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Organisation name: |
Blanchardstown EQUAL Partnership |
Short title: |
Workclubs |
Type of tool: |
Emprego |
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Contact person: |
Terry McCabe |
Postal address: |
Blanchardstown EQUAL Initiative
Deanstown House, Main Street,
Blanchardstown
Dublin 15
Ireland |
Phone: |
00 353 1820 9550 |
Fax: |
00 353 1820 9551 |
Email address: |
TMcCabe@bap.ie |
Web site: |
www.equal-blanchardstown.ie |
Development Partner (DP): |
Blanchardstown Equal Development Group |
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About the organisation:- |
Status: |
Blanchardstown EQUAL Initiative is one of 21 EQUAL initiatives in Ireland and we are funded by the European Union through the European Structural Fund.
The aim of the initiative is to tackle the factors that lead to discrimination and inequality and to effect structural change within organisations and companies in the Blanchardstown area for the benefit of individuals and groups trying to access employment opportunities.
The Initiative is managed by a multi-agency development partnership (DP) and Blanchardstown Area Partnership is the designated partner.
The Action Plan is set out under 3 Themes.
1. Individual Theme - Developing the Employment skills of Individuals
2. Service Providers Theme – Development of Inter-agency protocols to enhance area based services for current and former drug users.
3. Employers Theme – To support employers develop and implement Equal Opportunities policies in the work place.
Theme 1
In our Individual Theme we have worked with and delivered training to some of the most difficult to engage target groups – Drug Users, Ex-Offenders, Traveller men, Asylum seekers and Early school leavers. This training was delivered through individual host organisations who had built up a specific expertise in dealing their individual target groups. This worked particularly well as the target groups had already built up a trust in their relationship with the agencies. These target groups have experienced barriers to participation into mainstream education/training and this training enabled them to take the first step in the process of Life Long Learning. In many cases there had been a bad experience with formal education/training and they carry many fears and anxieties with them as a result of this. To date we have worked with over 100 individuals in seven different agencies in the Blanchardstown area.
Theme 2
In our Service Providers Theme we are working with eight agencies to develop protocols for service provision to drug users. Our mission here is to ensure that our clients progress to their full potential with eight agencies working to-gether. This has necessitated the eight agencies working to-gether to develop common protocols when providing services to drug-users. These eight agencies have agreed protocols on confidentiality and lead agency working. These have been piloted over a three month period. They are now being evaluated. All of the eight agencies are committed to continue working on protocols post the pilot period.
Theme 3
In our Employers Theme we are promoting change and development in Equal Opportunities within local companies.
We have engaged a group of Employers who have formed sub-group to drive this action. This group includes IBM, Symantec, Greater Blanchardstown Chamber of Commerce, two SME’s from the Chamber – Barrington Insurance and Merge Print Post services, Local Employment Service and Blanchardstown Community Forum. This group have prioritised employer’s needs and developed a strategic plan to meet them. To date we have provided training in Selection & Recruitment with a focus on Equality to 40 companies. We have also provided inter-active workshops to 14 organisations to enable them to develop and implement individual equality policies for their organisations. We have held a trans-national seminar on corporate Social responsibility with employers from Ireland, France, UK and Portugal in attendance. We have recently had a breakfast meeting for employers to publicise the work that’s been going on and to identify next steps. This event was also seen as an opportunity to link some of the individuals that have been trained in Theme 1 to the employers.
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Mission: |
The aim of the initiative is to tackle the factors that lead to discrimination and inequality and to effect structural change within organisations and companies in the Blanchardstown area for the benefit of individuals and groups trying to access employment opportunities. |
Means & organisation: |
The Development Partnership Management Committee (DPMC) acts as the board of directors for the Blanchardstown EQUAL Initiative. The DPMC has sectoral representation from the state agencies, community and voluntary sector, sub-groups & the business community.
This group plays an active role in the Initiative and meet regularly. The DPMC are responsible for driving and managing the Initiative and allocating resources.
