This article is from page 27 of the 2008-01-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 27 JPG
THE poor public transport system serving Newmarket-on-Fergus is a huge barrier for community groups in the area as it hinders people from accessing education and work.
Local community group Obair said the village has “lost some of an al- ready sparse bus service due to the bypass and this causes great difficul- ty for members of the target group in accessing education and work op- portunities in larger towns and cities such as Shannon and Limerick”.
The comment came last week as Obair received Government funding to maintain employment for three workers in the local community.
Obair was one of 11 groups across
the county to receive funding under the national Community Services Programme (CSP).
The three positions will support elderly services, people with dis- abilities, childcare services and local community facilities.
The funding has been a huge boost to Obair, which was set up in 1993, to address high levels of unemploy- ment at the time. Since 1996, Obair has been one of 34 groups around the county which administers the Local Development Social Inclusion Pro- eramme (LDSIP). The project for which the funding was announced will be located in the Newmarket- on-Fergus Family Centre.
According to Jackie Bonfield of Obair, “As always there are certain
barriers that continue to effect the implementation of programmes such as these, namely public transport and local childcare services. There is a continued need for more affordable childcare, both for the benefit of the parent and also the child.”
She added, “The diversity of facili- ties and services that will be avail- able from the family centre to the community will require management and support services. The CSP will facilitate this need through the pro- vision of management, administra- tion, group support work, caretaker/ maintenance and security/cleaning services. All services are crucial to the efficient management of the fam- ily centre and the services provided for the disadvantaged members of
the community.”
The project will provide supports to assist elderly groups in their work for “Meals on Wheels’. It will also help in the fight for equality for peo- ple with disabilities.
‘The group is conscious of the need to be inclusive of people with disa- bilities and is supporting the work of a disabled access review committee that was set up in 2006.
“This committee is reviewing a re- search project which was conducted a few years ago on disability acces- sibility and addressing issues still outstanding and any new issues that have arisen during this time,” said Ms Bonfield. The work of the after- school programme will also be sup- ported, under the initiative.