TRANSITION TIMES: The Gaisce award is a great way for young people to pursue interests outside the confines of academia, writes JOHN HOLDEN

HERE AT Transition Times we love anything that takes the emphasis off the books. TY is all about exploring the world outside academia and getting in touch with your artistic, spiritual and altruistic sides. One of the best and most popular programmes around for doing all this is Gaisce – The President’s Award.

Young people between 15 and 25 across Ireland take part in the programme, which sees participants complete a series of tasks within four categories – community involvement, personal skill, physical recreation and adventure journey.

Key principles are that the award is non-competitive, voluntary, and above all, enjoyable. No less than 14,251 young people registered in 2008 – a rise of over 1,000 on the previous year – and all are supported by voluntary President’s Award Leaders (PALs). These serve as mentors to those trying to achieve tasks.

The value of the bronze, silver and gold awards is based on the amount of hours put in for each category. Gaisce is very popular in TY, as students have the time and space for it. Post-primary students generally go for bronze or silver, and then move to gold when finished school. However, there are exceptions to the rule and if a student is particularly dynamic they can go for gold, stay in school and somehow find time for a life as well.

Remember, Gaisce is no easy award. In each category participants must clock up a certain number of hours to achieve their goal. For example, if you decide to take up the trumpet as your personal skill for a bronze award, you would need to complete 13 weeks of training. Going for silver? Then you’d need to blow that horn for 26 weeks, and so on. There are significant time commitments in each category, and that is the beauty of the award – participants are taught the value of patience and long-term planning.

Gaisce has this year appointed a new council, comprising all manner of inspirational characters, to bring the award into the future. Teacher Pat Larkin, of St Joseph of Cluny in Killiney, Dublin, is one of these. “I’m a teacher, and have done a considerable amount of work with Co-operation Ireland [formerly Co-operation North],” he says. “I’m delighted and excited to be on the board, particularly at this stage, with the country in so much difficulty. In times like this it is important to give young people a focus.

“The point of Gaisce is to enable young people to realise their own potential and give them the opportunity to excel in fields other than the narrow confines of the academic world.”

Each week Transition Times will look at each of the four award categories, and talk to some of the young people taking part. Next week: community involvement