Stage 4 - Social Plan by Sligo County Council

Page |0

Sligo East City Regeneration Social Plan

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 Page |1

Table of Contents Section 1.

Introduction ....................................................................................................... 2

Section 2.

Education & Learning ........................................................................................ 9

Section 3.

Unemployment & Training................................................................................23

Section 4.

Health & Wellbeing ..........................................................................................33

Section 5.

Family Support .................................................................................................42

Section 6.

Community Safety & Housing Management ....................................................51

Section 7.

Sport & Recreation ...........................................................................................60

Section 8.

Income Adequacy ............................................................................................67

Section 9.

Community Development & Youth Work ..........................................................73

Section 10.

Arts & Culture ...............................................................................................80

Section 11.

Inter-Agency Collaboration & Engagement ...................................................88

Section 12.

Implementation .............................................................................................96

Section 13.

Monitoring and review.................................................................................100

Appendix 1 Baseline benchmark indicators (Census 2011)...............................................114

Timeframe Term Existing/Develop Short/Develop Medium

Key An action/project that is already in existence but needs to be continued and/or further developed An action/project that should be initiated/further developed within Year 1 & Year 2 An action/project that should be initiated within Year 3 & Year 4

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 Page |2

Section 1.

Introduction

To be successful, regeneration must integrate the physical, economic and social dimensions to development. The planned regeneration of the East City area of Sligo is ambitious and comprehensive. It is a ten year project to transform the social, economic and physical landscape of the area through collaborative long-term strategic planning, investment of resources and urban regeneration. This Social Regeneration Plan forms a key element in this overall ambition. The Social Plan builds on the information from the Stage 1 report Building on our pastâ&#x20AC;Ślooking to our future. The development of the Social Plan was informed by the eleven workshops that examined and made proposals in relation to each of the key strategic areas that make up the plan. The workshops were attended by over 150 representatives of statutory and community agencies and organisations and community representatives. The first draft Social Plan strategies and actions were reviewed by the Social Plan Reference Group and subsequently revised. The reference group brought together representatives of key statutory and voluntary agencies and local community organisations to assess the proposals and to make recommendations for their further development as necessary. Submissions on the draft plan were also received and incorporated where appropriate. This provided an important endorsement for the strategies and actions set out below. In Stage 4, the actions in the draft Social Plan were refined and lead partners were identified. Each lead partner was invited to provide additional information to each of the actions and to identify supporting partners. Others involved in the drafting of the Social Plan were also invited to indicate where they felt they might support the implementation of the Social Plan. A significant amount of material was received in response and this additional information is contained in this Stage 4 Social Plan. It should be noted that a number of the actions outlined under each of the areas are either underway or are in advanced stages of planning. Others require further research, exploration or planning. It is also important to note that responses from agencies and organisations indicate the difficulties associated with committing to a long-term plan when they are restricted to annual budgets within their own agency/organisation frameworks, goals and targets. This makes the inter-agency collaboration and partnership ways of working even more significant to the implementation of this Social Plan.

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 Page |3

Overarching Goals The vision that shapes this social regeneration plan is one of a community that is resilient, that is primed to seize opportunities as they arise and that is flourishing. The overarching goals for this social regeneration plan are therefore to: • • •

Enable resilience within the communities of the regeneration area such that local people are better able to manage and respond to issues in their local area whether economic, social or environmental; Resource the communities of the regeneration area such that local people can avail of opportunities that arise as part of the regeneration process in the changing economic context at a national level; Stimulate a flourishing within the communities of the regeneration area such that local people have the capabilities to lead the sort of lives that they value and enjoy.

Key Principles This social regeneration plan is based on six key principles. These principles have shaped the development and drafting of the plan. They will also shape its implementation, monitoring and evaluation and any further planning processes. These principles are: •

A commitment to enabling the capacity and participation of a local community leadership and community and youth organisations from the regeneration area in all elements of the regeneration process. Community and youth development, the participation of communities in decisions that affect them, and community based actions that respond to local needs and issues are central to this commitment.

•

A commitment to early year’s intervention. The literature and experience of breaking the cycle of disadvantage strongly suggests the need for early intervention. This can be viewed as interventions targeted at children and associated interventions targeted at the risk factors within families; and as interventions target at the earliest signs of disadvantage.

•

A commitment to addressing the practical implications of diversity within the communities of the regeneration area. In particular, this diversity includes a focus on the specific needs, experience and situation of women, lone parents, people with disabilities, Travellers, people from semi and unskilled social classes, young people, older people and migrants. Actions will both target these specific groups as appropriate with particular measures and enable members of these groups to access and benefit from general provision available in the regeneration area.

•

A commitment to interagency intervention. The issues facing the regeneration area and the response they demand are complex. No single agency can mobilise the supports and resources necessary to intervene effectively. Interagency planning, collaboration and resource sharing will be key to addressing these problems.

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 Page |4 •

A commitment to innovation in seeking solutions to long-standing social issues. Innovation will accompany the expansion of existing actions that have been seen to be effective in addressing these issues.

•

A commitment to linking the regeneration area with its wider hinterland in a manner that enables people from the regeneration area to benefit from this wider hinterland and vice versa.

A Lifecycle Approach This plan is based on a lifecycle approach. Its implementation involves a focus on children/young adults, people of working age and older people. This framework enables an integration of initiative to address the cumulative and interlinked disadvantages experienced by the people of the regeneration area.

Children & Young People

Communities

People of working age

Older people

The transmission of advantage and disadvantage from one generation to the next, particularly in relation to occupation and education, is well established.1 Extensive research has shown that inequality affects children from an early age, with lasting personal and societal consequences.2 The literature notes that the well-being of parents and the factors resulting in their children being locked in a cycle of deprivation are complex. Pre-birth and post-natal familial and environmental factors can negatively affect a child’s intellectual, social and emotional development. ‘Parental-level’ risk factors such as unemployment, low income, job stress, marital conflict and broader disruption in the family, as well as environmental factors such as poor housing conditions, experience of violence or discrimination affect the outcomes for a child.3

See for example Asgar Zaidi and Eszter Zolyomi, Intergeneration Transmission of Disadvantages in EU Member States 2007. 2 Benoit Guerin, Breaking the cycle of disadvantage: Early childhood interventions and progression to higher education in Europe. 3 ibid

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 Page |5 A child does not experience disadvantage on her/his own, but in the family context.4 Children are more at risk of poverty and social exclusion than the overall population and these children are less likely than their better-off peers to do well in school, enjoy good health and realise their full potential later in life.5 Early intervention and prevention are essential for developing more effective and efficient policies, as public expenditure addressing the consequences of child poverty and social exclusion tends to be greater than the expenditure required for intervening at an early age. Prevention is most effectively achieved through integrated strategies that combine support to parents to access the labour market with adequate income support and access to services that are essential to childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s outcomes, such as quality (pre-school) education, health, housing and social services, as well as the opportunities to participate and exercise their rights, which help children live up to their potential and contribute to their resilience.6 Breaking the cycle of disadvantage therefore requires an emphasis on early intervention and addressing the familial and environmental risk factors that contribute to disadvantage. Efforts to address disadvantage, poverty and social exclusion amongst people of working age have focused on increasing access to the labour market through labour market activation (LMA) measures. To date these have focused on those who are unemployed and registered on the live register. The policy focus has begun to shift from an emphasis on the live register to one that focuses on low work intensity7 and joblessness.8 The most recent review of Irelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Reform Programme by the European Council stated that Ireland has one of the highest proportions of people living in households with low work intensity in the EU9. It points to the risk of poverty and social exclusion for these households. In extending LMA opportunities to those who are jobless, the ESRI emphasise the importance of ensuring social supports such as childcare are provided, maintaining income supports in jobless households and the gradual withdrawal of income supports to newly employed people. It is of course important that interventions to address the disadvantage experienced by people of working age must go beyond a focus on the labour market to encompass all aspects that make for a resilient, flourishing community primed to seize opportunities that arise. Older people make an important contribution to the regeneration area. This is a contribution that can often be side-lined or undermined by perceptions of older people that are based on stereotypes

4 5 6

Jacqueline Fallon, Centre for Early Childhood Development & Education Investing in Children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage, European Commission 20-2-2013

ibid Persons are defined as living in households with very low work intensity if they are aged 0-59 and the working age members in the household worked less than 20% of their potential during the past year. 8 ESRI, Work & Poverty in Ireland 2004-2010, 2012 9 Brussels, 13.5.2015 COM(2015) 258 final. COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION on the 2015 National Reform Programme of Ireland and delivering a Council opinion the 2015 Stability Programme of Ireland 7

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 Page |6 rather than on their actual capacities and ambitions. This can marginalise, isolate and disadvantage older people. Some older people present particular needs due to their age and state of health. These require specific responses from the relevant agencies if they are to benefit from and contribute to the regeneration process.

Factors for Success The Social Regeneration Plan requires commitment from public agencies and other relevant agencies if it is to be successful. This commitment needs to encompass: •

Investment – The state, public and other relevant agencies will need to channel resources into the regeneration area and its communities in order to add value to interventions that are already targeted at the area and to ensure the goals of the social regeneration plan can be met.

•

Flexibility – The state, public and other relevant agencies need to introduce flexibilities in the ways that they design and deliver programmes and in the way that they work together if the complex needs of the regeneration area are to be effectively addressed;

•

Prioritisation – Public and other relevant agencies need to prioritise the regeneration area with interventions given the significant levels of disadvantage in the area;

•

Responsiveness – Public and other relevant agencies need to visibly respond to community identified needs with relevant strategies and interventions in order to ensure community buy-in to the regeneration.

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 Page |7

Social Plan Structure Regeneration Masterplan

This Social Plan is a crucial element of the Regeneration Masterplan and is designed to work closely with the physical and economic elements of the Masterplan. It is deigned to be a ten-year plan. In that context, the actions outlined throughout the plan are those that have been identified as being immediately required. However it is acknowledged that these are likely to evolve throughout the lifetime of the regeneration project as internal and external circumstances change. They are not designed to replace or displace existing work. Rather the actions are designed to build on and consolidate work that is ongoing in the area. They are also designed to develop and expand existing strategies and to develop new strategies where need has been identified.

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 Page |8 The Social Plan sets out seven thematic intervention areas and three underpinning strategies. It concludes with a section on implementation. The different intervention areas need to be directed towards the overarching goals and to respect the key principles set out above. They need to be integrated and coordinated. The three underpinning strategies enable this focus and this integration and coordination.

The seven thematic Interventions are:

The three underpinning strategies are:

 Education and Learning

 Community Development and Youth Work

 Unemployment, Training & the Social

 Inter-Agency Collaboration and

Economy  Health & Wellbeing  Family Support  Community Safety and Housing Management  Sport and Recreation  Income Adequacy

Engagement  Arts and Culture

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 Page |9

Section 2.

Education & Learning

For the individual, educational attainment has a broad-ranging impact on many aspects of life, from personal development to civic engagement and economic well-being. For society, education is an invaluable resource in seeking to address and alleviate the causes of social exclusion, promote good citizenship, enrich culture and underpin economic development. OECD Overcoming School Failure: Policies that Work. National Report Ireland 2011 The importance of the role played by education in society is widely accepted. Educational qualifications, or the lack of them, determine to a large extent the life chances of people. Young people with higher levels of educational qualifications are more likely to access high quality employment and receive higher pay levels in the immediate period after leaving school, and these advantages persist into adult life. On the other hand, educational disadvantage can have significant impacts on an individual throughout their life, not only in terms of economic uncertainty, but also in terms of wellbeing, health, self-esteem and participation in family and community life. Educational disadvantage is defined in the Education Act (1988) as â&#x20AC;&#x153;the impediments to education arising from social or economic disadvantage which prevent students from deriving appropriate benefit from education in schools.â&#x20AC;? Educational disadvantage may refer to children currently in the education system that are in danger of early school leaving and/or leaving school with few or no qualifications and those that have already left school that are living with the consequences of educational disadvantage. Education is, therefore, a key issue for consideration in the regeneration area, both from the perspective of supporting and enabling individuals to reach their full potential and from an economic perspective, supporting individuals to make an economic contribution to society and to move out of poverty. Future interventions need to be strategic and take a life-cycle approach to educational need, beginning at early childhood education level through to higher and further education and adult education. Education was identified in the Stage 1 report as a key issue for consideration in the regeneration area, both from the perspective of supporting and enabling individuals to reach their full potential and from an economic perspective, supporting individuals to make an economic contribution to society and to move out of poverty. Investment at this stage supports positive engagement with the education system throughout the young personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life. Future interventions need to be strategic and take a life-cycle approach to educational need, beginning at early childhood education level through to Third Level and adult education.

