
Share
11th October 2021
01:32pm BST

The document outlines the need for an extra €10 million in Government funding for the youth sector and includes a number of impact stories from young people whose lives were changed by youth work.
Commenting on the call for extra funding, Mary Cunningham, CEO of NYCI, said:
"Young people have borne a disproportionate brunt of the fallout from the pandemic. In the last year, we have seen a chronic rise in youth unemployment, with almost one in five young people affected. We have also seen a serious impact on young people’s mental health as a result of the pandemic. They have experienced difficulty in getting support from friends and networks, and a huge number of young people have missed out on key life landmarks and experiences, while the interruption to education has caused massive difficulties for many young people."
Findings from a recent NYCI report ‘Youth Work and Covid-19: 2021 Review of the Youth Work Sector Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic’ found a significant decrease in the number of young people engaging with youth work services, with 80,000 less young people engaged, since the outbreak of the pandemic, with sixty-nine per cent of youth work sector organisations reporting a decrease in engagement numbers.
The report also showed an overall 62 per cent reduction in the number of youth groups – a loss of more than 1,000 groups and clubs.
Additionally, 61 per cent of the services surveyed saw a decrease in volunteer involvement, with figures falling from 11,102 in 2019/20 to 3,951 in 2020/21, equating to a drop of 64 per cent.