Your PAL Pack and PAL Guide
As a PAL, the first thing you need to check out is the 2022-2023 PAL Pack! Inside you’ll find all the updates about the programme and key info for this year in an easy-to-read brochure.
The PAL Guide is your essential need-to-know about the details of the programme, all new PALs receive a physical copy of the PAL guide. If you need one sent out to you, contact your Development officer.
Award Levels – Explainers and Requirements
Challenge Area Ideas
Regardless of the size of your Gaisce participant group, people can run out of ideas very quickly on what to do with their Challenge areas, and also what to do for their additional weeks! Check out the support sheets below for some ideas, encourage participants to look through all of our Gaisce Challenge Partners, and you can also reach out directly to your Development Officer to see what can work for different ability levels.
Using the GO Platform
We’ve updated and improved the way we register participants, sign up our PALs, approve participants and sort out invoices. The Gaisce Online (GO) platform better protects PAL and Participant data in line with GDPR, and the information we collect will enable us to continue improving the quality of the programme and the accessibility of Gaisce into the future.
You’ll need to familiarise yourself with:
- Accessing the GO System
- Activating your Participants
- Sorting out payments / creating an invoice
- Approving diary entries
- Changing Participant’s activities
- Filling in a brief survey about the Adventure Journey(s) taken
Participant Record Sheets
Support and FAQ
Here are a collection of pages that are set up as support pages to help make your journey as a PAL easier.
There is also an FAQ section, which answers questions that we frequently get asked.
(In-Development)
FAQ
Coming soon!
My Gaisce Development Officer
Your Gaisce Development officer is here to support you as a PAL to encourage, motivate, engage and inform your Gaisce participants!
We have rejigged our regions to make sure every PAL has excellent support, so see below to see who your Development Officer is this year as there’s been some small changes for 2022.
You will also find information and contact details for Gaisce Development Officers who are supporting other Gaisce projects you may be involved in:
- Supporting Youth people seeking asylum or who have refugee status
- Garda Youth Diversion Projects, Intervention and Probation
- Prisons, Youth Detention and Uniformed Organisations
Siobhan Noctor
(She/Her)
You can reach me at:
siobhan[at]gaisce.ie
086 4403974
I’m the Development Officer of:
(Part-Time)
Donegal, Galway, Mayo, Sligo
Mary Yore
(She/Her)
You can reach me at:
mary[at]gaisce.ie
087 2426293
I’m the Development Officer of:
Cavan, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Westmeath
Kate Kelly
(She/Her)
You can reach me at:
kkelly[at]gaisce.ie
087 0941466
I’m the Development Officer of:
Clare, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary
Ger Brady
(She/Her)
You can reach me at:
ger[at]gaisce.ie
087 1646661
I’m the Development Officer of:
D2, D4, D6/D6w D8, D10, D12, D14, D16, D18, D22, D24, South County Dublin, Kildare
Eve O’Brien
(She/Her)
You can reach me at:
eve[at]gaisce.ie
087 9322314
I’m the Development Officer of:
D1, D3, D5, D7, D9, D11, D13, D15, D17, D20 and North County Dublin, Wicklow
Paul Darby
(He/Him)
You can reach me at:
paul[at]gaisce.ie
087 6194868
I’m the Development Officer of:
Carlow, Cork, Kilkenny, Waterford, Wexford
Marion Irwin-Gowran
(She/Her)
You can reach me at:
marion[at]gaisce.ie
087 6290788
I’m the Development Officer of:
Prisons, Youth Detention, Uniformed Organisations, and Dual Award programmes
Garda Youth Diversion Projects (GYDP), Intervention, Probation
Planning Your Local Ceremony
Bronze, and regularly Silver, Gaisce Award ceremonies are organised on a local level by the organisations that offer Gaisce programmes, like schools, colleges and youth services (Gaisce Award Partners).
It is a fantastic way to highlight the recipient’s achievements and how they earned their Bronze Gaisce Award. An Award ceremony is the culmination of all of their work and gives an opportunity for their efforts to be acknowledged publicly by peers and adult mentors, and sometimes key figures from their journey.
A ceremony will help to motivate your Bronze Awardees to progress to the next level of Gaisce and participate in the Silver or Gold Award programmes. This is hugely beneficial as it will encourage participants’ continued personal growth and development, as well as ensuring their continued involvement in their community and society.
It is a chance for reflection on how enjoyable Gaisce was over the year and the benefits of taking part. It is the perfect opportunity for participants to realise how far they have come – that they have achieved something that they previously might not have thought possible
It is a great opportunity for you as a PAL and your school/organisation to get the recognition you deserve internally but also publicly through media coverage in local press!
Every year we encourage Schools/Organisations to host their Bronze and Silver ceremonies as part of October’s annual #LáGaisce. This day usually takes place on the last Wednesday before midterm break.
Many secondary schools also like to host the ceremony at the end of the academic year or as part of end-of-term Awards across the school community.
Remember to have your Awardees marked as completed on the GO System at least ten working days before your ceremony so that our Gaisce team can get the medals and certificates to you on time!
If you have any issues or concerns, please contact our Admin team on mail@gaisce.ie.
- The local municipal district mayor
- A well-known celebrity or personality from your area
- A local successful businessperson
- A Gaisce Gold Award holder who is an alumni of your school/organisation/service
- A successful local sports person
- Who is MC?
- Who can hand the medals to the special guest to present to recipients?
- Who can assist the movement of recipients up to the stage?
- Who can organise the refreshments, and who will prepare it?
- Who can liaise with the photographer and local press, both before the event and on the day?
- Will you need to use a computer / projector? Who can assist with this?
- Recognise the recipients’ achievements – provide your speaker with facts and figures on the number of hours spent working towards achieving Gaisce can work really well.
- Demonstrate a reasonable knowledge and enthusiasm for what Gaisce is about – provide info on Gaisce from our website (www.gaisce.ie)
- Talk about their experiences and memories of Gaisce, should they have completed the Award.
- The value of Gaisce in terms of both personal development and employment perspectives.
- Examples during their work or life where the ability to self-motivate and learn new skills has led to achievement in their field