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 P a g e | 10 According to the analysis of the Census 2011 data on levels of education there are significant levels of educational disadvantage in the regeneration area, with significantly high levels of low education10 and significantly low levels of high education.11 .Access to a computer and internet (educational prerequisites) were also considerably lower in the regeneration area than the average for the State Table 1 Education Levels 2011 Total Low education N % Regeneration Area 328 Sligo Borough 1,783 Co Sligo 6,740 State 456,896 RRA â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Recommended Regeneration Area

N 29.2 17.7 16.6 16.0

Higher Education % 159 2970 12205 875114

14.1 29.5 30.0 30.6

Figure 1 Education Levels 2011

Low & High Education Levels HIGH EDUCATION

LOW EDUCATION

0.0

5.0

10.0 State

Co Sligo

15.0

20.0

Sligo Borough

25.0

30.0

35.0

RRA

Intergenerational education disadvantage, early school leaving and/or leaving school legally but with no educational qualifications, limited progression to third level education, and difficulties with literacy and numeracy are considerable challenges in the regeneration area. The Stage 1 report identifies that the impacts of the recession have exacerbated matters for many people. As unemployment increases, competition for scarce jobs becomes increasingly difficult and those with low education levels and few skills are less likely to be able to compete, making the routes out of poverty increasingly challenging. The report also identifies that education, training and economic development are fundamental to making transformative and sustainable changes to peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives. Children and young adults need to be encouraged to stay in education. Those 10

Low education refers to the percentage of the population aged 15 years and over whose full-time education has ceased with no formal education and primary education only taken as a percentage of the total population aged 15 years and over whose full-time education has ceased (minus the not stated category). 11 High education refers to the percentage of the population aged 15 years and over whose full-time education has ceased with third level of education (Higher Certificate, Ordinary Bachelor Degree or National Diploma, Honours Bachelor Degree, Professional qualification or both, Postgraduate Diploma or Degree, Doctorate (Ph.D) or higher) taken as a percentage of the total population aged 15 years and over whose full-time education has ceased (minus the not stated category).

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 P a g e | 11 unemployed need to be supported to develop skills that will enable them to compete in what is a very competitive jobs market. Addressing these issues will require a strategic focus that establishes a common vision for all involved in the social, economic and physical development of the regeneration area.

Goals The goals of the Education & Learning Strategy are to:       

Enhance the educational status of people in the regeneration area across the lifecycle. Improve early childhood education, care and socialisation Enhance provision at primary level Improve educational retention Improve access to third level education Enhance provision of adult education opportunities Improve physical infrastructure.

Strategy Breaking the cycle of disadvantage and putting in place remedial initiatives to address current educational disadvantage will take investment, prioritisation and resources. The Education & Learning Strategy will make a concerted effort to break the cycle of educational disadvantage. The focus will be on early education, maintaining children in school, providing community supports and improving transition rates to third level. There will also be a focus on strategies to address educational disadvantage in adulthood and the overall development of a culture of valuing education and learning throughout the lifecycle. There are seven strands and seven associated objectives in the Education & Training Strategy. The first strand relates to early education. Investment in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is seen as a key mechanism in breaking the cycle of disadvantage amongst children. Evidence increasingly shows that intervention in the early years is preventative and therefore more cost effective, and provides the best outcomes for children and young people. The National Economic and Social Council (NESC) argue that quality care and education in early childhood should be a policy priority in the recession as it is ‘a good long-term investment for the state and a sound basis for the move towards a knowledge-based economy’.12 Start Strong13 argues that high quality early care and education matters because it works for children, for the economy and for society. The focus will be on sustaining, rolling out and ensuring maximum take-up of programmes that have an evidence base to prove outcomes. There are a number of childcare services in the regeneration area. The Springboard Resource House Project provides a crèche service and the Abbeyquarter provides afterschool services. There are also a number of private childcare providers in the area. However, there was consensus during the consultations that there is a dearth of full childcare places in the east side of Sligo city. Lifestart are the only community providers and have a significant waiting list. There will be a focus on the

National Economic and Social Council (2009) Well-being Matters: a Social Report for Ireland, Dublin: NESC, p.160. 13 Start Strong (2010). Children 2020 - Planning Now, for the Future: Children’s Early Care and Education in Ireland

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 P a g e | 12 provision of additional fulltime childcare places that will service the regeneration area and the east side of Sligo. Young children learn through play, and play is the foundation of early yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s socialisation and education. There will be a focus on play as a key mechanism for engaging children and their parents in learning and social development by focusing on the promotion of early reading and using existing programmes, materials and resources. There is also a need to support children in the transition from preschool to primary schools, which can be daunting for some, and a need to address the issue of children starting school too early, which can have a long-term damaging effect on their educational experience. It was suggested that the lack of affordable childcare places may be a critical element in the decision to send children to school at too early an age. The second strand relates to enhancing the experience of primary school children. Experience at primary school lays the foundations for the overall experience of education. It is crucial that children emerge from primary school with positive experiences and ability to engage with the post-primary curriculum. This strand of the Education & Learning Strategy will focus on ensuring that the experience at primary level is as positive as possible. The third strand of the Education & Learning Strategy will be focused on retaining children in primary and post-primary school by addressing a number of factors that lead to early school-leaving. The regeneration area is one of significant educational disadvantage. Levels of attendance, participation, retention and progression to third level education are significant issues. Intergenerational educational disadvantage is a considerable concern and it is highly likely that this is impeding the ability of some parents to support their children with homework. This in turn is likely to have long-term effects on the educational experience of children and may lead to continuing educational disadvantage. Early warning mechanisms to identify when children or young people may be at risk of early school leaving will be developed. The fourth strand will be to improve transition from post-primary to higher and further education. The two third level institutions in Sligo have programmes to encourage students to progress from secondary to third level education that could be targeted at the regeneration area on an outreach basis. The value of Post Leaving Cert (PLC) courses will be promoted. The fourth strand will be develop supports for parents as primary educators. Programmes will focus on improving the ability of parents to support their children with homework and will adopt an integrated literacy approach. They will also be used to identify adults in need of education support. Prevention is naturally a focus for strategies to address educational disadvantage. However, remedial actions to address the impact of educational disadvantage on the adult population must also be implemented. The fifth strand of the Education & Training strategy will focus on adult education and training. The evidence shows that there are very low levels of educational attainment in the regeneration area. Anecdotal evidence would suggest that the experience of the education system has been negative for many. Improvement of literacy and numeracy is key. Integrated literacy programmes are now considered the model to follow and these programmes could be integrated into all adult learning programmes. There is a lack of facilities and resources in some of the national schools that service the regeneration area. St Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National School does not have DEIS status though there are very high

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 P a g e | 13 levels of disadvantage in the school. The Mercy National School does not currently have a playground, limiting the access of children to opportunities for play and develop socialisation skills. The sixth strand will focus on the physical aspects of education and learning in the regeneration area. It will address deficiencies in educational infrastructure and develop a dedicated space for education, play and learning as part of the multi-purpose neighbourhood centre development

Objectives Objective One:

Establish foundations for the Education & Learning Strategy

Objective Two:

Supporting learning and socialisation in the very early years;

Objective Three:

Supporting children in primary school

Objective Four:

Retaining children in school by addressing issues that lead to early school leaving

Objective Five:

Supporting parents as primary educators

Objective Six:

To improve access to higher and further education

Objective Seven:

To develop and implement a series of lifelong learning, adult education and training initiatives.

Objective Eight:

To ensure that the physical requirements for education and learning are addressed

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4

P a g e | 14

Education & Learning Strategy Actions Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Objective One: Establish foundations for the Education & Learning Strategy The Interagency Education Working Group will be supported to establish a regeneration subgroup to play a key role in achieving the Education & Learning Strategy objectives

Existing/Develop

  

The Sligo Regeneration Education & Learning Project will be established and hosted by a relevant organisation

Short/Develop

Strategic focus on the educational needs of the children and young people in the Regeneration Areas Barriers that prevent this group accessing educational opportunities are identified and addressed An inter-agency approach to the identification of resources to support the achievement of the Education and Learning Strategy Outcomes

 

Education Team employed To work towards achieving achieve the Education and Learning Project Outcomes and to report on progress Objective Two: Supporting learning and socialisation in the very early years Ensure that there is maximum uptake of Existing/Develop  All first time parents will be offered the the Lifestart Growing Child Programme in Lifestart Programme. the Regeneration Area  Thematic sessional interventions offered to families with additional needs. Programmes using play as a methodology will be focused on the children of the most disadvantaged families.

2016 - 2018



Getting Ready for School, designed to support parents to ensure that their child is ready to begin school, will continue to

2016 – ongoing



Quality child focussed programmes that support learning through play as set out in Aistear National Curriculum framework for Early Year provided in Early Years Setting. SCC Library Service Play Workshops in local library targeting the Regeneration Area Collaboration of Early Years provision, children supported to have seamless

€600 per annum

Sligo Education Centre – existing resources

Sligo Education Centre with SCC Library Service, TUSLA, MSLETB, DSP, Sligo Leader Partnership Company, HSE,YAPS, Education Welfare Board, National Educational Psychological Service, Sligo Traveller Support Group

€15,000 per annum

Regeneration Project

Sligo Education Centre, MSLETB and the Regeneration Team with the SCC Library Service

Approximately €600 per family

TUSLA

Sligo Family Support Ltd. With referrals from PHNs, Social Workers and other referral agencies

Within staff salaries

Sligo County Childcare Committee Sligo, SCC Library Service with CYPSC Better Start Quality Development Programme DCYA

Sligo County Childcare Committee –

Sligo County Childcare Committee, SCC Library Service with CYPSC

€300 per workshop NA

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

be delivered in the Regeneration Area targeting parents of pre-school children. 

The Sligo County Childcare Committee programme to inform parents and schools of the impact of starting school at too early an age will be supported to be delivered in the regeneration

Annual Seminar held in May each year

A community-based full day childcare service for families in the Regeneration Area and to cater for the east side of Sligo will be provided.

Medium

Training for staff providing early childhood care and education will be supported by Sligo County Childcare Committee The quality development programme, Aistear, will be delivered in the early year’s settings. Child Protection & Welfare will also be prioritised within the county roll-out.

2016 -2018

    



 

Objective Three: The Regeneration Area will be a priority for the Sligo Education Centre in continuing and further developing the

Existing/Develop

transitions to primary school by parents and school Promotion of recommended reading lists for children (picture books about children starting school for the first time) and parents/guardians (books on parenting issues) by SCC Library Service Improved levels of use of early year’s services through ECCE year. Improvement in number of children emotionally and cognitively ready to commence school. All options of facilitating a community based childcare service in the Regen area examined Carry out a feasibility study on the various options of childcare services that are possible in the area. All early years educators will have completed Aistear in practice programmes 1 & 2 delivered by Sligo County Childcare Committee. All Early Years Practitioners will have completed the National Child Protection & welfare Programme. Early Years Educators will have access to quality mentors through Better Start National Programme.

