Leading Ireland’s Celebration of 20th Anniversary of UN International Year of the Family

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Press Release

Ireland’s Celebration of 20th Anniversary of UN International Year of the Family

Family Day Festival | Sunday, 18 May 2014 | Iveagh Gardens, Dublin 2 | Free

www.familyday.ie

(Dublin, 16 May 2014) One Family – Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families in Ireland – leads the Irish celebrations of the 20th anniversary of UN International Year of the Family which is being acknowledged worldwide with a series of high profile events.

One Family’s annual Family Day Festival is inspired by UN International Day of Families which is marked every year on 15 May. The Family Day Festival takes place on Sunday 18 May in Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens with a packed programme of free entertainment, workshops, talks, information and more for all ages. On hand too are a variety of key organisations working for and with families and children in Ireland today, sharing information about their services and with fun activities to enjoy. These include One Family, GLEN, Marriage Equality, Treoir, BeLong To, New Communities Partnership, ISPCC and Children’s Rights Alliance.

The annual Festival is the highlight of One Family’s ongoing campaign for a nationally celebrated Family Day, similar to Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, but which would include all children irrespective of their family make-up. In this 20th anniversary year of International Year of the Family, we can take the opportunity to refocus on the role of families, to take stock of recent trends in family policy development and share good practices, and review challenges faced by families in Ireland, one-parent and other families, and continue to recommend and pursue solutions.

One Family is also the founding member of the All Families Matter coalition of Irish NGOs campaigning for a Constitutional review of how family is defined. Currently hundreds of thousands of families in Ireland are excluded. All Families Matter has released the viral video Not A Real Family which can be viewed on YouTube.

The Family Day Festival is kindly supported by the Community Foundation for Ireland, Dublin City Council (DCC) and Today FM. The Iveagh Gardens is provided courtesy of the Office of Public Works (OPW).

Further information on www.familyday.ie where the full programme of events is available to read or download.

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About One Family
One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families, providing services to people parenting alone, sharing parenting and going through family transitions. Its policy work is rooted in its extensive family support work over the past four decades. Children are at the centre of this work and the organisation helps all the adults in their lives, including mums, dads, grandparents, step-parents, new partners and other siblings, offering a holistic model of specialist family support services. These services include the lo-call askonefamily national helpline on 1890 622 212, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie.

Listings
Family Day Festival | A celebration of the diversity of the family with free entertainment, games, workshops and fun for all ages | Sunday, 18 May 2014 | Iveagh Gardens, Dublin 2 | 11am – 5 pm | Free | 01 662 9212 | www.familyday.ie

Social Media
Facebook: @OneFamilyIreland / Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1401257896821836/
Twitter: #FamilyDay @1FamilyIre / #AllFamiliesMatter

Available for Interview

• One Family CEO Karen Kiernan | t: 086 850 9191

For Images or Further Information
Shirley Chance, Director of Communications, One Family | t: 01 662 9212 or 087 414 8511 | e: schance@onefamily.ie

Family on Swing

10 Ways to Be More Socially Engaged

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It’s not always easy for parents, especially those parenting alone and/or with little expendable income, to feel they can establish or maintain a level of social engagement but as parents who are socially engaged generally have higher levels of self esteem, it is crucial to maintain a high level of self esteem and feel comfortable in social situations. This enables parents to support this development in their children. Read on for some of our tips.

10 Ways to Be More Socially Engaged

  1. Visit the play park regularly and talk to other parents
  2. Make play dates with your friends and their children
  3. Make play dates with friends of your children and their parents
  4. Join a club, hobby group or walking group
  5. Join a playgroup
  6. Volunteer in your community or local school etc. (if you are interested, One Family often has volunteer roles available)
  7. Join professional groups: for example, One Family organises a monthly social group outing for lone parents and their children. Call 01 662 9212 or follow our Facebook page for details of the next outing
  8. Engage in community activities and events: free events regularly take place in most communities
  9. Spend time with family when possible
  10. Use social media, wisely, to keep connected. As well as your own social media profiles, there are many online communities established for parents, and you might also like to connect with One Family on Facebook and Twitter

Our next event is our annual Family Day Festival on Sunday 18 May in the Iveagh Gardens, off Harcourt Street, Dublin 2 from 11am to 5pm. It is free and packed full of great activities, entertainment and workshops. Everyone is welcome to attend.

