Midweek Movie Fundraiser

Why not come along and have a relaxing evening watching a Classic Movie and help us to raise funds for the local seniors for their end-of-summer bus run. Your support will be greatly appreciated.

Northside Integration & Intercultural Committee

Committee Members meeting Declan Hayden(L-R): Richard Costello (Edenmore CDP), Ros Palmer (Northside Community Law Centre, Lien Billiet (Northside Partnership), Declan Hayden (DCC Office for Integration), Cristina Santamaria (Northside Citizens Information Service) and John McDermott (Dublin North Bay Citizens Information Service). Members not present are Mary Corridan (Discovery Centre, Darndale) and Sally Galliana (Near 90FM).

Northisde Integration & Intercultural Committee was established at the beginning of 2008 as a result of some service providers being concerned about not connecting with migrant workers, immigrants and members of the Traveller community within the area. After considerable discussion between the members about how we might be able to direct our services toward these groups we established some clear aims and objectives. Two of those key objectives are to carry out a more comprehensive mapping of the communities living and working in the Northside area and also to promote the aims of the organisation, through the local community media and events-based activities. Our long term goal is to become a significant stakeholder in the development of policies and procedures that ensure integration and inclusion within organisatons and businesses, and that all people are able to participate fully in Irish society.

Recently the Committee met with Declan Hayden, Office for Integration at Dublin City Council to discuss the recent document Towards Integration: A City Framework launched by the Dublin Development Board. The document sets out the strategic focus and direction for developing integration and inclusion across the Dublin City area. The meeting was very productive and the committee were encouraged by the response from Declan with regard to our committees aims & objectives. Watch this blog for further initiatives around the work of this committee.

Edenmore Community Safety Assessment

The Edenmore CDP has completed an extensive Community Safety Assessment of the Edenmore Shopping Centre. This report was compiled for the Edenmore Business Association and the Edenmore Communtiy Safety Group. It was completed with the help of local volunteers, local residents and business owners.

The report highlights the significant issues facing the central business area of Edenmore and those people who live and work in the area. The assessment identifies a range of anti-social and criminal behaviour that is occuring regularly. The report also makes reccomendations, based on established good practice and professional advice.

A feedback meeting was attended by local businesses, Dublin City Council and the local Community Policing Team, at which it was concluded that it provided a constructive 'road-map' for combating some of the problems faced in the area. A further meeting will be taking place later this month to gauge the response of those residents living within the Shopping Centre complex.

A full copy of the report can be downloaded here. If you would like some advice/information on further aspects of this report then please contact the CDP office. We are also keen to share the model we adopted in compiling the report and we will provide details on how you can carry out similar work in relation to your area.

Edenmore Fun Day 2008

The 1st Edenmore Fun day took place on June 7th within the Edenmore Shopping Centre. The day was organised by the Edenmore Business Association with the support of Edenmore CDP, Edenmore Drugs Intervention Team (including the Outreach Team), Edenmore Information Shop, DCC Community Development Unit, Edenmore Ladies Association, Edenpark Health Centre, St Monica's Youth Centre & Community Council. There was input from a range of other people, including the Scouts, St John's Ambulance, Ambulance Service and Fire Service, Community Policing Team and various local people (Zieta, Carl, Betty, etc.... so many helped out it would be impossible to list them all) and small businesses. The doantions and contributions recieved were aimed at raising funds for the anticpated new Scout Hall being built on Edenmore Avenue.

The day was great success, rasing almost 2000 euros and demonstated what can be achieved if people pool their skills, resources and willingness to participate. Click on the slideshow to the right to see more photos of the day.

Noel McGuinnes from NearFM was also on hand to carry out some interviews on the day, which you can listen to through your Windows Media Player. Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Congratulations and thanks to all who played their part!

Dublin City Council Arts Funding Awarded

The Edenmore CDP is pleased to announce that an application to Dublin City Council under its Community Arts Funding has been successful. 2000 Euros have been allocated to Edenmore CDP to work with a variety of groups from the community on putting together several comic books, which will be designed by them with the assistance of a renowned and published Comic Artist. The first of four publications is scheduled to start in Oct 2008 and available to buy in Dec/Jan.

There are further opportunities for people to become involved in this Community Arts initiative, so if you feel like you might have some contribution to make to the creative process and consider yourself to be in one of the following categories then contact the CDP office for further details:

Older Men
Substance/Alcohol Misuse/Dependency
Lone Parents
Young People involved in grafitti activity

DEP/FIT Funding Secured

After submitting an application to funding available through the Dublin Employment Pact and Fastrack into Technology Ltd, the Edenmore CDP were delighted to learn that they had secured an Interactive Whiteboard for the area (installed at St Monicas Youth Centre) and places for up to 36 people on the Internet and Computer Course, to be delivered locally at St Monicas Youth Centre.

The Whiteboard is now installed and is available to use by all people within the community. This is a fantastic facility which will be of great use to people either through their professional work or just as tool to improve individuals and organisations. Contact the Youth Centre (018480829) for details on how you can make use of it.

