New No Name Club mooted for Kilcullen
Declan Stokes has already organised a successful No Name club in Hollywood, Co Wicklow, which has also become the first such club in the county to initiate a no-smoking policy, as well as the core element of providing an alternative for young people to the 'drink culture' in Ireland.
It is one of three proposed clubs in County Kildare, to join the current one in Naas and bring to four the number in the county. The other two proposed locations are Newbridge and Kildare.
Declan doesn't see the No Name Club movement as a competitor to existing youth clubs, suggesting that it provides an extra service, for 15-18 year-olds who might be growing beyond some of the other groups, or in some cases will parallel them. "I'd envisage that we would have members feeding into our clubs from other clubs and even sports clubs."
No Name Club as a national organisation was founded in 1978 and currently serves some 15,000 young people in some 42 clubs all over the country. The idea is that the members can come together in a safe and lively environment for fun, friendship and enjoyment without the pressure of alcohol or other drugs. The organisation receives funding through the Office of The Minister for Children & Youth Affairs, and Population Health Promotion within the HSE.
Clubs are based on having organised events, such as outings and participating in the regional and national events that are part of the organisation. These include table quizzes, talent competitions, the organisation's National Youth Awards, and taking in whatever local opportunities there are in an area.
The national organisation provides training for volunteers, including the mandatory course in child protection. Declan Stokes says, though, that volunteering is 'not necessarily for everyone'. "Every community organisation has some kind of volunteer input, and without them it would collapse," he says. "But for our clubs, they have to be volunteers who can communicate with young people. In our Hollywood club, we have eight parents involved, and their input is fantastic."
Financially, each club has to be self-sufficient. VEC club grants, grants for the club’s Health Promotion activities, and local initiatives like bag-packing at supermarkets are all possibilities for funding.
Declan used to work in the construction industry, and when that collapsed he went on a short-term VTOS course while waiting to see how things would turn out. While there he got an opportunity to do social studies as a mature student, and is currently developing a programme for young people based around mental health. "There are a lot of organisations offering youth services, but many of them shy away from the two main issues of mental health and sexual health. Down the years, lots of things change in the youth area, but some things remain the same — substance abuse, relationships, and ... the biggest ... knowing who they are."
He attended a recent international conference on youth issues, in Turkey, which had representatives from more than 70 countries. "One of the things we were told there related to young people dying by suicide, and it appears that in 80 percent of these incidents, alcohol is involved. That's scary."
In discussion with delegates from our neighbouring island, he also found that there's likely to be a serious under-estimating of the level of youth drinking here. "Hard figures are difficult to gather, but in Scotland, for instance, they use the level of alco-pop sales as an indicator. That's not really accurate enough ... in Ireland I could name ten events in the year where there would be a spike in youth drinking, so it's a culture thing."
A culture thing that resonated amongst the many Muslim delegates at the Turkey conference. "Two decades ago it wasn't an issue in many of their countries because of the no-alcohol part of their culture, but they can see a new generation of young people who aren't staying with that. So this is not just peculiar to Ireland."
A previous effort to set up a No Name Club in Kilcullen was made in 2010, but didn't lead to a permanent club. After the success of the Hollywood one which Declan organised from 2011, maybe 2015 will have a more positive outcome.
This article was first published in The Kildare Nationalist.