This week’s ’10 Ways to …’ is adapted by One Family’s Director of Children and Parenting Services, Geraldine Kelly, from our Family Communications training programme.

Coming soon: 10 Ways to Positively Maintaining Contact, 10 Ways to Effective Toilet Training and 10 Ways to Understand How Your Child May Feel.

One Family offers a suite of training opportunities for parents and for professionals on an on-going basis. To find out more, click here or call 01 662 9212.

 

(Photo credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net/photostock)

 

New Viral Video Asks Do All Families Matter in Ireland?

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Press Release

New Viral Video Asks

Do All Families Matter in Ireland?

(Dublin, 14 May 2014) Eight national organisations interested in promoting equality for all families have released an innovative video that shows how the Constitution of Ireland excludes many types of families. All Families Matter is a campaigning coalition that would like to change the Constitution so that all types of families can be respected.

Tomorrow, 15 May, is UN International Day of Families and this year we also celebrate the 20th anniversary of UN International Year of the Family so it is timely to think about what family means.

This two minute video presents a series of everyday situations in which three ordinary families are told they are ‘not a real family’ because only one kind of family, the marital family, is represented in our Constitution. A quirky, fun and enjoyable video, it explores scenarios featuring a one-parent family, parents who are not married to each other, and same-sex parents to illustrate how the wording of our Constitution is so clearly out of line with the reality of the lives of hundreds of thousands of families in Ireland.

The members of All Families Matter include One Family, Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), Barnardos, the Family Resource Centre National Forum, Marriage Equality, New Communities Partnership (NCP), Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) and Treoir. They came together over a shared belief that a Constitutional review of how family is defined is required so that all families feel protected and recognised.

We all know and care about families like those represented in the video. All Families Matter calls on everyone to watch and share the video and to ask themselves, what really makes a family and isn’t it time the Irish Constitution reflected the lived reality of our families?

The video can be viewed here.

On Sunday 18 May, founding All Families Matter member organisation One Family hosts its annual free Family Day Festival in the Iveagh Gardens, Dublin 2 from 11am-5pm. Many of the All Families Matter members will be in attendance at the event and available to share information about it and their work. Further information on www.familyday.ie.

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Further Information

Facebook: @AllFamiliesMatterIreland | #AllFamiliesMatter

Twitter: @FamiliesIreland | #AllFamiliesMatter

www.allfamiliesmatter.ie

Available for Interview

  • One Family CEO Karen Kiernan | t: 086 850 9191

For Video Files or Further Information

Shirley Chance, Director of Communications, One Family | t: 01 662 9212 or 087 414 8511 | e: schance@onefamily.ie

 

 

 

Happy Family Day

‘Modern Family’ Festival to Celebrate All Families

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Press Release

‘Modern Family’ Festival to Celebrate All Families with Arts Workshops, Expert Talks, Magic, Music and More

Family Day Festival | Sunday, 18 May 2014 | Iveagh Gardens, Dublin 2 | Free

www.familyday.ie

(Dublin, 9 May 2014) One Family – Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families in Ireland – presents a fantastic programme in celebration of the diversity of the modern families in today’s Irish society at its annual free Family Day Festival in the Iveagh Gardens on Sunday, 18 May 2014 from 11am to 5pm with MC Aidan Bishop.

On the main stage, MC Aidan Bishop, acclaimed stand-up of the International Comedy Club, will introduce a variety of entertainers. Aidan comments: “I am very proud to be a part of the Family Day Festival. I’ve known about One Family for years as my fantastic cousin Sinéad is parenting alone and is on One Family’s Board of Directors.  I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to be like a Dad in many ways to Sinead’s wonderful daughter, Bella.  What children need is love and security. I’ve seen that in lots of different types of family. For me, that’s what the Family Day Festival is all about – celebrating all the kinds of families that children live in today.”

Performing throughout the day is popular magician and Festival favourite, Brian Daly. Another highlight is the captivating singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Sinéad White. Sinéad was a hit at Longitude and Electric Picnic last year and her first album is due for release shortly. Also performing are the Nepalese Cultural Group with scintillating dances and music representing various ethnic backgrounds in Nepal and the wonderful Roma Children’s Choir, Musicantia.

Visitors can also enjoy the One Family Talking Tent which will present a series of expert talks on parenting and diverse family issues, and a cutting-edge line up of spoken word performers on the topic of ‘family’.

