Come along - Second Newbridge Forum invitation

The second meeting of the Newbridge Forum takes place this Wednesday, September 30, at 8pm in Hotel Keadeen.

We hope to see you at this follow-up session, which is organised by Newbridge Community Development. The first meeting two weeks ago was hugely successful and discussed a broad rang of issues. There were a variety of topics for general discussion such as unemployment, promoting Newbridge, developing a Food Buying Club, a local voucher scheme and developing an Alliance of Youth.

At the second meeting this Wednesday you will have an opportunity to discuss these and other issues and meet again with the people who made the first forum such an interesting night. Again, it will be a relaxed event with plenty of opportunity to chat to one another. If you know of others who would like to come along this Wednesday night, please invite them to join in.

Some of the key topics that emerged from the group discussions at our first meeting included:

Youth Alliance - is there a way to bring together the groups who are already working with young people in Newbridge to create a stronger voice?

Youth Cafe - why do other areas such as Athy and the Curragh have such a facility and there is nothing similar in Newbridge?

Unemployed and social exclusion - are there ways we in Newbridge can help break down the isolation many who are out of work feel? Can Newbridge identify the skills and talents of those who live here and use this to promote the town for business? How can people who are looking for work network together to share information and make connections? Creating hope is a challenge in the present time but what can be done to build on our community spirit and individual resources within Newbridge? Would a Jobs Club be something people are interested in developing?

Business voucher scheme - can Newbridge run its own business promotion scheme, offering vouchers and special offers to local people who spend in the town? Could this develop further into a Newbridge Currency and what else can be done to promote business?

Our town - Can Newbridge promote itself as a great location and why hasn't the town full local council status? Could the town employ a Town Development Manager to promote Newbridge? Is too much money leaving Newbridge to fund Kildare County Council and what can be done to change this? Should we have a local festival such as a Christy Moore Folk Festival? How can town pride be increased so we become a better town?

Skills exchange - can Newbridge people develop a register of local skills to show the talents available locally. This could promote the town for business but also develop into an exchange programme where people swap their skills and talents and achieve goals.

Food Buying Club - we all need to buy food but could there be a different way? The suggestion is to have a Food Buying Club where people join together to buy produce from local farmers and others. This could have the double benefit of helping local producers. Is there enough interest to develop this idea and shop in a new way?

Community Gardens - Can more gardens be developed in Newbridge and gardeners share their food producing skills with others to create more ways to produce food?

Come along and join in an interesting debate on these topics and others you may wish to raise.

Ideas flow at Newbridge Forum

The first Newbridge Forum to discuss the economic crisis was a lively and very interesting night. It was organised by Newbridge Community Development and held in Hotel Keadeen on September 16.

Ideas flowed when over 100 people gathered to raise issues that were important to them and to discuss them in detail. A follow-up Forum meeting will take place in Hotel Keadeen this Wednesday, September 30, at 8pm. You are all invited to attend, particularly those who attended the first meeting. Again it is an opportunity to meet people, talk together and thrash out issues that concern us all.

Range of topics

There were lots of very interesting topics suggested for discussion when the Forum was opened by Eoin McDonnell, a trained facilitator and Director of OakTree Coaching, which is based in Newbridge. The topics included a local food buying club, a discount voucher scheme run by local shops, tapping into individual and community resourcesfulness to meet the challenges ahead, securing urban status for the town council and facilities for young peoople.

When people divided into seven different groups to discuss the general issues that were raised there were many concrete suggestions on what people could do.

Skills database

In the first instances people put forward general topics.

One suggested involved Newbridge building a database of skills and professions within the town, both among the employed and unemployed. Such information could be used to attract new business or industry to the town. Navan in Co. Meath very successfully gathered this information and used it to market their town some years ago. It was stressed that the human resources we have in Newbridge are among the town’s strongest asset.

This theme was raised again and again when speakers stressed Newbridge needed to rely on talents within the town and its own resources to meet the current challenges.

Vouchers promoting business

The possibility of a Newbridge town currency was raised that would encourage people to do business locally. It was suggested a first step could be to have a business voucher scheme, which could involve discounts available to local people when they do business in Newbridge.

