Work comm dev

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Community Development is about assisting communities, and community groups, to identify and meet their own needs. The Community Development Team works together with community groups and organisations to promote equality and inclusion. The team focuses especially on working with people who are excluded from social services, facilities and activities because of poverty, disability, old age or being from an ethnic minority. Our aim is to empower individuals and representative groups to address issues affecting their own lives and to develop systems of identifying common problems and working together for meaningful change.

Through working in a co-ordinated and mutually supportive way with local Community Development Projects, Family Support Projects and representative groups, we are currently focussing on the following areas of work:

Older People's Network
The partnership concentrates a considerable part of its energies on the needs of the elderly in the area, this reflects the fact that the Canal Communities area has a higher percentage of older people than the national average. We work very closely with community and voluntary groups to identify and cater for the social needs of the elderly.

The Canal Communities Older Peoples Network draws together these groups regularly to discuss and plan activities collectively.

A significant new venture coming into action in the autumn of 2009 is the Friendly Call initiative. This community based venture will connect with isolated elderly in the home and provide a friendly and supportive line of telephone contact between the elderly person and the outside world. It will also aim to make elderly people aware of, and connected to, support networks in the wider community and ensure that the needs of the elderly person are being met.

The Fáilte Isteach initiative is a successful marrying of the efforts and capabilities of the elderly with a social need in their community. Volunteers, drawn principally from the ranks of the elderly, come together to teach basic English to immigrants and members of the new communities locally. The project has been extraordinarily successful and operates in two locations in the partnership area, Rialto and Inchicore.

The Disability Working Group
The Disability Working Group works on issues that affect the lives of all disabled people in the Canal Partnership area and lobbies for improvements at local and national level. Currently the Disability Working Group is running a series of training courses in association with other organisations in the disability field. These comprise of information technology, personal development and independent living skills.

Flat Complex Regeneration
The regeneration process, both physical and social, effects the Canal Partnership area profoundly. Much of the housing stock is quite old and has been neglected in recent years. Canal Community Partnership supports the communities in areas targeted for regeneration to participate effectively in a process which will profoundly change their lives. Despite the recent economic downturn we are striving, with the local communities, to ensure that social regeneration continues apace.

Canal Community Partnership and the new Irish
The Intercultural issue is of great importance to Canal Community Partnership. Our aim is to work with both the newly arrived communities and the local community to create a welcoming, respectful and inclusive place. We work closely with Canal Communities Intercultural Centre and the local community organisations to achieve this aim.

More than 10% of people now living in the Canal Communities were not born in Ireland. Our vision is that together we can build a community that understands, accepts and celebrates diversity and friendship. Through our new Intercultural Centre we will be working together for an Ireland of Equals.

The Canal Communities Intercultural Centre will provide an outreach, referral and information service. Through our programme of activities we will also provide all people, both Irish and new communities, with opportunities to celebrate, learn and socialise together.

In the very near future Canal Communities Intercultural Centre will publish a policy document on Interculturalism and Youth which promises to bring fresh insight to the subject.

Training and Supports to Communities
Together with the community groups and educational agencies CCP sponsors an initiative to develop leadership skills within the local community and the community /voluntary groups working there.

Over the past two years the Partnership has developed a number of Community Leadership Programmes for local people to help them to develop and improve skills which benefits the individuals themselves and their communities. The programmes began in 2007 with 3 beginners courses with 30 participants which were awarded Fetac level 4 qualifications. In 2008 the Partnership joined with Inchicore College of Further Education to put on a Fetac level 5 programme in Community Development which advances people towards employment related qualifications available through the Universities.

Groups and organisations that run clubs, projects or services in the community who need training or facilitation but can't afford it are assisted by the Community Development team. The team provides group development training such as team building or skills development, intercultural awareness or staff support and supervision. All are free of charge.

Healthy Communities
The Partnership helps to foster an interest in and support for initiatives that contribute to improving the quality of life in the area. With state agencies and local organisations several areas of activity such as healthy eating and health screening programmes are rolling out across the Partnership area.

Women in the Community
As part of our commitment to women’s issues in the area the Partnership is engaged in forming a women’s group at local level with the objective of mutual support, representation and lobbying. When successful this will be rolled out over the Partnership area generally.

If you are interested in getting involved in your community, but don’t know where to start, get in touch with us and we will try to point you in the right direction. For further information contact our Community Development Co-ordinator at (01) 473 2196.

Home | About us | Jobseekers Options | Noticeboard | Partnership work
Publications | Links | Contacts