The current make up of the Management Committee include representatives from the following agencies:
Probation & Welfare Service
Blanchardstown Traveller CDP
Blakestown/Mountview CDT (Vice-Chairperson)
Bond Project (Chairperson)
Youthreach
Centre for Independent Living
BAP (Designated Partner)
Northern Area Health Board
Fingal County Council
BARN
Youth Services
Local Employment Services |
Local socioeconomic situation: |
As an outer-suburb of Dublin, the population of Blanchardstown grew from 38,600 in 1996 to 50,600 in 2002, an increase of 31%, or almost four times the national level of increase. These figures mean that the population of Blanchardstown had surpassed that of counties such as Carlow, Leitrim and Longford in 2002.
Significant employment was generated in Blanchardstown in the years before 2001 by the new Institute of Technology, the Blanchardstown (retail) Centre and the establishment and/or expansion of multinational companies, particularly in the IT and pharmaceutical sectors. However, the period also saw a number of company closures in traditional sectors of the economy.
Four areas of Blanchardstown are designated under the national RAPID (Revitalising Areas by Planning, Investment and Development) programme, which identifies and targets areas of concentrated disadvantage. These areas are:
• All of the Corduff DED;
• The Wellview and Parslickstown Estates in the Tyrrelstown DED;
• The Dromheath Estate in the Mulhuddart DED;
• The Whitestown, Sheepmoor, Fortlawn and Whitechapel estates in Coolmine DED.
Unemployment rates for the four DEDs with RAPID areas in the 2002 Census were: Corduff 16%; Tyrellstown 23%; Mulhuddart 18%; and Coolmine 15%. The equivalent national figure in 2002 was 5.7%.
Other distinctive characteristics of the labour market in Blanchardstown and in the four RAPID areas in 2002 were as follows:
• The four RAPID areas had much higher proportions of people who left school early than in the state as a whole. For example, the rate was 48% in Tyrellstown (compared to 22% for the state);
• The proportion of households headed by a lone parent was significantly higher than the national average;
• Blanchardstown had a large non-national population – over 5,500 people;
• Blanchardstown had a significant Traveller population, some 650 people;
• Blanchardstown had a younger population profile than the national average, with 32% of the population aged 0-14 compared to 23.7% for the state as a whole – the figures rose further for areas such as Tyrrelstown (51%) and Mulhuddart (50%);
• Local agencies working with Blanchardstown Area Partnership were reporting an increase in the number of those in paid employment, but still at risk of poverty.
Local economic growth in the years up to 2001 therefore occurred side by side with ongoing high levels of labour market exclusion in particular parts of Blanchardstown, especially in the four RAPID areas. The 2002 Census showed these areas to have rates of unemployment of between 15% and 23%, well above the national average. The data suggests that these unemployed people were excluded from the employment being generated locally, and in the wider Dublin labour market.
Following a series of local consultations in 2001, a ‘Development Partnership’ (DP) for a Blanchardstown EQUAL Project was formed, containing the following organisations:
• Blanchardstown Area Partnership (Designate Partner);
• FÁS;
• Northern Area Health Board;
• Probation and Welfare Service;
• Fingal County Council;
• Blakestown-Mountview Youth Initiative;
• Blanchardstown Travellers Development Group (CDP);
• Centre for Independent Living;
• BOND (Blanchardstown Offenders for New Directions) Project;
• BARN (Blanchardstown Asylum-seeker and Refugee Network);
• LDA (Learning Development Agency);
• Blanchardstown LES (Local Employment Service) - Joblink;
• Blanchardstown Youthreach Centre (part of County Dublin VEC);
• Blanchardstown Youth Service;
• Blakestown-Mountview Community Drugs Team.
An EQUAL funding proposal submitted by these 15 organisations was approved in November 2001.
These organisations formed the core of the project over its 2002-2005 lifetime. However, a number of other local organisations (e.g. other Community Drug Teams, the Blanchardstown Chamber of Commerce and local companies) became involved in specific project actions.
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Language: |
Inglês |
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