About Fighting Words
Co-founded by Roddy Doyle, Fighting Words is the creative writing organisation for children and young people, with locations all around Ireland. All our programmes are free of charge and run by teams of volunteer writing mentors. Join our team to help children to explore their imaginations and tell their stories!
What's Involved
At Fighting Words, our team of writing mentors assist secondary school students at creative writing workshops. Creative writing workshops with teenagers in 1st to 6th year take place on Monday Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 1-3pm at the Fighting Words centre in Dublin.
We are looking for anyone who enjoys working with young people - experience in creative writing is not necessary! We are looking for good listeners who want to help teenagers tell their own stories in their own words and build their self-confidence through the creative practice of writing.
Our Secondary School workshops are in two halves:
- 1. Group work - Working together with the help of the Fighting Words team, the class begins an original story, which they will see being projected up onto a big screen as they write. The teenagers decide on the characters and plot and go through the story together sentence by sentence, editing as they go. Depending on the school they can choose to create a story through fiction writing, playwriting or songwriting.
- 2. Individual writing time - In the second half, everyone has the same role - helping the participants with their individual stories by offering encouragement and positive feedback in a relaxed and creative environment. During this time the mentors can support the young people to write creatively through any medium. Poetry, song, haiku to name a few!
Working with young people is really rewarding, they are always taken aback by their own ability to create a story and they really appreciate the support from our mentors. This is a space where they can express themselves freely and +take time to reflect on their role as a young person within the world.
Enthusiasm and motivation to encourage teenagers to work creatively is the only requirement, no previous qualification required.
What's required for this position
We are looking for people who want to work with young people to help them tell their own stories in their own way.
The emphasis is always on ideas and creativity, never on spelling or grammar.
If you want to help build self esteem in a creative environment, you have the skills required for this role.
- Arts/ Music/ Drama
- Education/ Training
- Multi-lingual/ Multi-culturalism
- Youth/ Childcare
Level of English required for this role:
Intermediate English
Times and commitment required for this role
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Minimum time commitment: Flexible
Other Details
Location of volunteering opportunity:
Fighting Words, Behan Square, 12-16 Russell Street, Dublin 1 D01 WD53
Screening details for this role:
- Garda Vetting
- Informal Interviews
- References
- Application Form
- Identification Check (photo ID etc…)
Volunteers will be provided with the following supports:
- Support/ advice/ recognition
- Supervision
- Initial induction and training
- Insurance cover
Volunteers with the following challenges will be supported in this role
- Physical Disability
- Sensory Disability
- Learning Disability
- Mental Health Difficulties
Age restrictions:
Over 18
Is this opportunity suitable for groups/teams of volunteers?
Yes
Benefits you will receive as a volunteer
Volunteering with Fighting Words provides the opportunity to meet new people, to experience an informal education environment, provides creative inspiration and is a lot of fun!
Getting there
Bus routes along Lower Drumcondra Road (11, 16, 41), 123 to Summerhill or any bus route to Mountjoy Square. Train to Drumcondra or Connolly. Nearest LUAS stop is Parnell.
