Creating Proud Spaces: Empowering LGBTQ+ Youth in Rural Ireland

2024

Creating Proud Spaces: Empowering LGBTQ+ Youth in Rural Ireland

Youth Work Ireland member services are the largest providers of LGBTQ+ youth work in Ireland, with over 800 young people accessing their youth groups each week. The work is delivered in an integrated way so young people are treated holistically and can avail of a range of services and supports if and when they need them, all supported by professional youth workers.

Creating Proud Spaces in Rural Communities is an initiative we developed that is supported by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. The project runs under the Proud Spaces banner and focuses on finding out what young people say can create a proud space, and developing support to help them feel that way, which is the initiative's goal. Through collaborating with youth workers, upskilling youth services, signposting young people, and amplifying the voices and lived experiences of LGBTQ+ rural youth, we can create more and more areas where all young LGBTQ+ people feel included and safe to express who they are.

This June, Proud Spaces will be officially launching their research and best practice, as well as celebrating the joy of being a young queer person in rural Ireland. You can also Give the Gift of Pride - a campaign to support young LGBTQ+ people from rural Ireland to take part in Dublin Pride. With the struggles and challenges faced growing up in small villages and towns, getting the chance to come to Dublin Pride allows them to be their authentic selves, connect with the national LGBTQ+ community and see that there is a big, safe, inclusive and welcoming world outside their towns waiting for them.

For more details, contact Gina Halpin at ghalpin@youthworkireland.ie

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