P a g e | 15 Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

existing resources

€500

Regeneration programme

Sligo County Childcare Committee

€10,000 – feasibility to be confirmed

TUSLA, POBAL

€2,500

Sligo County Childcare Committee Staff resource Better Start – Staff resources

Regeneration Project with Sligo Childcare Committee, TUSLA, Family Springboard Resource House Project, POBAL, Sligo LIFE Start, Sligo County Childcare Committee with Better Start

Participant contribution to Child Protection and Welfare training

Supporting children in primary school  

Initial three year strategy developed; Three Incredible years Parenting Programmes delivered per annum (each

€9,000 (€3,000 per programme)

Sligo Education Centre, Sligo

Sligo Education Centre in conjunction with Sligo County Childcare

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 Action

Timeframe

Incredible Years programme. In an initial three-year strategy, resources will be sought to train parents from the Regeneration Area as facilitators



The numeracy programme, Mata Sa Rang delivered by Sligo Education Centre will be rolled out in schools servicing the Regeneration Area.

Short/Develop

  

The Izac9 Mathematics programme will be delivered by Sligo Education Centre to the schools servicing the Regeneration Area

Cost

Funding Sources

programme consists of 12 weeks of workshops delivered to 16 parents and facilitated by two tutors ) Six parents from the Regeneration Area as parent targeted and trained as facilitators for the Incredible Years Parenting Courses Number of parents from the Regeneration Area attending training increased

€9,000 to train six facilitators for the three-year strategy

Committee and Sligo Leader Partnership Company

Numeracy skills at primary school level improved Teachers trained in strategies that help improve numeracy Teachers trained in the use of the Izac 9 materials Twenty parents annually encouraged to see the use of maths in everyday life and to improve their Mathematical skills

Mata Sa Rang Programme €350 per school annually) Izac9 Programme €4,000 Maths Eyes Programme €250 annually

Leader and Sligo County Childcare will provide €3,000 Regeneration - €7,000 (€6,000 to support programmes and €1,000 for materials) Sligo Education Centre will fund Mata Sa Rang and Izac9 programmes and co-fund Maths Eye programme

Programmes implemented Children who are reluctant readers targeted and literacy skills improved local authority adopt and implement an action plan around literacy issues and also build a network of key community stakeholders

€1,656 per child annually for Doodle Den

Sligo Social Services Regeneration

Sligo Social Services, Sligo Education Centre, SCC Library Service, Sligo County Childcare Committee

Application to the Dept of Ed to become a DEIS school, to have met the requirements and to have received approval for same.

Existing resources

Target/Outcome



The Maths Eyes programme will be delivered to parents in the Regeneration Area

Literacy Programmes will be delivered to targeted children in the Regeneration Area

Short/Develop

  

SCC Library Service programme, Right To Read’ programme will be delivered to children in the Regeneration Area Proposals to have St John’s School designated as a DEIS school will be made in the context of it serving the Regeneration Area

Short/Develop



P a g e | 16

€1,000 for course materials

€3,000 for Right to Read programme

SCC Library Service Budget Existing resources

Lead/Partners

Sligo Education Centre

Regeneration Office to support bid by St. John’s to the Department of Education and Skills for DEIS status, Department

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

P a g e | 17 Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners of Education, St. Johns Primary School

Objective Four: Retaining children in school by addressing issues that lead to early school leaving Programmes to support children and young people at transition from the primary to post primary and from the junior to senior cycles will be developed and implemented on an annual basis

Short/Develop

   

The Education Working Group will look at ways to improve Homework support to ensure provisions to all primary school children in the Regeneration Area that require it. This will include asking agencies to work together. A targeted literacy and numeracy programme will be implemented for pupils in the junior cycle in post-primary school who require extra support

Existing/Develop



Short/Develop

  

The Education Working Group will engage with NEPS to explore how targeted support could be given to schools in the Regeneration Area An early warning system to identify children at risk of early school leaving and/or without a qualification will be strengthened Training will be provided for teachers on dealing with special needs and behavioural management. Training will

Short/Develop



Existing

 

Short/Develop



Smooth transition from primary to post primary school for children from the Regeneration Area enabled Pupils assisted to develop organizational/study skills to engage with the post primary curriculum Pupils assisted to develop the social skills needed to engage with the environment in post primary Pupils assisted with subject/career choices All primary schools children in the Regeneration Area who require it will have access to Homework Support

€200 annually

Existing resources TUSLA Department of Children and Youth Affairs

Sligo Education Centre with School Completion Programme, Home Liaison Programme, TUSLA, DCYA

To be determined

TUSLA Pobal

Literacy and numeracy skills of students in Junior Cycle improved Teachers trained in strategies which will help improve numeracy and literacy SCC Library Service programme, Right to Read, implemented Children who require support identified early and supports in place

To be determined

Sligo Education Centre and SCC Library Service with Springboard Resource House Project, Avalon Centre, Abbeyquarter Centre Sligo Education Centre, SCC Library Service with Schools Completion Programme

To be determined

NEPS

Education Working Group

Children at risk of early school leaving are supported Incidence of early school leaving reduced. Teachers and other relevant staff developed knowledge and skills required to deal with a wide range of educational, emotional and behavioural special needs

Existing Resources

School Completion Programme

Education Working Group with School Completion Programme

€3,000 annually

Sligo Education Centre will provide

Sligo Education Centre, Regeneration Project with local schools

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 Action

Timeframe

be provided for parents on dealing with special needs

Programmes to address the issues of bullying, particularly cyberbullying, will be implemented in all the schools servicing the Regeneration Area.

Medium

Target/Outcome 

Parents enabled to understand and develop the necessary skills for supporting their children with special needs



Pupils enabled to identify and deal with bullying Pupils enabled to use technology safely and protect themselves online Teachers and parents up-skilled in this area need for parental responsibility in the area of IT use highlighted

  

P a g e | 18 Cost

€1,000 biannually

Funding Sources €1,000 annually The Regeneration Project will provide €2,000 Sligo Education Centre will provide the teacher training

Lead/Partners

Sligo Education Centre, Primary Schools Secondary Schools, PDST (Professional Development Support Service)

Objective Five: Supporting parents as primary educators To support and implement a series of integrated literacy family learning programmes on an annual basis.

On-going

A Family Learning programme that provides pre-literacy and pre-numeracy for parents of children starting school will be provided on an annual basis, coordinated by the Sligo Education Centre.

Existing /Develop

 

Objective Six: Schools servicing the Regeneration Area will be supported to enhance their career guidance services, targeting children from the Regeneration Area. IT Sligo and St. Angela’s College will prioritise the Regeneration Area for programmes that promote access to third level using an outreach approach.

Family learning enhanced in the Regeneration Area SCC Library Service programme, Right to Read, implemented

Existing Resources

To enable parents enabled to support their child’s learning SCC Library Service programme, Right to Read, implemented

€1,200 annually

SOLAS MSLETB to include in annual plans and target submitted to SOLAS. Regeneration Project

MSLETB, SCC Library Service

Sligo Education Centre, SCC Library Service

To improve access to higher and further education

Short/Develop



Short/Develop

IT Sligo Access Office  Workshops on accessing higher education in the region to be held in local community and schools in

To be determined

Career guidance service enhanced in the Regeneration Area

Existing budget

IT Sligo Access Office

Regeneration Project Team to lead further investigation with the education institutions IT Sligo and St Angela’s College, Sligo Access Schools Programme, SCC Library Service

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome regeneration locality targeting school leaver and mature learners.  ‘Breaking the Mould’ support to be ringfenced for resident of Regeneration Area including: Bonus entry CAO points, two week transition to third level course, on-going mentoring through first year; (fees to be covered by grant).  Transport from the Regeneration Area to IT Sligo for open evenings to allow residents to explore the institute. St. Angela’s College

SCC Library Service to promote benefits of third level education



Target of 35 to start Access Programme (Access Foundation Programme) in 2015 and again in 2016 SCC Library Service  Presentations/talks/workshops on the subject of ‘Going To College’ and the ‘Benefits of Third Level Education’ Schools servicing the Regeneration Area will be supported by the third level colleges and others to integrate information about the benefits of third level education and on the routes into third level education.

The long-term value of Post Leaving Cert courses will be promoted.

Short/Develop

Medium

IT Sligo  Transition year taster programme – students invited to attend IT Sligo and participate in lectures.  Schools visits to those serving the Regeneration Areas to be prioritized e.g. Mercy College, Summerhill College, Ballinode College. St. Angela’s College  Over 15 primary and secondary schools continue to be targeted to participate in the Access Schools Programme including from the Regeneration Area SCC Library Service  Presentations/talks/workshops on the subject of ‘Going To College’ and the ‘Benefits of Third Level Education’  Long-term value of Post Leaving Cert courses promoted.

P a g e | 19 Cost

Existing budget

To be determined Internal to St Angela’s/NUI Galway

Existing Library Activities Budget

Existing IT Sligo budget

Existing St. Angela’s budget Existing Library Activities Budget Existing Resources

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

IT Sligo Access Office

Regeneration Project St Angela’s/ NUI Galway via Higher Education Authority Library Activities Budget

IT Sligo (School Liaison)

IT Sligo and St Angela’s College, Sligo Access Schools Programme, SCC Library Service

St. Angela’s

SCC Library Service

SOLAS

MSLETB with PLC courses and schools

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

P a g e | 20 Cost

Funding Sources

Objective Seven: To develop and implement a series of lifelong learning, adult education and training initiatives. A range of lifelong learning initiatives will On-going Existing SOLAS and  TAPPED courses run by Abbeyquarter, be implemented in the Regeneration Resources – Regeneration Cranmore Co-Op and Springboard Area. Adult Literacy, Annual Resource House Project, and other Community Budget courses aimed at meeting training needs Education & continue to be rolled out Back to Education budgets A series of integrated literacy On-going Existing ETB SOLAS  Demand for programmes developed and programmes, targeted at parents and Resources – met those that wish improve literacy and  SCC Library Service programme, Right to Adult Literacy, numeracy skills will be provided Community Read, implemented Education &  Literacy and numeracy improved Back to Education budgets Residents in the Regeneration Area that On-going Existing ETB SOLAS  Early School Leavers actively supported have left school early and/or with low Resources – by services to return to education and levels of qualifications will be encouraged Adult Literacy, training. to return to education or training. Community Education & Back to Education budgets Community Medium  That Gaisge initiative to target 20 early Education, school leavers to provide them with an DSP €42,000 for Essential Skills Certificate Programme to initiatives, Gaisge level 6 to include a learning to learn and project Sligo introduction to community development LEADER and humanities module implemented. Partnership support Regeneration Budget

Lead/Partners

Sligo Regeneration Education & Learning Project, MSLETB with local groups

Sligo Regeneration Education & Learning Project, SCC Library Service and MSLETB

Sligo Regeneration Education & Learning Project, Gaisge, Equal Ireland, Sligo LEADER Partnership and MSLETB with Youthreach, Community Training Centre and VTOS

Sligo East Regeneration Social Plan Stage 4 Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

P a g e | 21 Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Education re-entry programme that focuses on promoting access to higher and further education for Regeneration Area residents that may never have considered this as a possibility will be developed and provided In the context of Labour Market Activation (LMA) policies, a series of intervention programmes will be designed to address the barriers to participation. Training programmes that reflect the local labour market demands will be developed.

On-going



Residents supported to access Free Guidance service and supports in Sligo town to promote re-entry into education

Existing Resources

Sligo Regeneration Education & Learning Project and MSL ETB

Short/Develop



More people in work

Existing Resources

Department of Social Protection

On-going



Training programmes designed and application submitted to ETB

Existing Resources

SOLAS

Sligo Regeneration Education & Learning Project and MSLETB

An interagency approach to responding to expressed demands for training will be developed.

