Three members of Scouting Ireland graduated from this year's WIP Academy, part of the Washington Ireland Program: Aaron Kennedy from 4th Kildare (Kildare Town), Áine Kane from 5th Dublin (1st Port Ringsend Sea Scouts) and Odhrán Doyle from 6th Tyrone (Cookstown).
This partnership continues to provide a fantastic opportunity for young people, and we are delighted to see its impact growing. Our involvement began last year when Rachel McCay from 23rd Antrim (Derriaghy) graduated from the Academy. Building on that success, we expanded our cohort to three participants this year and hope to support even more Scouts to take part in the programme next year.
Odhrán has given a quick summary of his time spent during the Academy:
"During my time in the WIP Academy, I attended an orientation weekend, along with Aaron, Áine, and 29 other Academy Participants. From there we were assigned groups to complete meaning projects with a tangible outcome. I was fortunate enough to have a project linked with the Centre for Inclusive Policy, where I got to learn all about Mental Health services in Ireland and Northern Ireland, and got to create a Policy Paper all about this. We also had development days where the Academy came together, and we heard from speakers on topics such as Conflict Resolution and Public Speaking. During the summer we had online speaker sessions weekly, where we got to hear from a variety of speakers and organisations about what they do and the different, they make. We concluded the Academy with a Group Task, which tested our abilities to work in independent groups, to create a project, idea, or service. The Program finished with an incredible day of celebrating at out graduation in Custom House, Belfast, to acknowledge all our hard work and dedication to the program. The WIP Academy taught me so much about myself and provided me with a brilliant skillset that will benefit my scouting life also, and I am excited to bring a new approach back to both my group, and to National Projects!"
