South Tipperary Development Company (STDC) is delighted to announce the expansion of its Tús programme in South Tipperary. If you are in receipt of Disability Allowance, you’re now eligible to join us on our Tús programme.
If you’re over one year unemployed and are in receipt of Job Seekers Allowance or Disability Allowance, you could qualify to join our Tús programme. It can provide you with quality work experience with a local community or voluntary group. Whilst on Tús, you work 19.5 hours per week for a one year period and you will receive a nominal top-up to your existing payment.
STDC has seven Tús Team Leaders who oversee the programme in South Tipperary, most of whom have been working on Tús since it began in 2011. The team are very experienced and will support you on your Tús Journey. Our Team Leaders will meet and work with you to identify your interests, skills and hobbies and will match these to a work placement with a local community or voluntary group.
There is a variety of work placement opportunities on Tús. If you like to work outdoors, our Team Leaders can place you with a community group to help with Tidy Town’s, maintain green areas, graveyards and community walkways and caretake community centres. Other participants prefer a placement with sporting organisations helping to maintain pitches and prepare for sports events, whilst others are interested in developing their IT and Social Media skills. Some participants opt to work with older people, meals on wheels or in a community childcare setting. If retail experience is what you’re after, Tús partners with many charity shops and community shops/cafes who would welcome a Tús participant to join their team of volunteers. This sentiment was echoed by Regional Retail Manager for St Vincent de Paul, Suzanne McNamara O’Reilly recently. She said that “Vincent’s network of shops could not operate with volunteers alone.” She also went on to say that “The Tús participants are invaluable to the smooth running of the shops.”
Vincent de Paul shop – Suzanne McNamara O’Reilly on right (regional retail manager) with Tús participant Kristina Ivanauskiene.
Brian O’Connor tells us his story of working on the Tús program. He started on the Tús program just before COVID and was placed with the Irish Wheelchair Association charity shop based in Tipperary Town gaining valuable retail experience and learning how to deal with the public. Brian found the experience really worthwhile and in fact it led to his current job – Deputy Manager at Mr. Price in Tipperary Town where he has worked for the last 2 years. Speaking to Brian, he recommends the Tús program to people if they’re unsure of what they want to do as he found the help and guidance invaluable on finding out what he’s good at. “I was at nothing before I joined Tús – no job, no money and then everything started to go uphill for me.”
Tús is vital to the effective functioning of many communities in South Tipperary, particularly since Covid where many people have stood back from volunteering in their local community. Over 150 communities have benefited from the help of over 2,800 participants that have been on the scheme over the years. Many participants found their time on Tús to be very beneficial. Sean from Lisronagh shares his experience and testifies to how he benefits from contributing to community work. Sean is currently working with Moyle Rovers GAA since April this year and is really enjoying the experience. “It’s better than staying at home and doing nothing. Due to my health, I can only work part-time. I was applying for part-time jobs for a year but nothing doing. I was sending CVs in left, right and centre and getting nothing. I would definitely recommend the program. For me, it gets me out of the house and I enjoy the responsibility. I find it very flexible in terms of how I get my 19 and a half hours done each week. And I really enjoy the experience of doing something different”.
Sean Quirke – who is working with Moyle Rovers GAA as part of the Tús programme.
If you would like to join our Tús programme or find out more information, please phone South Tipperary Development Company on 052 7442652 or follow this link👈