Difficulties in getting places on retraining courses were also raised. As a result those out of work just sit and home as no suitable course is available for them. A suggestion that a Fas course be run in retro-fitting homes to ensure they are more energy efficient was made. Grants are available to people to do this work but there is a need for a course to train people in the construction trade to do this work.

Youth facilities

There was concern expressed at the lack of facilities for young people in Newbridge. This meant many just had to hang around the streets and it was said there was very little to motivate them outside of school. The speaker also was concerned at drugs being sold in the town.

A skills swap scheme being promoted through one of the local primary schools was mentioned. This involves people volunteering to do something for someone else and, in turn, having some task completed for them. Everyone has something to give was the comment by the speaker who said this scheme could work by someone providing babysitting for example.

Costly food

The affordability of food was another issue raised with the speaker suggesting a Food Buying Club could ease costs and also support local producers. Local farmers would benefit through accessing a market in their locality and people would have fresh food sourced within their own community.

Social inclusion

Disability issues and awareness of others were also raised. Not parking in a space reserved for a person with a disability and trimming overhanging hedges are important for people with a disability and greater awareness was requested.

Inclusiveness of people with a disability and particularly an intellectual disability was also raised. The question was asked how can Newbridge promote inclusion in areas such as employment, leisure and through attitude change. “It doesn’t cost a penny to be inclusive”, was the speaker’s comment.

Unemployment

The difficulty of losing social welfare benefits while taking up part-time employment. The need for information on this area was raised as to how many hours a person could work, while retaining benefits.

Isolation can be a major issue for people who have become unemployed so the issue of networking and networking meetings was raised. Putting people in touch with one another was raised as a way to limit this social isolation.

A one-stop Resource Centre could be a means of bringing people who are unemployed together. Services are available, the speaker noted, but what is missing is a focal point. She said this could be a location where a coaching service, skills for job interviews and other assistance could be provided. The importance of having a contact in a local social welfare office was raised to help source information.

Promoting Newbridge

The need to promote Newbridge as a town and to look to upgrade the local government status of the town council was raised. At present Newbridge Town Council doesn’t have planning powers, collect rates or build houses. This developed into a significant topic with people pointing out Newbridge doesn’t get all the rate income that is collected from business in the town and local services aren’t properly resourced.

The suggestion that Newbridge have a Town Development Manager was raised. This is someone who would look at overall promotion and development in the town and who could develop the town such as Kilkenny had done in the past. The need for civic awareness among all residents and setting achievable goals was also raised. The lack of a town courthouse was also raised.

Creating hope

Despite the difficult times, it is important people have hope. A speaker said people experience anxiety, depression and feel they are stuck in a very difficult situation. St Conleth’s Parish in Newbridge is working to create a sense of hope among people.

The need to involve young people in all aspects of Newbridge life was raised. The speaker said too often young people were wrongly labelled and added it is up to everyone to involve young people more in debate and activities.

Great Free Training Opportunity

GREAT FREE TRAINING OPPORTUNITY

Two training places have been very kindly offered to Newbridge Community Development free ofcharge for an iPhone software developers course.

iPhone Apps Ireland run the course in Dublin for software developers /engineers / IT staff that want to learn how to develop applicationsfor the Apple iPhone. Please see www.iphoneappsireland.com.

They are offering two free places to individuals who have lost their job. The next course will begin on Monday, 21st September in BewleysHotel Newlands Cross. In addition there will be a 40% discount off the normal €899 cost for anyone that is referred from Newbridge who feels their job may be in danger or has been cut down to part time and feels they want to 'upskill' to help return or retain work.

iPhone Apps Ireland is Irelands only iPhone dedicated software development and training company. The company's iPhone development training team has achieved huge success creating iPhone Apps that are distributed and sold through Apple’s App store.

If you are interested in being considered for these two free places contact iPhone Apps at info@iphoneappsireland.com or 01 681 2321 and talk to Keith. Lots more information on the company and the course at: www.iphoneappsireland.com.

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.