"Second Chance in Life" shows vital role of Community Employment



Turas CE participant John Bowden with Manager Trevor Keogh

Turas CE participants John Bowden, Barry Kellet, Jessica Whelan and David Eustace

CANALCommunitiesTrainingProgramme,Turas, is an education and training initative specifically designed as a response to the needs of stabilised drug users.

Based in the Bluebell industrial estate and offering services to the canal communities of Bluebell, Rialto and Inchicore, it is one of hundreds of Community Employment schemes facing an uncertain future.

The scheme delivers a range of rehabilitation and employment training to its 50 CE participants, including addiction support, vocational education and training, outdoor education and evidence based holistic therapies.

Scheme manager Trevor Keogh expressed deep concern at the upcoming review of CE schemes with its focus on labour market activation,rather than the provision of community services.

He said: “It’s a bean counting exercise. The focus seems to be all about the financial cost of CE, not

the cost in terms of vital service provision, not the opportunity cost to our participants and their communities

of withdrawing our service in the future.“

Trevor pointed to the good work carried out at schemes – such as Turas which in total cater for more

than 1,000 participants across the state.

“Special CE projects are the central plank of the national drug rehabilitation programme, but this point

is nowhere to be seen in the terms of review.”

Trevor also questions how appropriate it is to judge drug rehabilitation services purely in terms of progression

to work.He said: “The wrong measurement is being used. No account is taken of the development and progress of the participants and the rehabilitative context of the work carried out.”

This point is echoed by the participants themselves, such as James. He told Liberty; “I left school at 13, I couldn’t read or write and fell into drug addiction. After one year on this programme I’m reading,writing, doing computers. My own children now see me going to work each week, so it’s helping to set standards for them as well.”

John, another participant, had a similar story to tell. He said: “I left school at 13 withno qualifications. With Turas I began to do FETAC level 3 and 4 in Computers, Maths and English. “We also do a lot of work on relapse prevention which I found very useful in the early days of my recovery because for the first time in my life I was taking responsibility for my actions.”

These themes are repeated time and again by others who have taken part in the scheme. A third participant, David,

summed up his time with Turas as“a second chance in life for me.”It’s hard to believe that invaluable schemes like Turas could be under threat but already the cuts in funding are biting hard.

Trevor Keogh added: “The cuts mean there’s no training allowance, individualised training is impossible now – train the trainer, forklift licence, manual handling – there’s no money for that now”.

The Turas participants are determined to protect their scheme and are joining SIPTU’s campaign

urging the Government to broaden the focus of the terms of the upcoming review of Community Employment.

The campaign is making some progress and to date has secured a commitment for additional short- term funding for schemes in difficulty while the review is under way as well as a guarantee that no scheme will close during the

review period.

More significantly, the Department of Social Protection has now given a commitment that the

campaign will have an input into the review.

Training “Frozen” for Markiewicz Centre Community Employment

An outstanding community employment scheme which has trained  and assisted over 250 participants into employment over the last 10 years  now faces an uncertain future with training for participants frozen due to budget cutbacks.The Markiewicz centre in Decies Road Ballyfermot currently provides FETAC level 5 and 6 training in Childcare to 29 course participants and has an unrivalled reputation for excellence both in the local community, and within the childcare sector .

“Training has been brought to a standstill because of the cut to the materials and training grant” said centre manager Theresa McGouran. “We have people who had expected to complete FETAC level 6 before they finished their course, but this is now not possible”

Gemma Baird is one of the participants who has been affected by the cutback. She leaves the course this month and is disappointed not to be able to fully complete her FETAC qualification. “I couldn’t believe that they would stop the funding in this way.”

This situation is particularly galling for Theresa as the Centre had the foresight to start running FETAC level 6 training in 2009, a full 3 years before it became the new standard in best practice childcare.

There is a huge irony too in a Community Employment Scheme with a 100% progression rate suffering cutbacks like these in light of the new focus on the importance of so called “labour market activation measures”. While taking pride in their record of job placement, Theresa is keen to stress the importance of the personal development of course participants. “An emphasis on self-development is a crucial part of the work we do here. Getting a job is important but there’s much much more to the work we do here”

This point is echoed by the participants themselves who talk passionately about the changes in their outlook and confidence as a result of taking up a placement on the CE scheme.

Michelle Carrig described how she originally left school at 15 and spent 11 years at home before taking up this course. She declared “My whole life has changed as a result of the opportunities I have had here”. Michelle is currently completing a FETAC course in Caring for Carers which is likely to offer her good prospects for employment as a fully trained Carer.

These are opportunities that may not be available to lone parents in the future according to Theresa McGouran. “The new rules re single payments for lone parents and the disabled are going to be a big barrier to future participation from these groups. When you think of the costs of childcare lone parents are going to be effectively barred from taking up a course like ours. There are going to be no opportunities for them.”

 The Markievicz Centre has come a long way from its humble origins as a neighbourhood watch group in 1990. Local community activist developed this into a tenants association, and from there into a local community association.

Today the Markievicz Centre is well established as the heart of the local community providing a wide range of education, advice and support services to local people alongside a community crèche. While Theresa is very worried about the future, describing the current situation as “just living from day to day wondering if we’re going to be cut further” it is clear that the staff and participants will do all in their power to ensure the future of the Markiewizc Centre.

“There’s power in numbers so it’s up to all of us in working in Community Employment to raise our voices and work together to fight for our future” declared Theresa.”If people understand the full value of the work we do, and the difference it makes to communities, then the government might just listen.”