Short/Develop

 

Interagency response developed Demands for training met

Existing Resources

SOLAS

Regeneration Project

Objective Eight: To ensure that the physical requirements for education and learning are addressed A playground will be provided in the grounds of the Mercy school

Medium

   

A dedicated space for education, play and reading will form part of the proposed neighbourhood centre

Medium

  

Plans for playground developed Capacity of playground required Determined, Potential analysis of use carried out Funding options explored,

Options assessed for a temporary neighbourhood space and establish a dedicated learning space as part of same. Options assessed for new Neighbourhood Centre as proposed in the Regen Masterplan Space included in plan for new Centre developed

Costs dependent on the type of playground required, capacity and facilities required. Costs dependent

Department of Education & Skills, other sources to be identified

Regeneration Project with Mercy Primary School, Department of Education,

Regeneration Project, DOECLG, SCC, MSLETB

Regeneration Project with Cranmore Co-op, Abbeyquarter Centre, Sligo Education Centre, SCC Library Service

P a g e | 22

Implementation Key agencies and partners will include the Regeneration Team, who will play a key leadership role in this education strategy. The education strategy will involve statutory agencies, education providers, local development agencies, and community groups including: •

Cranmore Co-op,

•

Department of Social Protection,

•

IT Sligo

•

Pre, primary & post-primary schools/services serving the Regeneration Area

•

Springboard Resource House Project

•

Sligo Community Training Centre

•

Sligo County Childcare Committee

•

Sligo Education Centre,

•

Sligo LEADER Partnership

•

Sligo Leitrim Mayo Education Training Board,

•

Sligo Lifestart

•

St Angela’s College,

•

St John’s School,

•

The Avalon Centre

•

The Schools Completion Programme

•

TUSLA

•

The Regeneration Team

•

Sligo County Council Library Service

P a g e | 23

Section 3.

Unemployment & Training

Background Unemployment is a critical issue in the regeneration area. The resolution of this issue, and in particular the issues of long-term unemployment and youth unemployment, will be key to the success or otherwise of the regeneration project. Alongside education and training, tackling unemployment will need to be a priority concern if a flourishing, resilient, learning community is to be enabled as an outcome from regeneration. Census 2011 data allows for an analysis of the Principal Economic Status of the population in the regeneration area and enables comparisons to be made with Sligo Borough Area, County Sligo and the national level. This enables an examination of the labour force participation rate (the proportion of the population that is economically active), the unemployment rate (those unemployed or seeking their first job as a percentage of the labour force), and the average economic dependency ratio (EDR) (the ratio of the total inactive population to those at work). The labour force participation rate was 59.2% in the regeneration area is similar to the rate at national level (61.9%) and the rate for County Sligo (59.4%). It is slightly higher than for the Sligo Borough Area (54.6%). The unemployment rate is high at 37.6%. This is substantially higher than the national rate (19%), the rate for County Sligo (18.1%), and the rate for the Sligo Borough Area (23.6%) The average economic dependency ratio at a national level was 1.0. The average for County Sligo was 1.1 and for Sligo Borough Area was 1.4. The economic dependency ratio for the regeneration area was 1.7. Table 2 Principal Economic Status Profile 2011 Total population aged 15 & over N RRA

Labour Force

Not in the Labour Force

Labour Force Participation Rate

Outside the Labour Force %

Unemployment Rate

No.

EDR

Rate

1,550

917

633

59.2

40.8

345

37.6

1.7

Sligo Borough

14,805

8088

6717

54.6

45.4

1,906

23.6

1.4

Co. Sligo

52,284

31,058

21,226

59.4

40.6

5,624

18.1

1.1

3,608,662

2232203

1376459

61.9

38.1

424,843

19.0

1.0

State

RRA â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Recommended Regeneration Area

P a g e | 24 Figure 2 Principal Economic Status Profile 2011

Principal Economic Status Profile UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE

0.0 State

10.0

20.0

Co. Sligo

30.0

Sligo Borough

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

RRA

In line with national trends, high levels of unemployment are accompanied by particularly high levels of long-term unemployment and unemployment of young people. Significant numbers of local authority tenants in the area live on incomes that are well below the poverty threshold. The poverty threshold was 10,889 Euro in 2011. Data from Sligo Borough Council (2012) on local authority households shows that 75% or 90 one person households are living below the poverty threshold, 95% or 78 two person households, and 85% or 28 three person households are living below the poverty threshold in the Regeneration Area. Most of those in paid work in the regeneration area are employed in elementary occupations. This figure stood at 16.2% according to Census 2011 and compared with a national average of 9.2%. This group is followed by those employed in skilled trades occupations (10.9% compared to a national average of 15.8%), those in process, plant and machine operative jobs (8.9% compared to a national average of 7.6%), and those in sales and customer service occupations (8.2% compared to a national average of 7.1%). Those in the regeneration area employed as managers, directors and senior officials was 2.9% compared to a national average of 7.8%. A significantly higher proportion than the national average did not state their occupation in the Census 2011 (31% compared to 9%). This suggests that at least a proportion of these people are also in low income, low skills employment. Table 3 Occupation 2011

Managers, Directors and Senior Officials Professional Occupations Associate Professional and Technical Occupations Administrative and Secretarial Occupations Skilled Trades Occupations Caring, Leisure and Other Service Occupations Sales and Customer Service Occupations Process, Plant and Machine Operatives Elementary Occupations Not stated RRA â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Recommended Regeneration Area

RRA Sligo Borough % % 2.9 5.3 3.7 13.6 5.7 8.5 4.4 8.9 10.9 11.4 7.9 8.2 8.2 8.8 8.9 7.7 16.2 13.2 31.0 14.3

Co Sligo % 6.5 15.9 9.8 10.2 17.8 7.6 6.9 7.6 8.7 9.0

State % 7.8 16.1 10.5 10.3 15.8 6.6 7.1 7.6 9.2 9.0

P a g e | 25

Figure 3 Occupation 2011

Occupations ELEMENTARY OCCUPATIONS PROCESS, PLANT AND MACHINE OPERATIVES SALES AND CUSTOMER SERVICE OCCUPATIONS CARING, LEISURE AND OTHER SERVICE OCCUPATIONS SKILLED TRADES OCCUPATIONS ADMINISTRATIVE AND SECRETARIAL OCCUPATIONS ASSOCIATE PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICALâ&#x20AC;Ś PROFESSIONAL OCCUPATIONS MANAGERS, DIRECTORS AND SENIOR OFFICIALS 0.0 State

Co Sligo

5.0 Sligo Borough

10.0

15.0

20.0

RRA

Educational disadvantage is a significant issue in the regeneration area. Data from Census 2011 shows that 29.2% of people in the area had low education levels14. This is considerably higher than national and Sligo wide averages. Only 14.1% had completed their full-time education with third level education. This is well below national and Sligo wide averages. The 2007 Cranmore Regeneration Social Plan identified unemployment as one of the key social issues in the area. Education, training, and up-skilling were identified as key factors in addressing unemployment and economic development in the area. A Jobs Club operating from the Abbeyquarter Centre and the PEPPA programme to support labour market participation by lone parents were developed as part of this project. This regeneration project contributed to a reduction in the negative stereotyping of people from the regeneration area. However, stigma continues to be associated with an address in the area and remains a barrier to employment. Sligo Community Training Centre provides important training opportunities that young people under the age of twenty three in the regeneration area have been able to access. Community Employment, Job Initiative, and Back to Work Allowance schemes have been the key economic interventions in recent years in the regeneration area. As part of the current regeneration project, an enterprise and training group with young men has been established in the area in response to demands made by the young men themselves. A number of community training initiatives have been supported in areas such as home repair and maintenance, computer training, childcare, and horticulture.

No formal education or education to primary level only.

P a g e | 26 There are challenges to ensure labour market activation can be effective in a context of such disadvantage. There is a need to develop skills levels in relevant fields and, in particular to ensure that skills development opportunities are both accessible and linked to real opportunities in the surrounding labour market. There have been significant recent policy developments at a national level to prioritise labour market activation and to develop new approaches and institutional structures to achieve labour market activation. The approach is based on five strands: more regular and on-going engagement with the unemployed; greater targeting of activation places and opportunities; incentivising the takeup of opportunities; incentivising employers to provide more jobs for people who are unemployed; and reforming institutions to deliver better services to the unemployed 15. The Intreo service has also been established within the Department of Social Protection as a single point of contact for all employment and income supports. The regeneration process, and in particular the physical regeneration initiatives, should offer opportunities for employment for local people. There will be a need to take steps to secure such opportunities for people from the regeneration area.

Goals The goals of the Unemployment and Training Strategy are to ensure that: 1. The regeneration area is an area that local people have employment within, that people leave to go to work from and that people come to go to work in. 2. Routes to employment and economic participation are opened up for people within the regeneration area, in particular through activation, training and personal development, and social economy initiatives. 3. The regeneration process, in particular the physical regeneration, will improve people’s economic situation.

Principles This Unemployment and Training Strategy is based on a commitment to:  Decent work and enabling people from the regeneration area to have access to opportunities for work that is productive, delivers a fair income, respects workplace rights, and offers security.  Equality and responding to the needs, situation and experience of the diversity of people in the

regeneration area. Particular attention will be given to addressing the needs, situation and experience of women, young people, older people, lone parents, people with disabilities, Black and minority ethnic people including Travellers, ex-offenders and people with addiction problems.

‘Pathways to Work: Government Policy Statement on Labour Market Activation’, Government of Ireland, 2012.

P a g e | 27

The Youth Guarantee It is acknowledged that the young people have been hit particularly hard by the recession 16. The current generation of young people have been described as the forgotten generation 17 or the lost generation18 and there can be no doubt that the recession has been particularly difficult for young people emerging into a changing labour market19. The European Commission20 has stated that youth unemployment has a profound impact on individuals as well as on society and the economy. Unless current trends are reversed quickly, today's levels of youth unemployment risk damaging the longer-term employment prospects for young people, with serious implications for future growth and social cohesion (p. 2). The National Economic and Social Council has stated that unemployment among young people is particularly detrimental to the young people themselves and to wider society, and often has long-term consequences21. There is particular concern for the numbers of young people that are NEET (not in employment, education or training). The Eurofound report22 highlights the adverse consequences for the individual, society and the economy of NEET. It suggests policy measures have to be diversified – paying attention to vulnerable groups that are more likely to cumulate multiple disadvantage.At a Europe level, the European Commission announced the Youth Employment Package, a series of measures to help Member States tackle unacceptable levels of youth unemployment and social exclusion by giving young people offers of jobs, education and training in December 2012. The Youth Guarantee was piloted in Ireland in 2014 and will be rolled-out across the country from 2015 onwards. According to the Irish Implementation Plan, roll-out be formulated as follows: a) Young people under the age of 18 years, who have left the school system without completing secondary education, and who have failed to find employment, will be provided with a quality ‘second-chance’ educational /training pathway outside the school system such as Youthreach or be supported in re-entering the school system. b) Young people aged 18-24 years who become unemployed (whether on loss of a job or while seeking a first employment) and register with the benefits/employment service, and who subsequently remain unemployed for four months, will be provided with assistance to secure work or alternatively with a quality offer of training, education or work experience. Young people will receive a sanction if they do not engage with the youth guarantee. It is anticipated that the intervention and activation process will be a tailored version of the Pathways to Work activation model and will be of critical importance to the regeneration project.

