Pictured, from left: Avril Winters (Sports Instructor), Anthony O’Callaghan (Learner) and Denis Murphy (Manager).
The Dublin South East Community Training Centre is anxious to convey that places are open for their courses at the present moment. Most of their courses have spaces if anyone would like to enquire, particularly for out of school 16-21 year olds.
The training centre continues to go from strength to strength on its mission of offering local young people between 16 and 21 years of age an opportunity to train for employment, or retake the education path that they may have previously rejected.
Founded in 1986, originally as the Ringsend Community Training Workshop, it operated at the converted cinema site of Regal House, Ringsend. In 2009 it relocated to Townsend Street and it serves its original community of Ringsend and Irishtown as well as a new catchment area that can extend into Dublin 2, 4, and 8.
DSECTC General Manager Denis Murphy is very enthusiastic about acquiring new participants who may have no formal educational qualifications, or who may have the Junior Cert or Leaving Cert Applied. “The centre offers opportunity for these young people to gain skills for employment or perhaps go further in education than they ever thought.”
Murphy emphasises the LINK work-experience programme where course participants get work placements incorporated into the course that often lead to employment outright. “We have a 70% success rate for participants following on to employment or further education.”
The 45-place training centre has four main courses in Filmmaking and Digital Media, Computer and IT Training, Sport and Health Related Fitness, and Retail Sales. Most of the courses have continuous intake throughout the year and Murphy encourages anyone with an interest to contact the centre. DSECTC also provides literacy and numeracy support, and preparation for Junior and Leaving Certificates.
A safe, supportive environment full of encouragement was in evidence when NewsFour visited. Murphy explains how each individual can learn and develop to their full potential, according to that individual’s needs and abilities. “There are individual learning plans and progression plans for every person.”
Jonathan Carley, lecturer on the Filmmaking and Digital Media course, spoke about how “participants in the course will get to do several small projects to get a taste of many different filmmaking projects throughout the years.” Many of these will be about the issues and interests in the communities of the participants.
Overall, the 28 year old service aims to make a great difference in young people’s lives. One such graduate was Anthony O’Callaghan, who went on to work experience in Ben Dunne’s gym in Jervis Street. He is now a Duty Manager, and Dunne says “the sky’s the limit for Anthony,” as he is so motivated and focused.
When Anthony was learning at DSECTC he immersed himself in the course and changed his diet and training from the information he was learning about Sport and Fitness. “It was hard work, but it paid off,” said Anthony.
DSECTC is at 88-90 Townsend Street, Dublin 2 and the website is dsectc.ie
By Ferg Hayden
