Who we are

Barnardos supports children whose well-being is under threat, by working with them, their families and communitities and by campaigning for the rights of children. Barnardos was established in Ireland in 1962 and is Ireland's leading independent children's charity.

BeLonG To Youth Services is the national organisation supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex young people in Ireland. Since 2003, BeLonG To has worked with LGBTI+ young people to create a world where they are equal, safe and valued in the diversity of their identities and experiences. The organisation also provides training to professionals who work with young people, advocacy, campaigning and a specialised LGBT+ youth service with a focus on mental and sexual health.

E: www.belongto.org T: 01 670 6223

Clúid Housing is an award-winning, not-for-profit charity providing over 10,000 affordable, high-quality homes to people in housing need.

Clúid has grown to become the largest approved housing body (AHB) in Ireland.

COPE Galway is a local Galway charity that provides a range of services to some of the most vulnerable and isolated people in Galway.  Our vision is ‘Improved Quality of Life in a Home of your own’ for people affected by Homelessness, Women and Children experiencing Domestic Violence and Older People. COPE Galway’s homeless services include Preventative Services for those at risk of homelessness, Emergency Accommodation for people who are homeless, Transitional Accommodation and Resettlement and Tenancy Support for those who are moving out of homelessness into independent living.

Crosscare is the social support agency of the Dublin Archdiocese. With over 75 years’ experience of working with those in vulnerable and marginalised situations, Crosscare’s vision is of a society where all people have the opportunity to fulfil their potential. Working in the areas of youth work, homelessness, community supports and food poverty, our mission is to provide innovative and relevant services to those most in need.

Crosscare’s vision is of society where all people have the opportunity to fulfil their potential and our mission is to provide innovative and relevant services to those most in need regardless of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, beliefs or sexual identity. Crosscare’s values are love, respect & excellence. For further details you can visit our website www.crosscare.ie.

Depaul is working to end homelessness on a national scale and has been working tirelessly on the frontline for the last 20 years. Our vision is one of a society in which everyone has a place to call home and a stake in their community. We offer specialist support and guidance to break the cycle of homelessness and support marginalised groups including young people, single parents, women and families. 

Depaul is seeing a younger demographic accessing our emergency accommodation services and at present, almost one in two (40%) are aged between 18-30. As the number of people in homelessness continues to increase, your help has never been needed more.

EPIC (Empowering People in Care) is divided into four key parts: Advocacy, Policy, Research and Youth Engagement. EPIC's mission is:

• to advocate at a national and local level for the rights of young people in and with care experience.
• to promote the voices of young people in and with care experience.
• to base our advocacy on meaningful engagement with young people, documented data and commissioned research.

Focus Ireland works with people who are homeless or at risk of losing their homes across Ireland. We are driven by the fundamental belief that homelessness is wrong. We are committed to challenging everything about homelessness; the causes, systemic failures, people’s perceptions and how it is tackled.

Foróige is a leading youth development organisation working with over 50,000 young people and 5,500 adult volunteers annually. It has a network of more than 650 Foróige clubs & cafés, 160 targeted projects and national programmes such as Entrepreneurship (NFTE), Health & Wellbeing, the Aldi Foróige Youth Citizenship programme and Big Brother Big Sister mentoring programme.   

ITM works collectively to represent the views of Travellers and Traveller organisations at a national and international level. We develop policies, actions and innovative programmes to bring about change for Travellers in Ireland. We work to challenge the inequalities faced by Travellers by promoting Traveller participation and leadership locally and nationally, by developing and sharing best practice, developing evidence based research to inform our work and building strategic alliances with all who are committed to a fairer Irish society.

The National Youth Council of Ireland is the representative body for 49 voluntary youth organisations in Ireland. It uses its collective experience to act on issues that impact on young people. It seeks to ensure that all young people are empowered to develop the skills and confidence to fully participate as active citizens in an inclusive society. NYCI's role is recognised in legislation through the Youth Work Act 2001 and as a Social Partner in the Community and Voluntary Pillar.

Novas is a voluntary organisation and Approved Housing Body working with families and single adults who are disadvantaged and socially excluded; primarily those who are homeless or at risk of being homeless. We provide a range of services and accommodation for marginalised households throughout Ireland. We offer bespoke, client-centred services, based on empirical evidence of fifteen years’ experience of working with people who are homeless in Ireland. We believe everyone is entitled to a home.

In 2002, Novas established its first service in Ireland – a temporary supported, low-threshold accommodation service in Limerick. Since then we have grown significantly with more than 20 services in counties Limerick, Clare, Tipperary, Dublin, Cork and Kerry. We support our clients through Housing, Health and Recovery. We recognise the complex issues that cause homelessness and endeavour to offer holistic, long-term solutions.

Peter McVerry Trust works to tackle homelessness, drug misuse and social disadvantage. The organisation provides a wide range of services to meet the growing needs of many young people experiencing homelessness. These services range from meeting the basic needs of people by providing food and shelter to helping people realise their right to a home.

The Simon Communities in Ireland are a network of eight regionally based independent Simon Communities based in Cork, Dublin, Dundalk, Galway, the Midlands, the Mid West, the North West and the South East that share common values and ethos in tackling all forms of homelessness throughout Ireland, supported by a National Office. The Simon Communities have been providing services in Ireland for over 40 years. The Simon Communities deliver support and service to over 8,300 individuals and families throughout Ireland who experience – or are at risk of – homelessness every year. Whatever the issue, for as long as we are needed, Simon’s door is always open. For more information please log on to www.simon.ie

SVP provides support, advice and friendship to people who experience poverty and disadvantage or are otherwise in need. Our focus is on offering practical support to deal with poverty, and helping to alleviate its effects on individuals and families working primarily in person-to-person contact through a unique system of family visitation. As well as directly assisting individuals and families, the Society plays a key role in advocating for change on social justice issues in order to tackle the root causes of poverty and social exclusion, and seeking to achieve equality of opportunity for all.

SpunOut.ie is Ireland's youth informations website run by young people, for young people. We provide free, non-judgemental information on health, education, employment, lifestyle and more to over 100,000 readers per month. Established in 2005, our mission is to help create an Ireland where young people aged 16-25 are empowered with the information they need to live active, happy, healthy lives. 

The Teen Parents Support Programme (TPSP) consists of eleven separate projects funded by TUSLA and the HSE and located throughout the country in a range of statutory, community and voluntary organisations. The TPSP engages with young people who become parents when they are under 20 years of age and supports them to build their capacity as parents as well as enabling them to complete their own development as adolescents moving towards early adulthood. See www.tpsp.ie. Grandparents and other family members involved with the young parents may also be supported. Support is offered in all areas of the young person’s life – parenting, health, housing, education, training, childcare, social welfare entitlements, legal issues and anything else about which the young mother or father is concerned. In 2016 the TPSP supported almost 1,000 young parents, their children and families.

Threshold is a national housing charity with regional advice centres in Dublin, Cork and Galway, providing frontline advice and tenancy protection services to people with housing problems. Young people are particular reliant on the private rented sector and can be at risk of both homelessness and hidden homeless. Through our services and advocacy our vision is an Ireland where everyone has access to affordable, secure, suitable and good quality housing.

USI is the national representative body of 374,000 students in third level education on the island of Ireland. We are a membership organisation - our members are our affiliated students' unions around Ireland - North and South.