‘The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today’

KYW24 will go down as the most successful year that the KYW has ever experienced, with continued growth throughout every layer of the organisation. Since Covid-19, Knockadoon Youth Week has seen positive trajectory, breaking camper number records whilst expanding successfully to four weeks, reaching fundraising targets to adjust to the cost of living crisis, and recruiting new leaders across five regions to further support the sustainability of the KYW into the future. I’d like to thank all our key stakeholders that have supported our ability to continue delivering the programme to young people throughout Ireland; the leaders, campers, parents, Dominicans and wider members of the community for their efforts to elevate the KYW to new heights and help us to deliver one of our best programmes to date. We are now looking forward to the future as we continue to grow and adapt the programme to ensure we continue to prosper in our mission to provide a safe place where young people can come together to enjoy themselves, grow in their faith and human development and relax in the company of their peers. 

Although we are all excited about the prospects that KYW25 will bring, we are saddened by the retirement of two leaders that have been apart of the Senior Leadership Team. Firstly, Hannah O’Hare has been a KYW leader since 2014 and attended the summer camp for several years throughout her childhood. Hannah has served the KYW beyond the expectations that we would have for any of our volunteers, showing unwavering dedication, passion, and love for a place that she would call home. Notably, Hannah was Senior Leader for one week in 2022 and two weeks during 2023 and led over 90 volunteer leaders in running successful weeks for over 300 happy campers. Hannah has a unique ability to make the individuals around her smile, fostering care and support for every individual that she meets. Hannah embodies the core values of the KYW, ensuring that any leader or camper that enters is supported by her familial approach. Our current Assistant Senior Leader Niamh Lennon (and close friend) had this to say, “Hannah has been part of the KYW since 2011, starting as a camper until she was made a leader in 2014, since then Hannah has been an important part of the KYW family, taking on roles within the Kildare region and then head of development. She was then asked to be part of the SLT and worked tirelessly throughout Covid to ensure KYW would return in 2022. Hannah has sadly made the decision to hang up her red hoodie and retire as a leader, but will be greatly missed and the work and love she poured into the KYW will always be appreciated. Thank you so much Hannah”. 

Senior Leader Stephen Love has also decided to retire from the KYW after being involved with the group for 9 years, racking up an impressive 19 weeks on camp. Stephen was the first Senior Leader to have +100 campers on each of his four weeks in 2024, thanks to his promotional efforts throughout each of our regions. Stephen led the group to breaking fundraising records for two successive years, introduced more female leaders into the SLT than ever before, whilst fostering female development throughout various committee positions. Stephen has continued to nurture Dundalk, Tallaght and Newry’s development as regions, whilst focusing on supporting the thriving region that is Newbridge. Most importantly Stephen invested in every individual that wore the red jumper (over 215 leaders), supporting their growth and development as humans both in and out of the KYW. Connor Byrne will replace Stephen Love as Senior Leader for the upcoming year, “I believe that successful leadership requires having the right person, in the right place at the right time and there is no doubt to anyone connected with the KYW that Slove was the right person, in the right place at the right time who we call ‘Our Senior Leader’. I do not have the ability to articulate the obsession that Slove has for the KYW and I am privileged to have the opportunity to step into the role and to try fill the very large boots that he has left behind, in the quality of both leadership and friendship that he has cemented within the group. I can only thank him for the sacrifices that he has made and I hope that in time he looks back and is proud of the steps forward that we make as a team, thanks to your guidance and mentorship”. 

If you have not seen our social media posts the dates for next year’s program are as follows:

• Week One: 14th June – 21st June
• Week Two: 21st June – 28th June
• Week Three: 28th June – 5th July
• Week Four: 5th July – 12th July

This year, the KYW will continue to provide alternative payment plans that will give parents flexible monthly options as to how they want to pay for their child’s camp fee. This year due to external cost pressures, the camp fee has been increased to €235. This is the lowest possible amount the programme could be set at given the rapidly rising costs of operating the programme, with our leaders’ fundraising efforts no longer able to effectively keep pace with spiralling costs across the board.

Admissions Policy:

Due to limited resources and high demand for Knockadoon Youth Week 2025, we will be offering early access to campers who successfully registered and attended Knockadoon Youth Week 2024 (In accordance with our records). Parents of eligible returning campers will receive an email containing a registration form. This form is intended solely for the recipient and is strictly prohibited from being shared with others. The date and time for the start of priority enrolment will be announced through our social media channels at a later date. While priority is given to returning campers, the number of spaces available during this early enrolment period is capped. Submission is based on a first-come, first-served basis. Submissions from campers who did not attend KYW 2024 will be removed and notified via email. These campers can avail of the spaces on offer during the public release. Following the early access phase, a separate date will be announced for general enrolment. General enrolment application forms will be published on our website as normal, and this date will be well publicised on our social media channels. 

• Male Early Access (via e-mail) 2nd November
• Female Early Access (via e-mail) 3rd November
• Public Release (vis our website) 9th November

We encourage those interested to apply during this public release. Waiting lists will be made available during the public release process. Knockadoon Youth Week is run entirely by a team of dedicated volunteers, and our resources are limited. We ask for your understanding and patience in this process. Please note that we are unable to facilitate swaps between weeks. Additionally, we are committed to maintaining a respectful environment and will not respond to communications containing abusive or harmful material.

Each form will be released between 10-11AM.

Refund Policy: 

• Non-refundable deposit: €45 (included in first payment).

Key Dates;

• 30th of April: Camp fees must be paid in FULL (as a result each payment option will have an expiry date as to when you can sign up for them).
• 17th of May: Cancellations made after this date are subject to an increased non-refundable deposit of €85.
• 31st of May: Any cancellations made after this date will not be entitled to any refund.

• The KYW strictly adheres to the refund policy above.
• Monthly payments will be automatically deducted from your account on the same day each month as to when you first signed up.
• Should any monthly payment fail, you will be sent an email and given 10 days notice to complete the payment.
• If payment is not received after the 10 days, your place will be cancelled and your money will be refunded to your account (excluding the €45 deposit).
• Any child that breaches the rules of the KYW and that are asked to leave camp, will NOT be entitled to a refund.

Important Notices:

• All weeks are available to open to 11-17 year olds from all regions.
• As always the KYW reserves the right to reject or remove any application and our decision is final.
• Please ensure you apply to the correct application form, given there are separate application forms for males and females.
• Please read the terms and conditions throughout the form.
• Please include a valid email and phone number on the parents information section (section 2) of the application form.
• Multiple bookings are not available and we require individual entries for each camper.
• Your place as a camper will not be secured until you have 100% completed the application form and your first payment has successfully processed
• We want to accommodate keeping groups of campers together as much as possible and allow as many campers as possible to return to the programme. So we ask that you book the earliest week that you are able to attend where possible to ensure certain weeks are not oversubscribed and that campers sitting exams or with other commitments are still able to attend.
• Should any monthly payment fail, you will be sent an email and given 10 days notice to complete the payment. If payment is not received after the 10 days, your place will be cancelled and your money will be refunded to your account (excluding the €45 deposit).

The KYW welcomes and takes feedback very seriously. Anyone who is experiencing difficulties with the application process can email us at: seniorleaderkyw@gmail.com, or alternatively can contact us via our social media pages. We would also like to thank the parents who completed our parent feedback form to better inform our decision making process for the coming KYW year. If anyone has any questions please reach out via email or to one of our social media accounts and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

The countdown to camp starts today, I hope you are looking forward to it as much as we are!

Connor Byrne

Senior Leader, KYW