National Economic and Social Council, The Social Dimensions of the Crisis: the Evidence and the Implications. Report No. 134. Dublin 2013 p. 17 17 National Youth Council of Ireland, Youth Unemployment in Ireland: The Forgotten Generation 18 Bell D. & Blanchflower, YEAR Young People and Recession: A Lost Generation 19 Council recommendation 22 April 2013 on establishing a youth guarantee (2013/C 120/01) (2). 20 Working together for Europe’s young people: A call to action on youth unemployment. Brussels, 19.6.2013 COM (2013) 447 final. Communication from the commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, The European Economic and Social Committee And The Committee Of The Regions 21 National Economic and Social Council, The Social Dimensions of the Crisis: the Evidence and the Implications. Report No. 134. Dublin 2013. 22 Eurofound (2012), NEETs: Young people not in employment, education or training: Characteristics, costs and policy responses in Europe

P a g e | 28

Strategy This Unemployment and Training Strategy will be implemented in close coordination with the Economic Plan for the regeneration area. There are four inter-woven strands to this strategy. These four strands will underpin new routes to economic participation and employment for the diversity of people in the regeneration area. This is a long-term goal and will require sustained and intensive activity within each of these strands if it is to be realised. The four strands seek to build on steps already taken in the regeneration area as part of this and previous regeneration processes. Regeneration will involve investment into the regeneration area and this is the context for the first strand in this strategy. This investment should stimulate economic activity in the area just as it should offer employment opportunities for local people. Particular opportunities will arise in this regard with the physical regeneration works. Training and skills development will enable local people to compete effectively for opportunities. Local employment will form part of contracting arrangements with contractors and sub-contractors. Significant numbers of people in the regeneration area are experiencing long-term and intergenerational unemployment. Many have relatively low educational levels and skills. Interventions with an economic objective will need to acknowledge this level of disadvantage. Additional supports will be required to build the capacity of people in the regeneration area to engage with opportunities that are made available or are already available. Pre-support initiatives are the second strand in this strategy and will need to be a priority if economic interventions are to make any impact. Particular attention will need to be given to groups in the regeneration area that are most distant from the labour market and specific interventions will be required to address their particular needs. Labour market activation is currently a national priority policy area. The Sligo Intreo office of the Department of Social Protection is located in the regeneration area. Activation is the third strand in this strategy. This is the process whereby people who are unemployed are supported to seek education, training and employment. Fears have been expressed about this service given that a failure to engage with the process risks sanction from the Department of Social Protection. Trust still needs to be further developed in the activation process within the regeneration area. It is important that activation in jobless households in the regeneration area involves a broad range of policy interventions. Flexibility is required of the activation process in the regeneration area if it is to meet the complex needs of local people. The new Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) will be vital to ensuring these types of pre-activation supports are provided.

P a g e | 29 Skills development is a priority in a context of educational disadvantage and of low skills level employment. This is the fourth strand of this strategy. Pre-access interventions are required to enable local people to avail of existing or new opportunities for skills development. A training model will need to be developed and implemented that combines personal development, education, skills development and guidance supports. An assessment of the local labour market needs will be required to ensure that skills developed match real employment opportunities.

Objectives Objective One:

Establish foundations for the Unemployment and Training Strategy.

Objective Two:

Secure employment opportunities for local people in the work of physical regeneration within the area.

Objective Three:

Develop and secure routes to employment for people in the regeneration area â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Activation.

Objective Four:

Develop and secure routes to employment for people in the regeneration area â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Training.

P a g e | 30

Unemployment and Training Strategy Actions Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Objective One: Establish foundations for the Unemployment and Training Strategy. An Employment Taskforce will be convened in the Regeneration Area involving public sector agencies and community and voluntary organisations.

Short/Develop



A profile of the education levels, skills held, employment experience, employment status and voluntary work experience of people of working age will be carried out An employment task force will promote and support steps to promote the image of the Regeneration Area to employers, inform them of the regeneration process and its impact, promote the employment of people from the area, and break down any stigma associated with the area.

Medium



Medium



An impetus given to the implementation of the unemployment and training strategy. Coherence and integration of action across agencies and sectors. SCC Library Service to pilot ‘Libraries Support Employment’ initiative in September 2015. The concept involves providing access through the library service to reading material regarding employment and careers, access to PCs and the internet, workshops and presentations on finding employment, CV and interview preparation, study and research facilities Profile necessary to shape implementation of this strategy to be agreed with Employment Task Force

Existing resources

Regeneration Project to convene initially, SCC Library Service, Sligo LEADER Partnership

Existing resources

Employment Task Force

Ongoing work by the members of the task force to use their communication channels with employers to profile the work being done.

Existing resources

Employment Task Force

Objective Two: Secure employment opportunities for local people in the work of physical regeneration within the area. A targeted programme of skills development will be provided to local people in advance of and during the physical regeneration work

Existing/Develop



MSLETB will continue to support and, with DSP assistance encourage, local people to take up appropriate training opportunities.

Existing resources

MSLETB DSP

P a g e | 31 Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Objective Three: Develop and secure routes to employment for people in the Regeneration Area – Activation. Tailored approaches to activation will reflect and respond to the complex situation, experience and needs of local people in an area of high levels of disadvantage Specific interventions will be developed and targeted on groups facing particular barriers in accessing the labour market.

Medium



More people in work

Existing resources

DSP

Medium

 

Interventions developed More people in work

Existing resources

The Department of Social Protection will engage with key workers in the Regeneration Area in relation to the provision of activation services for those of working age. Intreo will, as necessary, continue to develop initiatives in partnership with other agencies and local community organisations to maximise outcomes from activation. and to pilot new approaches to activation for particular groups within the Regeneration Area

Short/Develop

 

Key workers upskilled More people in work

Existing resources

DSP with MSLETB and with local agencies and community organisations DSP with Local Groups

Existing/Develop



More people in work

Existing resources

DSP, Regeneration Project, SCC Library Service with local agencies and community organisations

Objective Four: Develop and secure routes to employment for people in the Regeneration Area – Training A wide-ranging programme of accredited training opportunities to enhance the employability of people in the Regeneration Area will be devised and delivered by the MLSETB over the period of the regeneration process. Delivery of training that gives initial priority to soft skills and integrates literacy and numeracy, personal development, capacity to network socially, and self-esteem. The work and provision of the Sligo Community Training Centre will continue to serve people from the Regeneration Area. This work will be expanded to respond fully to the demand evident from the Regeneration Area.

Medium

 Programmes identified  Inclusion of programmes in the MSLETB annual plans and targets submitted to SOLAS

Existing resources

SOLAS

MSLETB

Existing/Develop

 Soft skills integrated into programmes  Inclusion of programmes in the MSLETB annual plans and targets submitted to SOLAS  Sligo Community Training Centre expanded to meet demand 

Existing resources

SOLAS

MSLETB and SCC Library Service

Existing resources

SOLAS

MSLETB

Existing/Develop

P a g e | 32

Implementation The key structures and drivers for the implementation of this Unemployment and Training Strategy are: 

Intreo.



Mayo Sligo Leitrim Education Training Board.



Sligo Community Training Centre.



Sligo LEADER Partnership.



Sligo Local Enterprise Office.



The Regeneration Team.



SCC Library Service

The Employment Taskforce convened in the regeneration area will play a central role in driving and coordinating the implementation of this strategy. It will ensure coordination with the Economic Plan for the Regeneration Area.

P a g e | 33

Section 4.

Health & Wellbeing

Background The development of A Healthy Community is a critical element of the regeneration project. This concept will emphasise the physical and mental health in the broadest sense incorporating the definition of the World Health Organisation, which states that ‘health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. Similarly, the WHO define mental health as ‘a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community’. This understanding of health is a positive one emphasising social and physical resources as well as physical and mental capacity. Figure 4 Determinants of Health

Source: Healthy Ireland 2013 (adapted from Daghren and Whitehead, 1991 and Grant and Barton 2006) Nationally and internationally, it is accepted that health is impacted by social, economic, environmental and cultural factors, including levels of education, lived environment, income,

P a g e | 34 employment or unemployment and health services. This suggests that good physical and mental health can be promoted by addressing issues relating to these determining factors. This is particularly important in an area such as the Regeneration Area as it facilitates an integrated approach to health and wellbeing. This approach mirrors the one taken by the government in relation to health and wellbeing. Healthy Ireland, the new government framework for action to improve the health and wellbeing of people living in Ireland over the coming generation sets out a wide framework of actions to improve health and wellbeing and reduce the risks posed to future generations. The strategy emphasises the fact that health and wellbeing are everyone’s concern and stresses the critical nature of inter-agency collaboration in achieving the vision. Goal 2 acknowledges that health and wellbeing are not evenly distributed across Irish society. This goal requires interventions to target particular health risks and a broad focus on addressing the wider social determinants of health – the circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work and age – to create economic, social, cultural and physical environments that foster healthy living. This is particularly relevant to, and complements the aims of, the Regeneration Project. The Framework acknowledges that local authorities play a critically important role in protecting and promoting health and wellbeing at local level and proposes a necessary shift towards a broader, more inclusive approach to governance for health, moving beyond the health service, across national and local authorities, involving all sectors of society, and the people themselves.

Healthy Ireland Vision A Healthy Ireland, where everyone can enjoy physical and mental health and wellbeing to their full potential, where wellbeing is valued and supported at every level of society and is everyone’s responsibility.

Goals Goal 1: Increase the proportion of people who are healthy at all stages of life Goal 2: Reduce health inequalities Goal 3: Protect the public from threats to health and wellbeing Goal 4: Create an environment where every individual and sector of society can play their part in achieving a healthy Ireland

The Stage 1 Report, “Building on our Past…Looking to our Future”, identified that the perception of health in the Regeneration Area is poor in comparison to the average for the State and those for Co Sligo and the Sligo Borough Council Area. The proportion of those unable to work due to permanent sickness of disability is 8% in the Regeneration Area, double that of the State (4%). Anecdotally, high levels of drug and alcohol abuse were identified, including a high level of prescription and over the counter drug dependency. Mental health problems including depression were cited as issues for some in the community and these are compounded by unemployment, income inadequacy and social isolation. According to some, loneliness and isolation are factors within the area and these are leading to further health problems. The lack of health services in the area was identified as a major issue. Breaking the cycle of health inequality in the Regeneration Area will require investment in the area. This will include additional resources being targeted at the area and improved interagency work that will improve efficiencies and effectiveness of current resources.

P a g e | 35

Goals The goals of the Health & Wellbeing strategy are to:  

Develop a healthy community where all residents can enjoy physical and mental health and wellbeing to their fullest potential. To provide adequate and accessible health services in the Regeneration Area.

Strategy There are five strands with associated objectives to this Health & Wellbeing Strategy. The first strand refers to improving the health status of residents in the Regeneration Area. Poor levels of physical and mental health and high levels of behaviours that lead to ill health such as smoking and drug use are reported in the area. A multi-strand health programme designed to promote and improve health and wellbeing will be designed and implemented. This strategy will focus on decreasing behaviours that lead to ill health and improving or increasing behaviours that lead to positive physical and mental health. Sligo has recently joined the WHO Healthy Cities movement. The Healthy Cities movement promotes comprehensive and systematic policy and planning for health and emphasizes: •

the need to address inequality in health and urban poverty

•

the needs of vulnerable groups

•

participatory governance

•

the social, economic and environmental determinants of health.

The first strand of this Health & Wellbeing Strategy will be rolled out in the context of the Healthy Cities project. Decrease unhelathy behaviours

Sligo is an Age Friendly County. The needs of older people in the Regeneration Area will form part of the Age Friendly County Strategy. The Avalon Centre currently provides daycare for older people but there are considered insufficient places to meet demand. As the population of the Regeneration Area ages, there will be a need to ensure that the services are available to people to enable them to age well in their communities. The second strand focuses on supporting those that are currently experiencing health related difficulties. It will focus on improving access to intervention services required for those with addiction, mental ill health and behavioural issues.

Increase healthy behaviours

P a g e | 36 The third strand focuses on mental health. Anecdotally it is suggested that there are high numbers of people living with depression and mental health problems. Drawing on the WHO definition of mental health, it will be necessary to take a holistic approach to addressing this across the lifecycle. This will include expanding the current work of the Drugs Worker in the area from addiction counselling to education and preventative strategies. The fourth strand will focus on improvements to health service provision in the area. The dearth of health services in the area was highlighted by the Stage 1 report and by consultations to inform this Social Plan. Though these have recently improved somewhat with Public Health Nurse clinics and North West Regional Drugs & Alcohol Task Force counselling sessions operating in the area, there is significant scope for further improvement. This element of the Plan will link to the physical elements of the regeneration plan. The fifth strand will focus on making links with similar initiatives and monitoring improvements in health and wellbeing. This will include an exploration of projects such as the ChangeX project being implemented by NUI Galway that focuses on improving the wellbeing of communities. The WHO Healthy Cities initiative is operating in a number of areas such as Galway city. Links are currently developing with areas that are engaging in health and wellbeing initiatives including Sligo. A number of indexes have been developed, such as the OECD Better Life Index, and this work will focus on exploring these indices and adopting one appropriate for monitoring wellbeing in the Regeneration Area.

