St. Vincent’s Community Training Centre was founded in 1975 as a response to the welfare and educational needs of presenting young people out-of-home.  Over the years, the service has developed an extensive network of vocational training courses designed to enable our young people to progress to further education, training or employment opportunities.

Today, the 70 young people participating in the service are mainly resident in the North Inner City of Dublin and have left the educational system before they completed any formal examinations.  They are some of the most vulnerable young people in the city and, in many instances, are at risk to substance abuse, offending behaviour, homelessness or difficulties in their family or care situations.  The age range of our young people is from 15 to 21 years, the vast majority of whom are minors referred by statutory agencies responsible for their care and welfare.

St. Vincent’s CTC aims to empower the young people who take part in its training programmes to realise their full potential.  Specifically, the service offers the following core course modules and educational activities:

Catering, Computers, Health & Beauty, Retail Sales

Office Procedure, Woodwork, Art

Youth Health Promotion, Metal Work, Work Experience    
Literacy & Numeracy, Junior Certificate (7 subjects)
Leaving Certificate, English and Maths

Trainees can avail of an appropriate mix of courses and activities based on their individual needs and personal learning goals.  Based on their individual needs and abilities, trainees are placed in one of a number of training programme levels which included Youth Choices, Foundation, Progression, structured Work Experience or Pre-Employment Training, with the opportunity for the young person to progress over time between programme levels, as appropriate.

The service regularly reviews and updates the relevance and effectiveness of its training programmes.  However, due to the vulnerable nature of many of the young people, other factors such as their physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual development are considered to be of the utmost importance.

In view of this, the CTC avails of the organisation’s Services Support Team which provides an integrated psychological/counselling, social work and further educational & employment service.  This specialist support team gives necessary space and time to each individual trainee to find solutions for personal difficulties and to build up his/her self-respect and confidence.