For over thirty years, YMCA’s STEP programme has helped hundreds of young people change their lives for the better. STEP is a year long training programme which works with young people in the 17-25 age group who are unemployed and who have left formal education with few or no qualifications. It aims to help them discover a career path while developing soft skills in areas such as communications and personal development. Through one to one work, it also helps to address personal and other obstacles which may hinder the young person from achieving their full potential. The YMCA’s STEP programme was first piloted in 1989 in Cork City and grew out of an all-Island research project called Bridge of Hope as a response to the issues presented by unqualified unemployed young people experiencing difficulties in accessing mainstream training. From 1989 to 1999, the programme was funded by the European Social Fund with the monies channelled to YMCA Ireland through the Department of Education. Following the end of ESF funding, a decision was made by the Dept of Education to mainstream the funding through Youthreach provision.
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