Objectives Objective One:

To improve the health and wellbeing of residents in the Regeneration Area across the lifecycle.

Objective Two:

To improve mental health outcomes across the lifecycle for people in the Regeneration Area.

Objective Three:

To improve access to appropriate services and early intervention for those in the Regeneration Area currently experiencing health related difficulties.

Objective Four:

To improve the range and availability of primary health care services in the Regeneration Area.

P a g e | 37

Health & Wellbeing Actions Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Objective One: To improve the health and wellbeing of residents in the Regeneration Area across the lifecycle. The Sligo Healthy Cities initiative will be rolled out over the next number of years. Particular consideration will be given to ensuring that the initiative will meet the needs of residents in the Regeneration Area

Short/Develop

 The HSE aim, to promote health & wellbeing as part of everything we do so that people will be healthier, implemented in the Regeneration Area

Within existing resources and through partnership and interagency working

Currently no additional funding available

Support for health and wellbeing in the early years will be supported by Sligo County Childcare Committee and other relevant organisations.

2016-2018

 Early Years Practitioners will have an understanding of the holistic development of the child and will be able to support positive behaviour practices and encourage and develop positive mental health programmes.  All Early Years Educators will have completed the Smart Start Health & Wellbeing Programme.  All first-time parents will be introduced to the evidence-based Lifestart programme and receive a Lifestart family visitor, who will visit their home monthly for a three year period delivering the manualised Growing child material

€2,000

Existing resources with support from the Regeneration Project

€600 per family

TUSLA



€5k per annum

DECLG, Sligo LEADER Partnership

The Health & Wellbeing Strategy, Cranmore Age Friendly Strategy, will be developed, published and implemented 2015-18

3 years



Increased participation by the community in local activities, Greater sense of health and wellbeing by the local community.

HSE– Health & Wellbeing, Sligo County Council with CRP, Sligo Sport Recreation Partnership other agencies based on needs identified i.e. Sligo LEADER Partnership, MLSETB Sligo County Childcare Committee, TUSLA and Lifestart with the Regeneration Project

The Abbeyquarter Centre, Cranmore coop, the Family Resource House, The Abbeyquarter Men’s Group, The Gardaí, the Regeneration Project

P a g e | 38 Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners Office and Age Friendly Alliance Sligo

Preventative strategies will be designed and implemented in the Regeneration Area.

Short/Develop

The HSE will implement its risk assessment for falls, the Falls Programme, amongst older people in the Regeneration Area.

Short/Develop

The Community Food Initiative of the national Healthy Food for All programme will be explored for relevance to the Regeneration Area. Services that already work in the area of promoting healthy eating and nutrition will be supported.

A community-based health education programme will be devised and implemented



Healthy Ireland strategy implemented in the Regeneration Area.  Chronic disease reduced by focusing on areas such as diet, nutrition and physical activity, obesity tobacco, alcohol and substance misuse.  Positive mental health, positive ageing and good sexual health promoted.  Reduction in number of falls in older adults

Within existing resources and through interagency working

Currently no additional funding available

Cost Neutral

Currently no additional funding available

Short/Develop

 National Healthy Food for All Programme piloted in the Regen area and its success evaluated

€2,000.00

Regeneration Project (DECLG), Sligo LEADER Partnership, LEADER DSP

Medium



Within existing resources and through interagency working

Currently no additional funding available



Social Prescribing will be explored for implementation in the Regeneration Area.

Medium



Health & wellbeing as part of everything we do promoted so that people will be healthier. Healthy Ireland strategy implemented.

Health & wellbeing as part of everything that the HSE does is

HSE – Health & Wellbeing, Sligo Sport Recreation Partnership Sligo County Council, Sligo LEADER Partnership, MLSETB, other agencies inclusive of community and voluntary sector based on thematic programme targeted. HSE Older Persons Service, HSE – Health & Wellbeing, HSE Primary Care Team with Active Age Groups and SSRP Regeneration Project with Sligo County Council, Sligo LEADER Partnership, Cranmore Co-op, Abbeyquarter Centre and HSE HSE – Health & Wellbeing with Sligo Sport Recreation Partnership Sligo County Council, other agencies based on needs identified i.e. Sligo LEADER Partnership, MSLETB HSE – Health & Wellbeing, SCC Library Service with

P a g e | 39 Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome



Cost

Funding Sources

promoted so that people will be healthier SCC Library Service Bibliotherapy Project (the use of books for therapeutic purposes) which forms part of a larger Social Prescribing Project (Books on Prescription). The project attempts to provide alternative sources of help, particularly in the area of mental health, other than from mental health professionals provided in the Regeneration Area

Lead/Partners Sligo Sport Recreation Partnership, Sligo County Council, other agencies based on needs identified i.e. Sligo LEADER Partnership, MSLETB

Objective Two: To improve mental health outcomes across the lifecycle Positive mental health programmes will be developed and implemented across the lifecycle with a particular focus on working with schools and youth services.

Medium

Positive mental health will be a key focus of work with older people, including a focus on keeping physically and socially active

Short/Develop

Objective Three: The current service that provides for counselling for those with addiction issues will be expanded to include measures that focus on addressing addiction and preventative measures.

 



Positive mental health, positive ageing promoted Number of young people participating in mental health programmes in the school and out of school setting Increased

Within existing resources and through interagency working

Health Promotion

More older people more active more often

Within existing funding to Sligo Arts & Health Grant

Cost Neutral

HSE – Health & Wellbeing with Sligo Sport Recreation Partnership, Sligo County Council, other agencies based on needs identified i.e. Sligo Education Centre, youth centers/clubs HSE – Health & Wellbeing with SSRP, Arts Office, Mental Health Services, Aware, Mental health Ireland

To improve access to services and early intervention for those currently experiencing difficulties. Existing/Devel op

 Service developed and expanded for those with addiction issues and for prevention measures for the wider community  Training provided by the NWRDATF for Drug Harms Types and Effects for Housing Staff, Residents, Youth

Expansion of service for an extra day €6,800 per annum

Expansion of service – HSE, Housing Associations, Regeneration Project, NWRDATFF

NWRDATF and HSE with Housing Section, Community Wardens, Youth Organisation, Residents Associations,

P a g e | 40 Action

Improvements in referral will be developed, including outreach work and improvements in information.

Timeframe

Short/Develop

Target/Outcome

Cost

Organisations and Community Wardens.  Prevention initiatives delivered

Service & training cost - €1,800 per annum

 Template which can be used by all services who come into contact with adults with addiction issues in order to refer clients onto the existing service developed.  Social prescribing promoted

€150 per meeting

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners Housing Associations

The cost of meetings to be shared by the group. Promotion of Social Prescribing HSE

NWRDATF and HSE with GPs, Housing Association, Housing Authority, Mental Health Team, Social Work Team, Pharmacy

Objective Four: To improve the range and availability of primary health care services in the Regeneration Area. The current range of primary care services provided in the Regeneration Area will be developed, in particular expanded presence of GP services in the Regeneration Area.

Existing/Devel op



HSE will strive to provide a range of primary care service as appropriate to needs and within available resources

To be determined

HSE, Primary Care Service with PHN service provided in Cranmore Co-op, Drug Task Force funded parttime substance misuse worker, Regeneration Project Team

Suitable premises will be identified and provided in conjunction with the physical regeneration plan.

Medium

 Options for Primary Health Care Service Centre explored with HSE and other providers.  Report re use of space and demand for service developed.

To be determined

HSE, Regen Project (DECLG), LEADER, SCC

HSE, Sligo County Council (LCDC), Sligo LEADER Partnership and Regeneration Project

The community psychiatric nursing service will promote its service in the Regeneration Area.

Medium

 Service users access to Community Mental Health Services improved

One Whole Time Equivalent CPN€50,000

National

HSE-Mental Health with Regeneration Project

P a g e | 41

Implementation The Regeneration Team will play a key support role to stimulate the implementation of this Health and Wellbeing Strategy. The HSE will lead the implementation of this strategy. They will coordinate and work with a number of other key agencies in this. Statutory and community agencies will be involved including: 

Cranmore Co-op,



HSE



Springboard Resource House Project,



Sligo County Childcare Committee



Sligo Leitrim Mayo Education Training Board,



Sligo Lifestart



Sligo Social Services,



Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership



The Avalon Centre



The North West Regional Drug & Alcohol Task Force



TUSLA,



Youth organisations



Youthreach Sligo



The Regeneration Team



SCC Library Service

P a g e | 42

Section 5.

Family Support

Family Support refers to the provision of services to families and children, particularly to families and children at risk. Family supports are defined as community-based services to promote the well-being of children and families. Family Support is a key mechanism in addressing some of the most pertinent difficulties faced by disadvantaged communities and families. The Stage 1 Report, “Building on our Past…Looking to our Future”, identified that family Support initiatives have been one of the key successes of work in the Regeneration Area. Working collaboratively, a number of agencies and organisations have built a strong foundation for family support work. It is crucial that they are sustained over the lifetime of the Regeneration Project. Family Support will be essential to supporting the social and economic development of the wider Regeneration Area. The collaborative nature of Family Support service provision is important in ensuring that there is no duplication of services and it is important that this is facilitated to continue. The policy context of family support services has changed considerably in the recent past. Responsibility for family support has been transferred to the newly established Child and Family Support Agency, Tusla. It is suggested that there are increasing pressures on community services that are already at capacity to take on work that heretofore would have been in the domain of the statutory services. Launched in 2014, Better Outcomes Brighter Futures 2014 – 2020 is the new national policy framework for children & young people. It established five high level goals for children and over 160 commitments that focus on:      

early interventions and quality services to promote best outcomes for children, particularly in the vitally-important early years; working better together to protect young people who are marginalised, at-risk or who demonstrate challenging or high-risk behaviour; setting a target of lifting 70,000 children out of poverty by 2020; improving childhood health & wellbeing in line with goals of Healthy Ireland; enhancing job opportunities for young people – building on the ‘Action Plan for Jobs’ and Youth Guarantee; delivering better supports for families and parenting.

This policy framework will provide the framework for family support work in the Regeneration Area.

P a g e | 43

P a g e | 44

Goal The goal of the Family Support strategy is to ensure that children and families most in need of support are targeted for a range of services. The Family Support Strategy will ensure a response to children and families in need and is designed to complement the range of preventative strategies outlined through the Social Plan.

Strategy There are three strands to the Family Support Strategy. The focus will be on the levels 2-4 on the Hardiker Model of Need.

The Hardiker Model (1991) is now widely used as a planning framework in both the UK and the Republic of Ireland.  The Hardiker Model (1991)1

If the cycles of disadvantage is to be broken, a concerted effort to reach those most in need must be made. There are families that are in need of support but are not currently engaging with services. The Model outlines four levels of intervention as follows:

There is a need to provide intensive support to the hardest to reach families to ensure that they are linked in with and receive appropriate services.

