The Foyer
Lurgan Foyer has been growing and developing for two years. The Foyer ethos is to promote independent living and Personal Development for Young People aged 16-25 years.
Lurgan Foyer is a 40-bedded unit and 6 of these units have disabled access. Lurgan Foyer is a place where young people are provided with the opportunity to take their first steps to independent living, yet have an element of support. Young People are encouraged to develop independent living skills so that their main goal is to source independent accommodation with the help and support of staff.
During their time living at Lurgan Foyer, young people must show a sustainable level of commitment to their Personal Development Plan, and therefore there is an expectation that they find employment or commit to a training or educational programme that suits their needs and abilities. All residents are assessed to determine support needs and receive support and guidance from staff to ensure successful implementation and continuation of their Personal Development Plan.
Lurgan Foyer has received many referrals and provided accommodation to a lot of Young People from opening its doors in July 2000. All Young People must be referred, and our main referral routes are Social Services, Self, Upper Bann Institute, Family/Friend, or Other.
The average age of the young people who have been accommodated at Lurgan Foyer is approximately 16-19 years old. All of our residents who have High Support Needs would also have support from a Social Worker, Aftercare Support or Probation Officer. This extra support mechanism is of paramount importance to Foyer Staff to ensure that all the needs of these individuals are being addressed and met. Foyer Staff liaise very closely with these external support agencies.
Not all young people when they are accommodated are ready to seek employment. Training is an important factor to these young people and as a result of this need Foyer Staff have built-up working relationships with various training providers. Over the past 5 years we have supported many young people through the princes trust programme, MAPP, some of our young people have been to Canada and America on training placements. Other training placements have been provided through LETTS and Wade. Not all training that we support is external. In-House training is also offered and is based around needs analysis. Popular in-house courses would be I.T, Cookery Workshops, Self Awareness & Confidence Building, and Improving Basic Skills. We also work in partnership with outside agencies, to provide training to meet the unmet needs identified in personal development plans. Upper Bann Institute 18-25 project, S.E.L.B. are but a few partnerships developed in order to deliver courses in-house to meet the needs of the foyer residents.
One of the major problems facing Foyer Staff is trying to encourage a resident to remain committed to a particular training programme. Lack of self-confidence and a distinct lack of motivation are the main contributory factors to lack of commitment.
Lurgan Foyer plans to continue to tackle such barriers and provide and develop to the best of our ability a successful Foyer. During the initial two years we have experienced a steep learning curve with sporadic highs and lows. We hope to learn from any mistakes, build on our successes and move forward.
