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. Read 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. Read 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!
Wednesday 1 & Thursday 2 December @ 8pm, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin 8. Tickets Euro 30.
One Family, the support organisation for one-parent families, is delighted to announce that it has been chosen as the benefiting charity for this year’s performances of Handel’s Messiah by the Culwick Choral Society. With performances on 1 and 2 December at St Patrick’s Cathedral, all proceeds will go towards the *askonefamily helpline for one-parent families.
Karen Kiernan, Director of One Family says, ‘Parenting is tough work, I know. But doing it all alone can be even harder. That’s where our *askonefamily helpline comes in. We offer support to all members of one-parent families in need of help, advice, information – or simply a listening ear. We have had a 20% increase in calls since the recession and are very thankful to Culwick for giving us this opportunity to raise funds for the helpline.’
Culwick Choral Society is a huge Dublin Choir that has been giving charity performances of Messiah in the atmospheric surroundings of St Patrick’s since 1992. For many people this annual event marks the beginning of the festive season. Handel’s Messiah is Church music, written for and first performed in a Church. So, this event takes Messiah back to its roots. Other venues may be plusher and have fancy bars, but – for most Messiah supporters – these things are not necessary. What is, is atmosphere, great singing, the spiritual element of choral music in a cathedral – and the chance to support a great charity.
Culwick choir’s Messiah promises just that: it’s an evening of glorious uplifting music, away from the stresses of daily life, all in aid of One Family, a great charity for one-parent families.
Of course, Messiah and St Patrick’s Cathedral are synonymous. Handel rehearsed it and practised on the organ in St Patrick’s Cathedral, and used the choirs of St Patrick’s and Christchurch Cathedrals in the first performance in nearby Fishamble Street.
Tickets for this festive concert make great gifts and are also a good opportunity for a staff Christmas outing, so book online now at www.onefamily.ie or call Adrian on 01-6629212 or email aokeeffe@onefamily.ie Tickets are Euro 30, or Euro 50 with a pre-concert food and wine event in the nearby Bad Art Gallery.
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For further information please contact Hilary Fennell, Communications Manager, One Family on 01 6629212 or 087 2359515.
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.