Press Release: City Wide Forum For Estate Management

Press Release

City Wide Forum For Estate Management

The launch took place in the Absolute Hotel on Tuesday 2nd February.
Patricia Boylan spoke on behalf of the Estate Management Workers City Wide. They include Moyross, St Munchin’s, St Mary’s, Our Lady of Lourdes, Carew / Kincora and O Malley / Keys Parks.
We are delighted to celebrate the launch of the brochure which promotes the collective work of Estate Management.

Community-Based Estate Management projects were established in the mid 90’s and was initially funded by Paul Partnership. The stakeholders continued their combined approach to Estate Management throughout this period and in 2000, Limerick City Council under took to fund the Estate Management Projects. The Limerick City Estate Management Network was founded to continue the partnership approach to Estate Management in the City and support the work of the Stakeholders.

Presently the City Wide Forum creates an integrated link for residents and services across the city.
It is a powerful tool that enables the sharing of information across the city for Estate Management workers and management groups.
Estate Management provides residents with a platform to have a voice on issues involving their community.

2010 marks the 10th Anniversary of Limerick City Council funding Estate Management Projects City Wide. On this note, we would like to acknowledge the Housing Dept for their support to the Estate Management, also the Environment dept who not only support the vital work of Estate Management on the ground but also projects carried out by the City Wide Forum itself.

We would like to acknowledge and express our appreciation to Limerick Regeneration for their financial contribution which has ensured the full time operation of Estate Management in the Regeneration areas and for the City wide projects they are supporting.

We would also like to thank Paul Partnership for their on going support to Estate Management City wide and the financial contribution that both they and Limerick Regeneration had made to the production of this brochure.

Finally the City Wide Forum plays a vital and valuable role in influencing Estate Management and is committed to ensuring the future of Estate Management in Limerick.
At the launch Deputy Mayor John Gilligan congratulated the Limerick City Wide Forum on the production of the brochure. He stated their work is an important link for residents and their organisations in their efforts to make our communities better and more managed places to live in. The Mayor, Councillors and Staff of Limerick City Council will continue to work in partnership with the City Wide Forum in meeting the challenges that lie ahead for all the stakeholders in this process.

Corpus Christi Community Companions

Corpus Christi Community Companions is well-established now in Moyross. As you know, the Community Companions listen to how you feel about things without judging you. They do not give answers, but give you time to come up with your own answers – if that’s what you want. They do not talk to others about you and nobody talks about you unless you want them to. Community Companions are there for all adults in Moyross. We believe that by being with you as and where you are makes life a bit better for you and makes Moyross a better place to live, work, play and learn.

Life is often a series of changes and losses that we all have to face and cope with – sometimes these losses can make us feel so alone and isolated. Losses include death (including death by suicide), separation, imprisonment, family-breakup, children ‘leaving the nest’ or loneliness. People experience lost hope, peace of mind, certainty, work, faith, self-worth, money, friends, family, confidence, independence, health, safety, childhoods and even reasons for living. This is not to suggest that we do not have conversations about the achievements, interests, dreams, hopes and happier life experiences of people we meet – we often do. As Companions we are not counsellors or health professionals, we are regular normal people who are there to listen to and be with other regular normal people in day-to-day life and living.

Corpus Christi Community Companions aims to continue being companions in your community in 2010 – on the street, on the doorstep, at the kitchen table or at our drop-in facility. We are also looking at the possibility of inviting people to train as volunteers. There would be a clear recruitment, selection and training process so as to ensure that what Community Companions is about best matches the qualities, abilities, strengths and interests of volunteers.

At this stage we are just inviting people to express their interest in becoming volunteers. We are not simply looking for people with lots of qualifications or experience, but what we would be looking for are people with qualities such as given below and people who want to use and develop these qualities. Full initial training will be given.

· Able to listen
· Able to respect the private and confidential nature of the Corpus Christi Community Companions work at all times
· Able to work with others
· Calm
· Comfortable talking about feelings
· Easy to talk with and able to start conversation in a non-threatening manner
· Have a healthy sense of self
· Have a sense of humour
· Non-judgemental
· Open-minded
· Patient
· Reliable
· Respectful
· Sensitive to people’s feelings
· Understanding
· Willing to learn

Corpus Christi Community Companions is currently funded by Limerick Regeneration Agencies and Limerick Enterprise Development Park and its staff are employed by the Moyross Community Enterprise Centre. The project office is based in the church in Moyross. This partnership between these different organisations is a very positive part of Corpus Christi Community Companions and the reason the project was able to be set up and keep going. While the staff have an excellent working relationship with the organisations, information of a personal and confidential nature is not shared with any other agency unless specifically requested by people availing of our service.

If you a) are interested in knowing more, b) want to tell us you are interested in volunteering or c) want to share your ideas on what we are or should be doing, please feel free to contact Mo, Anne Marie or Breda on 061 329606.

A community literacy festival

The aim of this project is to encourage family reading and to motivate the whole community to become excited about literacy. ‘A community literacy festival’

Overview
This festival will run for a period of 4-6 weeks during April and May. It will include all schools in the community; Salesian’s Secondary, St Nessan’s CC, St Munchin’s CBS, St Munchin’s GNS, St Lelia’s and Corpus as well as various community groups and after schools clubs.

It is hoped that Roald Dahl’s book ‘The Twits’ will be distributed to each household in the community including Moyross, Ballynanty, Kileely and Thomondgate. It is estimated that there will be approx 1500 books in circulation. An activity book corresponding with the book will be designed and distributed also.

Over the 4-6 weeks, each pupil will be completing their workbook both at home and at school. In school, they will be doing art projects, colouring competitions, poster designing competitions, games and other creative activities which relate to the book. In addition, it is envisaged that there will be family table quizzes, family reading sessions and story telling groups. All those who return their workbooks will be entered into a draw for prizes at the end of the project.
The six weeks will culminate in an art exhibition and play/show, bringing the project to a close.

The project is being supported by Munster rugby and it is hoped that some players will take part in family reading sessions and other events.