All 36 participants on the Ecert Course for Internet and Computers have completed their work and are due to attend the awarding of certificates at the HAIL Centre, Edenmore Avenue on Thursday 28th August. Congratulations to all those who took part and a huge thank you to Amanda, John and Colin for delivering the courses. These courses will continue to run in the future so contact the CDP Office to register.

Community Safety Group heads to Belfast for a Good Practice visit

On Tuesday 11th March the Edenmore Community Safety Group headed to Belfast for a Good Practice visit. Our destination was Ballysillan in North Belfast, which has a vibrant and dedicated community/voluntary sector. Some of the relevant areas they have been working on over several years has been some of the Community Safety concerns and issues facing them. The three key projects underpinning Community Safety in Ballysillan is the Good Morning Ballysillan service, the Alternatives Program and the Better Bonfire Management initiative. Joan Totten (Communty Worker/Activist) and William Mitchell (Project Worker) provided the group with an informative introduction/background to these initiatives and the impacts they have had locally. This provided an opportunity for the Edenmore Community Safety Group to see how things can be done if there is a committment, good resourcing and partnership approaches to working.

The Group returned to Edenmore with a real sense of the possibilities there are for addressing some of the fears at a local level in relation to crime and anti-social behaviour. Even the fear of crime itself can have a debilitating effect on communities - particularly the most vulnerable, such as older people and those experiencing social isolation. The Group felt that pursuing a service similar to the Good Morning initiative was something we needed to explore in greater detail. Also, with the annual problems casued by the Halloween bonfires here, it was felt by some that this also needed to be addressed. The group is continuing to meet and explore the ways they can reduce the impacts of crime, the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour in Edenmore.

The Group would like to extend a huge thank you to all those in Ballysillan who facilitated us on the day and made the xperience such a significant one. We're particularly grateful to Joan Tottens continued input through our ongoing conversations.

Seniors Cross-border Excursion to Belfast

Getting the train home.

On Thursday 27th March 24 seniors from Edenmore headed north to Belfast for a Cross-cultural visit and exchange. The event was organised as part of the CDPs continuing committment to work with and support older people within the community. This excursuion provided local people with an opportunity to discover more about the social, cultural and political history of a city that has rarely been out of the news for the last 40 years.

A 2 hour bus tour took in some of the famous sites, including Queens University, The Titanic Quarter (where the fated ship was built), the infamous Falls and Shankill Roads and the new multi-million pound shopping development, the Victoria Centre. The tour ended at the Vine Centre on the Crumlin Road, a Faith-based Community Development organisation, where the travellers were treated to some traditional songs, music and stories by local man Trevor Fox, over a lunch and tea.

After a successful day it was the groups hope that they will be able to host a similar visit from their northern conuterparts in 2008.

Edenmore Community Safety Group Established

In Septmeber 2007 we started the initial process of establishing a Community Safety Group specifically for the Edenmore Area. Community Safety is a term that refers to Crime Prevention and Crime Reduction and the strategies and actions that people and organisations can take to tackle them. It has become particularly relevant to those communities that are expariencing high levels of anti-social behaviour and where there is a perception in some communites that not enough is being done to address some of the problems.

For some more information on Community Safety in general, follow some of these links:
Crime Concern (UK) Govt
Crime Concern (UK) Communities
Limerick Community Saefty Partnership
Community Safety Network (UK)
Community Safety Unit (NI)
Community Safety Series
Crime Reduction (UK)
Safer Communites (NZ)
Defensible Space (Wiki)
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (Wiki)
Design Prevention (AUS)
After inviting several key organisations to an exploration of the key issues in Edenmore and the ways in which we might be able to work together to tackle them, all the members present agreed to work in partnership with each other on some key priorites. Asked how a group might be able to tackle/address some of the issues a range of ideas were put forward, which can be viewed in this document. As we met over the following months we were able to identify some Key Objectives for the area. The group tries to meet every 4-6 weeks locally and assess their work to date.

Members of the group to date are:

Edenmore CDP
St Monica's Community Council
Edenpark Health Centre
St Monicas Youth Centre
Edenmore Drugs Intervention Team
Edenmore Business Association
Dublin City Council
Gardai Siochana (Community Policing Team)
Housing Association for Independent Living
Northside Partnership
EDIT Outreach Drugs Team
Home Schools Liaison Officer

Edenmore Seniors Information Event 2007

This event was organised by Edenmore CDP to coincide with Positive Ageing Week which is organised annully by Age Action. The event was designe to provide information about services, support and events that are of relevance to older people within the community. Many organisations attended on the day which you can check out by clicking on their links below.

Almost 100 people attended from the local area and Near 90FM carried out an outside broadcast which can be downloaded and listened to here.

Here are a small sample of pictures from the day, which was a great success and we intend for this to become an annual event.

Senior Helpline
St Monicas Information Shop
Northside Law Centre
Friendly Call Service
Older Womans Network
Age And Opportunity
Dublin City Council
Go For Life Scheme
Citizens Information Service
Pendant Alarm Scheme
Energy Action