A young Buncrana woman is furthering her career in insurance after taking an alternative route through education.
Mandy Doherty left school at the age of 14. At the time, she struggled with her mental health and found it difficult to keep up with traditional classroom learning.
Mandy found a more relaxed and practical way to learn in Youthreach, a free education, training and work experience programme provided through Donegal ETB’s Further Education and Training (FET) Service.
The full-time course is for students aged 16-20, with six centres across the county.
“I couldn’t even imagine where I would be if I hadn’t gone to Youthreach,” Mandy tells Donegal Daily.
Youthreach gave Mandy the building blocks to do an Access course at LYIT (now ATU Donegal) and get a degree in Business.
She now works at Forward Emphasis International, based at Malin Head.
Having disliked school from an early age, Mandy counts herself lucky to have found another route to third-level education. Youthreach is designed to be more like a further education college. There are no uniforms and subjects are delivered as modules.
“It was a more relaxed environment. I think because you call all the teachers by their first name it felt a lot less authoritarian,” Mandy said.
“I found in school there was too much information at once. I didn’t learn at the same pace as everybody else and I fell behind quite badly in maths. At Youthreach, you have around five people in the room so the teacher has time for everyone.”
Mandy studied for awards such as hairdressing, childcare, office skills and woodcraft. She also enjoyed the teamwork games and exercises held throughout the year. In total, she gained 30 QQI awards up to Level 4.
All the while, the centre staff worked with Mandy and her classmates to help them strive towards their personal goals.
“Every couple of months there is a review of your attendance and what you are working towards,” Mandy said.
Work experience is also an important part of the Youthreach programme. Mandy’s placements in Buncrana businesses helped her realise that she liked working in office administration.
Coming near the end of the two years, Mandy availed of career guidance and visited college open days locally. That’s where she learned about the Access course provided by LYIT which helps students prepare for third level education.
“I know there are other paths to college, but if I didn’t do Youthreach I wouldn’t have had the learning to succeed at Access. Youthreach provided the building blocks for me to go on to study Business. I had a keen interest in businesses and how they worked. The Youthreach electives helped me love maths again and in business I liked seeing how different companies run things.”
Mandy, now aged 25, hasn’t stopped upskilling yet. Her employers at FEI have supported her to train to become an Accredited Product Adviser (APA), advising clients in insurance.
Youthreach, Mandy said, is much more than a place to learn, but a place to grow and be supported.
She said: “I would recommend it. You are going into a situation where everybody is in the same boat, they might have their own problems at home or within the schooling system. There was always a teacher there to guide you through it. They have a counsellor in there too, Julie was an absolute star and would take people to one side and make sure you are okay. They would take concerns to Jayne, the Coordinator.
“I would recommend Youthreach in the sense that if you do not get on at school, you should go. Looking back, I wouldn’t be where I am if I hadn’t gone to Youthreach, I think they are the loveliest people ever.”
Donegal ETB’s six Youthreach centres are now enrolling. If you, or someone you know, is thinking about joining the programme, you can find more information at this link: http://www.donegaletb.ie/youthreach.
For any enquiries, fill out the online web form and the team will get back to you: https://www.donegaletb.ie/donegal-youthreach-enquiry-form/.
You can also call the Youthreach Centres on the following numbers:
- Ballyshannon (Pernille) – 071 98 51286
- Buncrana/Glengad (Jayne) – 074 93 62626
- Gortahork (Caitriona) – 074 91 35218
- Letterkenny (Gillian) – 074 91 22585
- Lifford (Aidan) – 074 91 22585
Facebook: DonegalYouthreach
Twitter @DonegalYR
YouTube: Donegal Youthreach Programme
Youthreach is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union.