Level 1: Level 1 refers to those mainstream services that are available to all children — health care, education, leisure  and The a range  other services  rovided iSupport n communities. It also  offers the potential for tthe argeting  resources  firstof strand of thepFamily Strategy relates to supporting functioning ofthrough  families at risk community  development initiatives  such an as pemphasis arent and toddler  groups, community  ouses  and women’s  roups  which  in the Regeneration Area, with on improving outcomeshfor children. This gwill mean may  be available the whole  community  articularlyare targeted  at disadvantaged  communities. ensuring thatto those most in needbut  ofpsupport targeted and will involve outreach work to identify Level 2: Level 2 represents services to children who have some additional needs. Services at Level 2 are characterised  by referral, and full parental consent and negotiation. Examples would be Behaviour Support, Parenting Support,  additional Educational services, and support for children who are deemed vulnerable through an assessment of what

P a g e | 45 and engage with those in need and consistent support work to ensure that they are linked into services. The second strand of the strategy will focus on maintaining and retaining the level of wellestablished family support that is currently operating in the Regeneration Area. The work is acknowledged and it is the objective of this strategy to strengthen and support this work, as well as ensuring that it is made available to the areas that are new to the regeneration project that are in need of it. The third stand relates to addressing needs of particularly vulnerable elements of the community. These include the needs of very young (teenage) and separated parents, lone parents, those experiencing domestic violence, those seeking refugee status living in direct provision, and older people. There is an extremely high proportion of lone parents in the Regeneration Area. Anecdotally it is known that a large proportion of lone parents are very young. In addition, some very young couples are having children. There are a number pf programmes that will be used to support lone parents such as the Lifestart Spirals programme, which is a group parenting programme for parents of children aged from birth to three years, thought to be suitable for young parents and My Baby and Me, which is a parenting programme provided by Sligo ETB. The lack of a suitable place for separated parents with visitation rights to their children was identified. This is an issue that will be addressed in conjunction with the physical plan. Preventative strategies and supports for those experiencing domestic violence will be supported in the Regeneration Area. The direct provision hostel, Globe House, is situated in the Regeneration Area. Individuals and families living in direct provision often have complex needs both as a result of trauma experienced in their home countries and as a result of experience of the direct provision system. Older people are not a homogenous group and their needs vary considerably. They include the need for ongoing activities to ensure an active, healthy lifestyle; the need to ensure that older people are not living in poverty, particularly fuel poverty; the need to ensure that the health and support needs of older people are met. An integrated response to providing for needs of older people across the spectrum will be implemented.

Objectives Objective One:

To improve the functioning of families at risk in the Regeneration Area, with an emphasis on improving outcomes for children

Objective Two:

Maintaining and expanding current family support services

Objective Three:

To ensure that the needs of particularly vulnerable sections of the community are met.

P a g e | 46

Family Support Strategy Actions

Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Objective One: To improve the functioning of families at risk in the Regeneration Area, with an emphasis on improving outcomes for children Meitheal, as an early intervention model, will continue to organise multi-agency responses to address the needs of individual children in the area.

Existing/Develop

 Reduction in number of referrals to Child protection SW

Within existing budget

Currently funded solely by TUSLA

An interagency range of supports will be developed to support families and children considered most at risk. This will require additional capacity at community level and prioritisation of families most at risk in the Regeneration Area by statutory services.

Medium



Within existing budget

Currently funded solely by TUSLA

Existing services will be supported to develop strategies to engage the families with complex needs, including through enhanced outreach work.

Existing/Develop

 

  

The Children’s Services Committee will maintain a focus on ensuring that the five

Short/Develop



Services continued to be provided and prioritised on a needs and referral basis. Priority based on level of need as assessed by TUSLA Social Work Referred cases dealt with as promptly as possible to ensure best outcome for children and families. Services continued to be provided and prioritised on a needs and referral basis. Priority based on level of need as assessed by TUSLA Social Work Referred cases dealt with as promptly as possible to ensure best outcome for children and families. Needs of children and Young People are responded to in a strategic and co-ordinated way.

Sligo Social Services will continue to lead out on Meitheal, with the support of key agencies: HSE, TUSLA, Springboard Resource House Project, HYLO, Schools, Sligo/Leitrim County Childcare Committees, Foróige, MSLETB, NCYS, CAMHs, Lifestart, FRCs TUSLA with community support from Springboard Resource House Project, Sligo Social Services, HYLO, Lifestart, FRCs

Within existing budget

Currently funded solely by TUSLA

TUSLA with community support from Springboard Resource House Project, Sligo Social Services, HYLO, Lifestart, FRCs

Cost neutral

N/A

TUSLA with Sligo County Council, MSLETB, FRCs, Voluntary Sector, Gardaí,

P a g e | 47 Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

national outcomes for children are achieved in the Regeneration Area.

Lead/Partners County Childcare Committee, Higher Education, HSE

Objective Two: Maintaining and expanding family support services Funders will maintain and consolidate family support services already provided in the Regeneration Area as a priority

Existing/Develop

An audit of need focused on areas new to the regeneration project will be carried out. Based on the results of the audit, services will be expanded to cover the new areas.

Existing/Develop

Objective Three:

 Family support services maintained and continue to meet the needs of families and children at risk.

 Audit to establish need commissioned and completed

Included each year in the funding provided for the Families and Children At Risk programme €1,000.00

TUSLA

TUSLA with the Regeneration Project

POBAL

TUSLA Regeneration Project

TUSLA with the Family Springboard Resource House Project, Regeneration Project

To ensure that the needs of particularly vulnerable sections of the community are met

The Sligo Education Training Board parenting programme, My Baby and Me, will be provided to very young parents in the Regeneration Area The Spirals programme focused on very young parents under the age of 20 will be implemented in the Regeneration Area. Public health nurses and the Cranmore Coop will promote the programme to teen parents. A suitable place for separated parents with visitation rights to their children will be provided in conjunction with the physical plan (the Galway based Time4Us project will be explored here). Sport and recreation activities in the Regeneration Area will target older people.

Ongoing

 MSLETB to include cost of delivery to SOLAS as part of annual plan.  Training delivered on annual basis

Existing Resources

SOLAS

MSL ETB

Short/Develop

 Teen parents attend six week intervention programme

Existing Resources

TUSLA

Sligo Family Support Ltd. providing Lifestart, referrals from PHNs, Social Workers and other referral agencies

Medium

 Options for Family Support Services Facility explored.  Initial report to establish brief for space and demand for service delivered  Range of appropriate physical activity opportunities offered to older adults within the community  Participation in sporting events and programmes in the wider community encouraged and supported

To be identified

Inter-agency funding plan

€3,000 annually

Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, Regeneration Project, HSE

Regeneration Project with TUSLA, POBAL, Family Springboard Resource House Project, Cranmore Co-op Sligo Sport & Recreation Partnership

Ongoing

P a g e | 48 Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Older people that have been identified as at risk of fuel poverty will be prioritised for measures such as the retro-fitting of insulation to their homes as funding options become available. The Age Friendly Cranmore initiative will ensure that the needs of people of all ages in the Regeneration Area are included in the strategy.

Medium

 Older people identified  Funding for homes retro-fitted sought

Existing resources

SEAI

Sligo LEADER Partnership

Existing/Develop

€5,000 per annum

Sligo Lend a Hand, a programme that undertakes minor repairs for older people, will be promoted in the Regeneration Area

Existing/Develop

DECLG, Sligo LEADER Partnership, HSE TUS/RSS

Sligo LEADER Partnership and Regeneration Project with Sligo Age Friendly County and SCC Library Service Sligo LEADER Partnership with Muintir na Tire

The Outreach Programme, the befriending service that is co-ordinated by the Abbeyquarter Centre, will be expanded. The HSE will extend the social day-care, Befriending programme, throughout the Regeneration Area.

Existing/Develop

 Older people in the Regeneration Area proactively engaged and needs included  Intergenerational projects developed  Availability of services promoted  Increased uptake of service  Older people supported in their own homes  Befriending programmes expanded  Increased uptake  Older people supported in their own homes  Opportunities to extend service explored.

Existing resources

Sligo LEADER, DSP, HSE, FOCUS Ireland, Regeneration Project.

Abbeyquarter Centre and HSE with Sligo LEADER Partnership, DSP and the Regeneration Project

Information on all services and supports available for older people will be made available in accessible formats. The need for additional day-care services for older people will be assessed and ways of meeting demand will be identified and made available. The need for supported housing in the Regeneration Area will be explored. The HSE will continue to facilitate respite to relieve the burden of carers.

Short/Develop

 Information provided in accessible formats and disseminated

Existing resources

Sligo LEADER Partnership, HSE

Medium

 The HSE will respond to the identified needs of older people

To be determined

HSE Older Person Service, Sligo County Council with community & voluntary agencies

Existing/Develop

 The HSE will continue to provide respite opportunities for carers

Cost Neutral

HSE contracted service

Services that provide support to those experiencing domestic violence will be supported in the Regeneration Area

Short/Develop

 DVAS will target East Sligo City as part of a 3 year awareness campaign.

Existing resources for a 3 year awareness campaign

Currently no additional funding available reconfigure use of funding DVAS, Cosc, The Community Foundation for Ireland

Existing resources

DVAS with Springboard Resource House Project, FOCUS Ireland, TUSLA, An Garda Síochana, DSP, Sligo County Council

P a g e | 49 Action

Timeframe

Diversity Sligo, the inter-agency group that focuses on the needs of asylum seekers and refugees will be supported as possible

Existing/Develop

A community laundry facility will be explored in association with the economic and physical plans.

Short/Develop

Target/Outcome  Awareness and knowledge of domestic violence has increased in the Sligo City Regeneration Area.  Women experiencing domestic violence and potential supporters of women in this situation will have information about the services and options available in Sligo  Support needs to be identified by an interagency approach

 Business sustainability analysis to establish need carried out.  Options for social enterprise explored

Cost

Funding Sources

To be identified

To be determined

Regeneration Project

Lead/Partners

Diversity Sligo, Regeneration Project, Sligo LEADER Partnership to initiate interagency approach Regeneration Project with Cranmore C-op, Sligo LEADER Partnership, Abbeyquarter Community Centre.

P a g e | 50

Implementation Maintaining and improving the inter-agency approach to working with families and children will be key to the implementation of the Family Support Strategy. There is currently a vibrant informal network but it was acknowledged that this is vulnerable to changes in personnel and needs to be formalized. Agencies and services that might be beneficial to sustaining and expanding the work will be included. Key actors in implementing this strategy are drawn from the statutory and community sectors. They include: •

Cranmore Co-op

•

Department of Social Protection

•

Gardaí & Probation Service

•

Springboard Resource House Project

•

Sligo Age Friendly project

•

Sligo Children’s Services Committee

•

Sligo County Childcare Committee

•

Sligo County Council

•

Sligo Education Centre

•

Sligo LEADER Partnership

•

Sligo Leitrim Mayo Education Training Board

•

Sligo Lifestart

•

Sligo Older People’s Network

•

Sligo Social Services

•

The Abbeyquarter Centre

•

The Avalon Centre

•

The Meitheal Project

•

The North West Regional Drug & Alcohol Task Force

•

TUSLA

•

Youth organisations

•

The Regeneration Team

P a g e | 51

Section 6.

Community Safety & Housing Management

Background The ability to live with a feeling of comfort and safety in the residential area is an essential component of sustainable communities.23 It is crucial to the wellbeing of a community and to the perception that others have of an area. A sense of safety and security is one of the essential conditions for successful regeneration, Ensuring community safety is also one of the four goals contained in the Garda Síochána Strategy Statement 2013 to 2015. Inadequate housing management such as the fragmentation of service provision, limited tenant participation strategies, the lack of estate-based services and services that are unresponsive to the needs of residents leads to poor estate management and estate decline. Dwellings that remain vacant for long periods are vulnerable to vandalism and anti-social behaviour. These issues are cumulative, and the longer they remains the case the more difficult it becomes to address.24 These issues are compounded by social and economic factors and poor design. Community safety, and addressing the reasons why people did not feel safe in the community, was one of the primary motivations for the Cranmore Regeneration Project. In the past, anti-social and criminal activity was widespread within the Cranmore Area. In response, the Regeneration project developed a targeted series of initiatives to improve community safety and housing/estate management and support in Cranmore, in close collaboration with other agencies, to address the significant issues faced by the community before the Regeneration Project began. These initiatives to address and improve community safety and estate management all work closely together, reinforcing an improving sense of security and stability in the area. The Stage 1 Report, “Building on our Past…Looking to our Future”, identified the importance of community safety initiatives in largely transforming the Cranmore area as part of the current regeneration project. The establishment of the Community Safety Task Force, the installation of CCTV and the visibility of Community Gardaí were all factors in this transformation. However, the report also identified the need for the work to address issues such as illegal drug activity, anti-social behaviour and criminality needs now to be sustained and re-energised. In addition, it is acknowledged that issues such as illegal money lending and less visible anti-social behaviour remain to be addressed. The Stage 1 Report also identified the importance of housing management and tenancy support initiatives in the area. The work of the Tenancy Sustainment Office and the Community Wardens have been instrumental in managing tenancy issues, in supporting individuals and families to maintain their tenancies and in maintaining a safe community environment. Emerging evidence suggests that when this work is not sustained, issues such as anti-social behaviour and even criminality can re-emerge. These concerns were identified by residents as part of the Stage 2 process. For the extended Regeneration Area, the challenge is now to maintain and 23Department

of the Environment (2008) Sustainable Residential Development in Urban Areas: Guidelines for Planning Authorities 24 Research quoted in Regenerating Local Authority Housing Estates: Review of Policy and Practice. Housing Policy Discussion Series, Centre for Housing Research 2006

P a g e | 52 to build on this work to ensure a safe community for all residents. What is most crucial in relation to Community Safety and Housing Management is to consolidate and build on the initiatives already in place and to refocus attention on the Regeneration Area so that there will be no loss of the gains achieved to date.

