The McCann family
Originally uploaded by One Family Ireland
Congratulations to Sinead Dullaghan who has won the draw for the Family Day 2011 Photo Competition. Here she is with her mother Kathleen and her daughter Rosa at Family Day in Dubln’s Iveagh Gardens. Well done Sinead and a big thank you to EBS who will be sending her out a cheque for €1000. We’d also like to thank everyone who took part in, or showed an interest in, the competition and Family Day itself. By sharing your photos, and by celebrating Family Day with us, you contribute to creating a reflection of Family Day across Ireland – a day for celebrating families, big or small, in all their diversity – so thank you and remember – there’s always next year!
Firebrand Productions and Clinical Psychologist, David Coleman is currently developing a three part series examining bullying in Ireland.
The producers are looking for parents and teenagers who have been affected by bullying to take part in the series. David hopes to spread the message throughout Ireland amongst parents and their children, that they can stand up to bullies and that there are solutions to this very distressing problem.
David will offer counselling and teach practical steps to help pre-teens and teens gain perspective on their experience and find ways to build their self esteem. David will work with the participants over a six month period to help them move on from this negative period. (more…)
At the launch of One Family’s Strategy 2010-2012 and Annual Report 2010 at Dublin Castle, Breffny Morgan, Star of TV3’s Apprentice, spoke about his own positive experiences being brought up in a one-parent family, ‘I consider myself the proud product of a single-parent family. My hope is that others raised in similar circumstances can relate to that sense of pride.’ Breffny went on to give a speech to the many grauduates of One Family’s innovative Welfare to Work Programmes, who were receiving the certificates of completion of Fetac and other courses.
Following a HSE report which found that over a third of women describe their pregnancy as a crisis pregnancy, One Family announced a 10% increase in demand for its Welfare to Work services. ‘These Welfare to Work services support lone parents, some of whom have experienced a crisis pregnancy, into sustainable employment, ‘explained Karen Kiernan, Director of One Family, ‘Access to education and careers are vital gateways to move families out of poverty. Our courses show parents what is possible in their lives – and then support them to make the necessary changes to get there.’
The administrative arrangements for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance in 2011 are different from the arrangements in previous years. This year most of the process will be automated. This means that you may not need to fill out an application form for the payment. If you qualify you will get a letter from the Department of Social Protection in mid-June telling you how and when the payment will be made. The Department expects that over 80% will get the Allowance automatically. These payments will issue from the end of June 2011. If you do not qualify automatically you must apply in the normal way (see below). (more…)
Today is UN International Day of the Family, an annual celebration of the diversity of families and family life across the world. To mark the day One Family and EBS Building Society came together to celebrate Irish families and family diversity by hosting The Family Day picnic in Iveagh Gardens, a free event with entertainment for all the family. Hundreds of families joined the fun for Family Day by either attending the picnic in Iveagh Gardens or by hosting their own event with their family to mark the day. All families who registered for Family Day are still in with a chance to win €1,000 by simply submitting a photograph from their ‘Family Day’ to www.familyday.ie. Pictured enjoying the fun today were Hunzah Alraqi(5) and Shafeeq Alraqui taking part in the wheelbarrow race, Jamie Duffy (2) with Twinkle Toes the owl from Dublin Zoo and Rocio & Belen Gonzalez (3) enjoying the face painters. Thanks to everyone who has helped to make Family Day such a huge success.
Thanks to Bonnie Brady and Brian O’Connell for talking about parenting alone and Family Day and the need for acceptance of family diversity on TV3’s This Morning, starts 24 mins in Weds 11 May.
And – here’s a good piece with One Family Director Karen Kiernan on Family Day in Metro Herald – page 18/19 http://e-edition.metroherald.ie/2011/05/11/
Hope you are all set for Family Day, Sunday 15 May? There’s a good piece in today’s Herald about it and about family diversity and the need to embrace all types of families. Dont forget to join us from 1pm to 5pm in the Iveagh Gardens, Dublin 2 for a Family Picnic or why not organise your own event and be in with the chance to win €1000*? More information about Family Day 2011 can be found here or to read the article in the Herald, click here
Thanks to everyone who came along to hear Dr Brenda Flanagan’s inspiring talk at One Family. Brenda is one of the US’s premier women writers, and a cultural ambassador, she talked about Accomplishing your Goals as a Single Parent. Everyone was touched, moved and inspired by her story – how she achieved her own success, both as a writer and as a parent, and her secret advice for would-be writers or anyone who needs to juggle life’s demands with their own dreams – get up at 4am! See here for more information.
We are proud to say that One Family Director, Karen Kiernan, is a judge for the 2011 Chambers Ireland Corporate Social Responsibility Awards. These awards aim to recognise the work being carried out by companies in Ireland in helping to improve the lives of their employees and enhance the civic environment in which they operate. If you think that your company or a company you are familiar with should enter, invite them to apply here on or before 12pm, Thursday May 5th
We have just printed One Family Matters – our annual newsletter where we keep you up to date with the latest news affecting one-parent families and what we have been up to at One Family. Please download One Family Matters and pass on to anyone else who might be interested. Thanks!
Apprentice candidate Breffny Morgan wrote an incredibly moving and positive piece about being brought up in a one-parent family – his mum was a lone parent – it was in The Irish Independent – read it here and please spread the news Breffny Morgan on Single Parents
Reminder – a Census of Population will take place in Ireland on April 10 next and everyone who is in Ireland on that night must be included in the census. It is important for us all as a society that everyone is included and that correct information is collected. If you represent a group or community, it is also important that they themselves are included so that full account will be taken of them and their needs when decisions are being made for the future.
For further information and to see the answers to some of the most frequently
asked questions www.census.ie or call the CSO on 01-8951304.
Concerned about how to introduce a new partner to your kids? Read our advice here from One Family Childcare and Parenting coordinator, Ger Kelly Parenting Tips
Listen back to One Family Director Karen Kiernan on The Last Word, Thursday 27 January, debating Prof Ed Walsh on lone parents, DNA testing, poverty and a whole lot more http://audiostore.todayfm.com/player/thursday.html Go to Part 2 and the debate starts at about 41 mins.
Parenting alone can be a costly business and leave little time for pampering yourself, but, RTE’s fashion series Off The Rails are looking for candidates. You get the makeover, €500 worth of clothes and travel expenses – so it’s a great idea if you’re in a ‘New Year, New Me’ kind of mood. Email offtherails@rte.ie Or see www.rte.ie/tv/offtherails
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
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.
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!
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…)