Invitation - Forum needs your views on Newbridge

Invitation - Have your say on the future of Newbridge

Event: Newbridge Open Forum

Issue: How Does Newbridge Deal With The Economic Crisis

Date: 16 September 2009 at 8pm

Venue: Hotel Keadeen, Newbridge

A Newbridge community group is tackling the economic crisis in a positive and unusual way and you are invited to take part.

Newbridge Community Development is inviting town residents to come along to an open forum that will discuss the future of the town economically as well as socially. The event will take place on Wednesday, September 16, in Hotel Keadeen at 8pm and people are invited to share their thoughts and ideas on what the local issues are.

Please feel free to pass on this invitation to others who you feel will be interested in attending or circulate it within your organisation.

Forum background:

These are challenging times for everyone and uncertainty casts a dark shadow over the future for individuals and families, economically as well as socially. As a community, Newbridge has been hit badly by unemployment, with young adults bearing the brunt of this economic depression. Everyone faces concerns about how they will cope financially in the months ahead and the isolation and loneliness adds to the fear of what the future brings.

Newbridge Community Development is inviting you to take part in an open forum on Wednesday, 16 September, at 8pm. This meeting will take place in Hotel Keadeen and is an opportunity to participate in a broad discussion on what Newbridge people can do, as we deal with the future.

Important question:

The Newbridge Open Forum will ask the question ‘How Does Newbridge Deal With The Future’ and this will be facilitated by Eoin McDonnell, a Newbridge resident, who runs Oaktree Coaching and Consultancy.

The open nature of the meeting will allow you to put forward any issues or ideas you want to raise. These issues could relate to community facilities, unemployment, social isolation, education or opportunities for business development.

The Newbridge Open Forum offers an opportunity to share your views, participate in lively debate and share in an opportunity to look at where our town is going in these challenging times. You will have an opportunity to pick the topics that most interest you and join in smaller groups to explore these issues.

The agenda will be set by those who participate and NCD hopes the forum will create a new energy, where Newbridge people begin to take control in these difficult times.

Connect with others:

Everyone will be welcomed to the meeting with a cup of tea and there will be an opportunity to meet other people. Eoin McDonnell will open the forum and invite people to put forward ideas for discussion. The core ideas will then be discussed by smaller groups. These will have an opportunity to explore in more detail the subject that is of most interest to them. The general group will then review all the subjects that were debated.

This will be an opportunity to meet other people living in Newbridge, share or listen to an open debate on a wide variety issues that are important to us all and look at how we can deal with the economic crisis. We know there is no instant solution to our difficulties but, in sharing our views as a community we are taking a step forward.

Register and keep updated:

People are invited to register in advance through emailing ncdforum@gmail.com. You can get updates on the forum at http://ncdforum.blogspot.com/ and follow the forum on twitter at http://twitter.com/ncdforum.

Newbridge Community Development will keep people updated before the event. The group will also provide a communication network for a period after the event to ensure those who attend are linked together in their shared interest regarding the future of our community and our town.

What is NCD?

Newbridge Community Development (NCD) is a community organisation established 11 years ago and it has been involved in a variety of projects and currently runs a Childcare Training Course with Fas and has funded the Business Plan for the Newbridge Culture Factory project.

The group led the first opposition to the Whitewater Cinema saga, made various submissions on development plans for Newbridge and worked with the Cheshire Home on construction of a Respite Centre at Moorefield. NCD was also involved in the foundation of Teach Tearmainn, the women’s refuge project. The Chairperson is Michael Mullally.