Workshops and entertainment offered on the day also include:

  • A series of 5 yoga workshops from the Elbow Room with a session to suit each member of the family from pregnancy yoga to baby yoga to kids, teens and adults classes
  • Fighting Words encouraging children to create their own stories
  • Gaiety School of Acting presenting an acting workshop
  • Imaginosity with  singing and story-telling all day
  • Printing Wanted posters and making origami hats with the National Print Museum
  • Making butter with Daisy Cottage Farm
  • Some of the best holiday destinations for families in Ireland such as the award-winning Hotel Westport
  • Play workshops for adults and children with Abrakedabra
  • The Irish Landmark Trust inviting visitors into a recreation of one of its quirky heritage properties in the Iveagh Gardens, itself a beautiful heritage site
  • DCC Boxing in the Community workshops with the rumour of an Irish Olympian in attendance
  • The Ark Children’s Museum with comic visual arts activities
  • DCC Library Services, the Red Cross and many more with activities and demonstrations
  • Facepainting, balloon modelling, many other entertainers and the occasional surprise throughout the day

On hand too are a variety of key organisations working for and with families and children in Ireland today, sharing information about their services and with fun activities to enjoy. These include One Family, GLEN, Marriage Equality, Treoir, New Communities Partnership, ISPCC and Children’s Rights Alliance.

Those who cannot attend the festivities in the Iveagh Gardens are encouraged to host their own Family Day event which can be included on the Family Day site by emailing details to familyday@onefamily.ie.

The Family Day Festival is kindly supported by the Community Foundation of Ireland, Dublin City Council (DCC) and Today FM. The Iveagh Gardens is provided courtesy of the Office of Public Works (OPW).

Further information on www.familyday.ie where the full programme of events will soon be available.

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About One Family

One Family was founded in 1972 as Cherish and is Ireland’s leading organisation for one-parent families, providing services to people parenting alone, sharing parenting and going through family transitions. Its policy work is rooted in its extensive family support work over the past four decades. Children are at the centre of this work and the organisation helps all the adults in their lives, including mums, dads, grandparents, step-parents, new partners and other siblings, offering a holistic model of specialist family support services. These services include the lo-call askonefamily national helpline on 1890 622 212, counselling, and provision of training courses for parents and for professionals. For further information, visit www.onefamily.ie.

Listings

Family Day Festival | A celebration of the diversity of the family with free entertainment, games, workshops and fun for all ages | Sunday, 18 May 2014 | Iveagh Gardens, Dublin 2 | 11am – 5 pm | Free | 01 662 9212 | www.familyday.ie

Social Media

Facebook: @OneFamilyIreland / Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1401257896821836/

Twitter: #FamilyDay @1FamilyIre

Available for Interview

  • MC and comedian Aidan Bishop
  • One Family CEO Karen Kiernan

For Images or Further Information

Shirley Chance, Director of Communications, One Family | t: 01 662 9212 or 087 414 8511 | e: schance@onefamily.ie

 

 

 

 

Nesting Dolls

10 Ways to Run A Family Meeting

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When there is an issue for any family member, holding a family meeting is a good way to resolve it as a family, and regular meetings can promote harmony between all family members.

Read on for our 10 Ways to Run A Family Meeting

  1. Don’t force anyone into doing it. Try saying  ‘  I would like to give this a try – would you?’
  2. Meetings should happen regularly on a certain day and time, even if there are no specific issues.
  3. All family members need to attend, even the youngest.
  4. Set ground rules for the meetings, including how to deal with someone who does not keep their agreements.
  5. Decisions need to be made by consensus.
  6. Make some time in the meeting for each person to say how they appreciate everyone or something someone did that they liked that week.
  7. Nice snacks are important – you can rotate who chooses and prepares the treats. Children will find it fun to be given the responsibility for this task.
  8. As a parent, try not to talk too much – family meetings are about sharing power.
  9. Agree a way forward, write it down and try it.
  10. Review the plan, if it works, great! If not make a new plan.

This week’s ’10 Ways to …’ is adapted by One Family’s Director of Children and Parenting Services, Geraldine Kelly, from our Family Communications training programme.

Coming soon: 10 Ways to Positively Maintaining Contact, 10 Ways to Effective Toilet Training and 10 Ways to Increase Social Engagement.

One Family offers a suite of training opportunities for parents and for professionals on an on-going basis. To find out more, click here or call 01 662 9212.

 

(Photo credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net/Teerapun)