A total of €84,000 has been allocated to two community-based projects in Westmeath to fund the employment of additional staff.
The Carmelite Pastoral Centre in Moate and the Grange Resource Centre, Mullingar are each to receive funding of €42,000, which has been specifically allocated to enable the employment of extra people to manage or operate the community facilities.
The funding was announced by Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív, yesterday, Thursday. A total of €2.4 million is to go to 60 community-based projects under his department’s Community Services Programme, and will allow for the recruitment of at least 115 people across the country.
The objective of the Community Services Programme is to promote social and economic development within communities with the added benefit of providing real employment opportunities for people in those communities.
At present, 372 projects receive funding to deliver a diverse and varied range of social enterprises and services to the community. These services include rural transport, general services for rural communities, the management and use of community halls and facilities, tourism and heritage, recycling and environmental, and childcare projects. The initiatives are derived from needs identified locally and are delivered under local ownership.
The Community Services Programme provides employment opportunities for people from disadvantaged groups, including people with disabilities, long-term unemployed, travellers, lone parents, and rehabilitated drug mis-users. Nearly 2,400 people are employed in the 372 projects currently funded directly by support given by the programme.
This additional €2.4 million will employ a further 115 people in over 60 additional projects working with disadvantaged communities around the country.
The Community Halls and Facilities strand of the programme, under which these projects were selected, will release the potential of community facilities by increasing the number of hours they are available to the public, improving their upkeep, and ensuring that other services are delivered more effectively using existing community premises.
Announcing the funding, Minister Ó Cuív said: "The Community Services Programme continues to grow and these 60 projects will bring the number of people employed to nearly 2,600 by the middle of 2009. This announcement of €2.4m in funding will enable communities to provide more and better services across the country. In the current challenging economic climate, these new employment opportunities will help revitalise communities and ensure that facilities which have received much community and State investment are more available to the communities themselves."
