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The Young about Their Club



General Information

The Youth Personal Development Club has been established in 2000. The idea to set up the Club came to life when we noticed that the graduates of the Day-care Centre upon leaving it at the age of 14 were left without any support at a very difficult moment in their life. It is the time when they change school, start work at the companies where they do vocational training. It is also the time when they get easier access to alcohol, drugs and informal youth groups, which young people - struggling with a variety of problems - find particularly attractive. We saw that graduates of the Day-care Centre were not able to manage that many changes in their life [; they gave up school and traineeship, mainly because there was no one to support them in their actions. Therefore, we decided to create a place, which would respond to their problems.

The Youth Personal Development Club is open Monday to Friday (11.00 - 19.00). Club members are young people from 13 to 18 and two instructors. Work with the group composed of 15 people is based on principle of a therapeutic community and group exercises, during which the young work on raising trust, openness and self-esteem. Besides the sessions whose themes are dictated by instructors, members define themselves the topics they want devote time during their meetings.

At the Youth Club, we help young people in three fields:

- care:

food provision for club members,

collection of school equipment (books, notebooks, stationery),

medical treatment for the members who need it;

- teaching:

teaching healthy lifestyle - no drugs, alcohol or cigarettes,

preparation for good adult life,

teaching self-sufficiency skills - meal cooking, personal hygiene, cleaning,

teaching the skills of significance for living in the society - in professional, family and social aspect;

- therapy:

running individual therapy programmes, developed for each Club member,

assistance in solving school, peer, work or personal crises,

support for and stimulation of intellectual, professional and emotional development.

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