Christmas is a wonderful time to celebrate with your family. But for one-parent families it can bring extra pressures – whether it’s money worries, contact issues, or making sure you have a good time yourself. See One Family’s tips on how to get through Christmas in today’s Irish Times piece http://bit.ly/dQUUFO and also see our Survival Guide for how to make Christmas 2010 a great one https://onefamily.ie/christmas-survival-guide
Candy Murphy, One Family Policy Director, speaks up for one-parent families on RTE One TV’s Prime Time in response to Budget 2011 – see this link – Candy starts at 8 minutes 54 seconds in – http://bit.ly/eMpeAX
One Family, the leading provider of specialised support services for one-parent families in Ireland today, 7th December 2010, gives its response to Budget 2011. At a time when cutbacks were inevitable One Family had called on the Government to protect those already experiencing high levels of poverty and social exclusion from any more cuts.
‘But today’s many cuts – coupled with increases in taxes to be paid by those on low incomes – will have a devastating effect on one-parent families, many of whom are already living in poverty and struggling to combine work and caring responsibilities. In the absence of any clear jobs strategy the government has clearly not met its commitment to protect the most vulnerable from the effects of the crisis,’ says Candy Murphy, Policy Manager, One Family. (more…)
Handel’s Messiah is the perfect compliment to the festive weather and The Culwick Choral Society were in fine voice last night. The show starts again at 8pm tonight, 2 December, at St Patrick’s Cathedral. Tickets €30 at the door, supporting one-parent families. Please spread the word. The Cathedral will be warm and toasty, the atmosphere will be uplifting and you will be glad you made the effort.
Do you parent alone and feel you are badly hit by budget cuts to your welfare payments? If you’d like to speak out about this in the media please email us at info@onefamily.ie as soon as you can. Thanks.
One Family, Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families, warns that any of the planned cuts in social welfare payments or in the minimum wage announced in the National Recovery Plan 2011-2014 will directly increase the thousands of one-parent families already living in poverty. (more…)
Thanks to everyone who voted for our family equality video. We got hundreds of votes in a very short space of time and really appreciate your support. You can view it here http://bit.ly/9kYJNo
We got hundreds of votes for our family equality video in an incredibly short space of time and fingers crossed we get into the shortlist to win €3000 for the charity. View it here http://www.bettertogether.ie/content/one-family-stories – comments welcome. A big thank you to everyone who voted!
One Family is pleased to be part of Legacy Promotion Ireland (LPI) as they launch a national campaign to promote legacy giving in Ireland. According to recent research carried out by The Community Foundation for Ireland, a member of LPI, 62% of Irish people consider leaving a charitable bequest in their will, but in 2008 only 42.5% of people who passed away had actually made a will and only 12.2% of those left money in their will to a charity.
One Family Director Karen Kiernan or Director of Development Nancy Ward are happy to answer any questions you might have about including One Family in your will – everything from how to do it, to how the funds might be used to support our programmess and services. You can ring us at 01-662-9212 or send us an e-mail at development@onefamily.ie.
Need a hand with parenting? Our next dad’s afternoon workshop ‘Understanding Children’s Emotions and Managing Behaviour’ is on 23 November and it costs E10. Contact Geraldine at 01 6629212 for more information.
Thanks to everyone who helped to make our Big Night In and International Day of the Family celebrations such a huge success – and especially to everyone at EBS who supported us so generously – and also to those who sent their photos in to enter the draw for €1000. Families and friends held all types of events – from barbecues and marathon games nights, to music and story telling evenings – all in aid of the askonefamily helpline which is there to lend a listening ear and to offer advice and support to lone parents at a time when they really need it. We got tons of great press coverage – so thanks to everyone on that too – and look forward to making the Big Night In an annual event. Check out our Updates page for more…
Money raised from Big Night In will go towards the running of the askonefamily helpline
To mark UN International Day of the Family on 15 May 2010, One Family and EBS Building Society are inviting everyone in the country to celebrate families by hosting a Big Night In. Big Night In is a new fundraising event in aid of the askonefamily national helpline, which supports people who are parenting alone or sharing parenting.
