Waterford Working Together Committee – (seated) Cllr Mary Roche, Mayor Jack Walsh and Jim Coughlan, South East regional director, FAS; (back from left) Gerard Morgan, Waterford City VEC; James Quinlan, MABS; Lar Power, Waterford City Council; Joe Stokes, Waterford Area Partnership and Liam Dooley, Dept of Social & Family Affairs. | photo: Eoin Murphy
A major drive to get as many families, groups and organisations involved in an initiative responding to rising unemployment and the impact of the recession on families throughout the region got underway this week.
The ‘Waterford Working Together Information Fair’, which is being co-ordinated by the Waterford Area Partnership and runs at Waterford Institute of Technology’s Cork Road campus on Friday, April 3 from 11am to 7pm, brings together a wide range of statutory, voluntary and community organisations.
Mayor of Waterford, Cllr Jack Walsh, who is supporting the initiative, has appealed to as many agencies as possible who work with the jobless to play their part, attend and meet the public face-to-face to answer their queries .
“The aim is that this fair will meet the information needs of people regarding benefits and entitlements; education and training; enterprise and employment opportunities; managing money, voluntary and community activity and health and well-being,” the Mayor said.
The fair will act as a one-stop shop for people to access a broad range of information regarding their own circumstances, Mayor Walsh explained. “The general opinion of the agencies in Waterford is that most newly redundant people do not know where to go or who to contact for information and services to help them through this difficult time. This is a particular challenge for the many who have lost what they previously regarded as secure employment and so find themselves unexpectedly out of work.
“The purpose of the fair is to provide as much information as possible to those people affected by this recession. It will feature a range of stands, workshops and presentations as well as leaflets and information literature and people will be able to make appointments with relevant agencies,” the Mayor said.
The fair represents a collective approach to providing information to the people of Waterford on all of the organisations which are working together to support families, foster enterprise and employment in these more difficult times.
Those who attend the fair can meet representatives of a variety of organisations, among them the Citizen’s Information Centre; the Money, Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS); the VEC, Waterford Institute of Technology, FAS, Waterford City Enterprise Board; the Department of Social & Family Affairs and the Health Services Executive (HSE). There will also be representation from those providing retraining for the newly unemployed.
– Agencies wishing to take part in the event are strongly encouraged to contact Catherine O’Neill or Patrice Cassidy on 051 841740 or email the Waterford Area Partnership at info@wap.ie
