2026 Local Champions programme. <\/p>\n
The programme is a national initiative that supports young people to advocate for youth work and represent the voices of young people in their communities.<\/p>\n
\u00c1oibhe, who has been involved with Leitrim Comhairle na n\u00d3g joins Ballisodare-based Local Champion Katelyn Benson.<\/p>\n
Local Champions are young people aged 18\u201325 who have experienced the benefits of youth work and want to help ensure that youth services are recognised and supported by decision-makers.<\/p>\n
Speaking about being selected as a Local Champion, \u00c1oibhe said she is looking forward to taking up the new role. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really an honour, participating in Comhairle and the National Youth Assembly of Ireland has taught me so much, and I\u2019m so excited to start this new journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mick Ferron, CEO of the National Youth Council of Ireland, said youth work plays a vital role in supporting young people to build confidence, develop skills and connect with their communities.<\/p>\n
“The Local Champions programme ensures that young people who have experienced the impact of youth work first-hand can share those stories directly with decision-makers,\u201d said Mr Ferron. <\/p>\n
Over the coming months, participants will take part in a specialist training programme delivered by NYCI, including workshops on advocacy, communications and engaging with policymakers.<\/p>\n
They will use these skills to speak with local representatives and highlight the positive impact youth work has on young people and communities.<\/p>\n
The initiative forms part of NYCI’s campaign to ensure that young people and youth work receive the necessary investment and support. The Local Champions initiative is supported by Community Foundation Ireland.<\/p>\n
Denise Charlton, Chief Executive of Community Foundation Ireland added delivering for people, place and planet is central to the work of the Community Foundation.<\/p>\n
\u201cYoung voices are essential in shaping that future.<\/p>\n
“We are proud to partner with the NYCI and support the Local Champions Network which amplifies those voices.<\/p>\n
“We look forward to hearing how this inspirational group of young people connect with local representatives and input into the decisions which impact their communities,\u201d said Ms Charlton. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00c1oibhe Higgins from Drumshambo has been selected to take part in the National Youth Council of Ireland\u2019s (NYCI)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391530,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[25665,61,60,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-391529","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-emma-ryan","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}