Speaking about Big Night In, Aidan Power, Head of Marketing at EBS Building Society, said: “This year, EBS is celebrating 75 years serving Irish people and their families. Family is and has always been at the heart of EBS throughout those years. In recognition of the ‘EBS family’ which now has over 450,000 members, we decided to partner with One Family to celebrate International Day of the Family on 15 May. We are calling on you to spend some fun quality time with your family whilst at the same time raising money for the askonefamily helpline which supports people who are parenting alone or sharing parenting.” Power continues, ”EBS offices all over the country are promoting Big Night In and asking people to register on www.bignightin.ie. People are holding all types of events – from games nights to karaoke nights to storytelling evenings – the list is endless. I hope families across Ireland will take part in this great excuse to have fun at home on 15 May.” (more…)
One Family welcomes the new Minister for Social Protection Minister Éamon Ó Cuív T.D’s efforts to improve the economic situation and social wellbeing of people in one-parent families. However they remain gravely concerned as to the whether the reforms of the One-Parent Family Payment as recently announced will result in improved outcomes for lone parents and their children.
Candy Murphy, One Family Policy & Research Manager said “Given current and projected very high levels of unemployment which are putting extreme pressure on our education and training systems coupled with the serious inadequacies in our childcare system, especially after-school care, we believe that the proposed changes will mostly result in the movement of lone parents from one welfare support to another.”
Seminal research by One Family which calls for a network of child contact centres in Ireland was launched this week by Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Barry Andrews, TD, and the media response – including the front page of The Irish Examiner, three pieces in The Irish Times and other print coverage, along with a feature on RTE Radio 1’s Drivetime, interviews on TodayFM, Newstalk and FM104 – as well as many regional stations – proves just how important this research is. Candy Murphy, One Family Policy Manager and author of the report explains, ‘Child contact centres provide a safe, neutral and welcoming environment where regular contact between parents and children that do not live together can be supported and developed in a range of situations.’ For media coverage and information: (more…)
Ground breaking research by One Family, the leading service provider for people parenting alone and sharing parenting, launched 12 April 2010 at Dublin Castle by Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Barry Andrews, TD, has called for a network of child contact centres throughout Ireland. The research entitled Supporting Child Contact: the Need for Child Contact Centres in Ireland was researched and written by Candy Murphy, Policy & Research Manager with One Family.
Candy Murphy explained, ‘Child contact centres provide a safe, neutral and welcoming environment where regular contact between parents and children that do not live together can be supported and developed in a range of situations.’ (more…)
At The Coach House Dublin Castle. Minister for Children Barry Andrews, TD, will launch the report. This will be followed by a seminar chaired by The Hon. Mr Justice Henry Abbott. See below for a copy of the summary and of the full report…
Summary – Supporting Child Contact: the Need for Child Contact Centres in Ireland
Full Report – Supporting Child Contact: the Need for Child Contact Centres in Ireland
Get a table of four together to compete for some wonderful prizes – or come along alone and we’ll fix you up with a team. It’s only €15 a head, they serve great food and drink there and funds raised go towards our askonefamily* helpline. To book your place, call us 01 6629212 or email aokeeffe@onefamily.ie. Odessa Club is at 13 Dame Court, Dublin 2
Ireland AM’s Aiden Cooney had an interesting chat with lone parent Rachel Sullivan and One Family Director Karen Kiernan about parenting alone and sharing parenting in Ireland…you can view it here
RTE Radio’s Tubridy Show heard from some fathers who parent alone about how they manage parenting – and the dating game – One Family client John McCann told his story. Listen here to join the debate….
On 27 January The Tubridy Show on RTE Radio One heard from some mothers who parent alone about the trials and tribulations of the dating game, One Family client Deborah told her story and got such a great reaction that they plan to do a show on dating for dads soon – to listen to the show click here…
Designers John Rocha and Louise Kennedy lend their Support for One Family’s Labels of Love Designer Clothes Sale
If you want to pick up a bargain from designers such as John Rocha and Louise Kennedy and support the chairty One Family at the same time – drop into the Labels of Love designer clothes sale at Boston College, 42 St Stephen’s Green on Friday 19 February from 5pm to 7pm for after work shoppers, and on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st from 9am to 6pm. (more…)
A discussion of the Law Reform Commission report on legal aspects of family relationships
A One Family Seminar