Goals The goals of the Community Safety and Housing Management Strategy are to ensure that: 1. The Regeneration Area is a safe community where people of all ages feel secure; 2. The Regeneration Area has housing management and supports that are effective and participative.

Principles This element of the Social Plan is based on: 

The right of the members of the community living in the Regeneration Area of all ages to feel safe as they live their daily lives.



The right of residents and communities to participate in strategies for community safety;



The right of residents to tenant participation and to have a say in housing management strategies.



The right of members of the community to well maintained and managed housing.



The right to support in relation to housing for those that need it.

Community Safety Strategy Two strands and two objectives will shape the community safety strategy. The first strand of the strategy relates to addressing anti-social and illegal behaviour, including illegal money lending and the drugs issue. The re-emergence of such activity is a source of concern for all stakeholders, including the community. Illegal money lending has been identified by the community as very prevalent and is having a significant negative impact on people living in the community, including leading them into unsustainable levels of debt. The issue of illegal drugs has also been identified as a significant area of concern that requires concerted efforts. Anti-social and illegal activity related intimidation has been identified as one of the major impediments to community safety. Addressing anti-social and illegal behaviour is considered a priority in order that the community can feel secure, a prerequisite for successful regeneration. The importance of the work of the Community Gardaí and the Community Wardens to both addressing and preventing anti-social and illegal activity is difficult to overstate and has been crucial to the success of the regeneration project to date. Under the banner of CAILM (Communities against Illegal Lending of Money), a considerable amount of work has been undertaken by communities in the Regeneration Area in relation to illegal money lending. Work in this area will range from consolidating the work of the Community Gardaí and the Community Wardens to establishing mechanisms for the community to be able to safely report.

P a g e | 53 The second strand refers to the prevention of anti-social and illegal behaviour. This will require a wide-range collaborative and co-operative approach to identifying and addressing the root causes of anti-social and illegal behaviour. It will require actions ranging from ensuring that the CCTV network is achieving its potential to working with people and young people to ensure that they do not participate in anti-social and illegal behaviour.

Objectives Objectives One:

To address anti-social and illegal behaviour

Objectives Two:

To prevent illegal and anti-social behaviour

P a g e | 54

Community Safety & Housing Management Strategy Actions Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Community Safety Objectives One: To address anti-social and illegal behaviour The Garda Síochana will continue their work of enforcement in response to anti-social and illegal behaviour.

Existing/Develop

 Appropriate enforcement is continued and anti-social behaviour is reduced

Existing Garda resources

Sligo Garda District Budget

Garda Síochana

The work of the Community Gardaí and the Community Wardens in the Regeneration Area will be sustained. The teams must continue to work closely together to address anti-social and illegal behaviour as it presents An awareness campaign will be carried out with the community to inform them that they can report safely and demonstrate how this can be done. This will include, as appropriate, the establishment of a designated confidential number for reporting Collaborative strategies involving the relevant stakeholders will be implemented to address significant issues of concern such as ongoing illegal drug activity, moneylending and domestic violence Collaborative strategies involving the relevant stakeholders will be implemented to address issues of harassment and discrimination on any of the grounds covered by equality legislation Mediation initiatives will be developed to respond to conflicts that arise in the Regeneration Area involving anti-social behaviour.

Existing/Develop

 Continued co-operation and close links between Community Gardaí and Wardens

Existing Garda resources

Garda Síochana & Regeneration Project

Garda Síochana and Regeneration Project

Medium

 Plan explored at Superintendent level

Existing Garda resources

Garda Síochana & Regeneration Project

Garda Síochana and Regeneration Project

Medium

 Plan explored at Superintendent level with other relevant agencies and organisations

Existing Garda resources

Garda Síochana & Regeneration Project

Garda Síochana and Regeneration Project

Medium

 Racist Incident Reporting and Support Service currently operating explored for potential expansion

Existing Garda resources

Garda Síochana & Regeneration Project

Garda Síochana and Regeneration Project

Medium

 Initiative developed through Sligo Community Mediation Service  Community educated/more aware of: value of mediation  Support and buy-in generated for Mediation Service from the Statutory, Voluntary and Community Sectors

Provision of mediators – voluntary Ongoing costs requiring funding - €11,000 per annum

To be identified

Garda Síochana and Sligo Community Mediation Service with Sligo Northside Resource Centre, Sligo Education Centre Local Authority, Housing Organisations, Community Wardens

P a g e | 55 Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome 



 

The North West Drugs Taskforce will convene a Working Group to explore interagency perspectives and responses to these issues as they are presenting in the Regeneration Area

Short/Develop Provide



  

Agreed protocol for referral, communication and provision of mediation service with other Community/Statutory/Volunt ary agencies Links formed with other organisations e.g. Racist Incident Reporting Service, Traveller groups, other minority groups Ongoing provision/ development of mediation expertise within community - Service accessible to community on an ongoing basis Immediate training for residents associations and housing staff will be provided in the first 6 months Training provided to all frontline staff in appropriate areas Increased involvement by all stakeholders in promotion of Drug Intimidation Programme Increased involvement by all stakeholders in supporting pilot initiative around underage binge drinking and the effects on youth mental health.

Cost

Cost of training to be met by the NWRDATF

Funding Sources

NWRDATF & Inter-agency funding

€700 shared cost.

Lead/Partners

North West Drugs Taskforce with Residents Associations, Housing Authority, Housing Associations, Community Policing, Youth Organisations

Objective Two: To prevent illegal and anti-social behaviour A programme to identify and support young people that are at risk of anti-social behaviour and illegal activity will be developed. Prevention and diversion strategies will be implemented.

Short/Develop

 Gardaí continue to refer young people at risk to Y.A.P.S programme  Gardaí continue to work closely with Foróige, Youthreach and Young Enterprise

Existing Garda resources

Garda Síochana

P a g e | 56 Action

Timeframe

A drop-in centre/youth café for young people will be developed in the Regeneration Area.

Medium

Sligo Education Centre will roll out its Substance Misuse Prevention Programme aimed at teachers, parents and youth workers in the Regeneration Area.

Medium

Best practice restorative justice initiatives will be developed in the Regeneration Area to engage people involved in anti-social and illegal behaviour.

Medium

A Community Alert scheme to ensure the safety of the community, particularly the most vulnerable members of the community, will be established and supported. The CCTV network will continue to be upgraded, repaired and sustained in the Regeneration Area.

Medium

The presence and engagement of Community Gardaí will continue in the Regeneration Area

Existing/Develop

Target/Outcome  Options for Youth Cafe explored with other service providers.  Report to establish brief for space and demand for service delivered  Teachers, parents and youth workers to enabled to be familiar with the most effective strategies for preventing young people engaging with substances  Restorative Justice model currently used by Gardaí for juvenile offenders extended to other ages on a pilot basis  Sligo Education Centre programme implemented  Teachers/parents/youth workers supported to understand conflict and develop the skills necessary to deal effectively with young people who are engaged in conflict situations  Young people supported to deal more effectively with conflict To enable  Young people supported to engage more fully in their school and local communities  Neighbourhood Watch Scheme established with Garda assistance  Liaison Garda appointed  Review network systems reviewed and upgraded  Crime preventative potential maximised.  Assignment of two Community Gardaí will continue in the area

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

To be determined

Inter-agency funding

Regeneration Project

€1,360 annually

Regeneration Project

Sligo Education Centre

Sligo Education Centre programme €2,000 per annum

Sligo education Centre will provide €1,000 annually Other sources to be identified

Garda Síochana, Sligo Education Centre, Sligo Community Mediation Service with the Justice system, Sligo County Council and the Regeneration Project,

Existing resources

Garda District Budget

Garda Síochana

€15,000 per annum

DECLG

Regeneration Project, Garda Síochana

Existing resources

Garda District Budget

Garda Síochana

P a g e | 57 Action

Timeframe

The Community Wardens will continue to be employed and resourced to work in the Regeneration Area

Existing/Develop

Target/Outcome  Community Warden Scheme to maintained  Estate management maintained to highest standard  Community cohesion enhanced

Cost €70,000 per annum

Funding Sources DECLG

Lead/Partners Regeneration Project, Sligo County Council

Housing Management Objective One: Ensure that the current Housing Management team remains in place Sligo County Council will maintain the Housing Management Team, including the replacement of current and future vacancies.

Existing/Develop

The position of the Tenancy Support Officer will continue to be resourced and the work done in supporting tenants to maintain their tenancies will be sustained. The position of the Estate Officer will be filled and continue to be resourced.

Existing/Develop

 Management Team are fully resourced to meet the needs of the Regeneration.   The Tenancy Support Service Contract post maintained in the Regeneration Area.  Post is filled and maintained

Sligo County Council

Regeneration Project, Sligo County Council

€50,000

DECLG (Social Initiatives)

Regeneration Project Sligo County Council, FOCUS Ireland

€60,000

DECLG (Social Initiatives)

Sligo County Council, Regeneration Project

Objective Two: Establish initiatives so that there is a faster turn-around of vacant properties The Regeneration Team will continue to identify vacant properties and work with Sligo County Council Housing Management Team to develop a strategy for refurbishment in a timely manner

Objective Three:

Medium

 

Occupation of vacant houses per numbers arising Programme to be identified and implemented on an annual basis

€25,000 per unit

DECLG

Regeneration Project Team and SCC Housing Section with DECLG

Support the development of initiatives to facilitate downsizing of properties by tenants

An audit of properties and residents that would like to downsize from their current properties will be conducted.

Medium

Initiatives to enable people to move to more appropriately sized homes will be developed and implemented.

Medium

 Numbers of households who consider that they are not accommodated in the most suitable accommodation to meet their needs established  To have households accommodated in suitable accommodation to meet their needs;

Minimal

Regeneration Project

SCC Housing Section, Regeneration Project

Capital cost dependent on outcome of needs

DECLG

SCC Housing Section, Regeneration Project

P a g e | 58 Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Objective Four: Support for residents’ associations to develop and to participate in housing management Residents’ associations will receive appropriate training and ongoing support from relevant agencies.

Short/Develop

Tenant participation in estate management strategy will be developed. This will include formal mechanisms for ongoing dialogue with residents’ associations

Medium

An engagement with the Tidy Towns initiative in Sligo will be encouraged and supported.

Existing/Develop

 Residents Associations receive the necessary training for the development of their roles.  a structured and effective Estate Management Procedure to include Tenant Participation as appropriate, consistent with statute and Policy will be provided  Greater awareness among residents and residents associations in the Regeneration Area of Tidy Towns  Projects in the Regeneration Area that help promote Sligo as a Tidy Town identified  Greater participation by residents as volunteers in the Tidy Towns initiative

Existing resources

Regeneration Project with Residents’ Associations

Minimal

SCC Housing Section, Regeneration Project

€1,000 per annum

Sligo County Council

Sligo County Council, Sligo Tidy Towns, Regeneration Project

P a g e | 59

Implementation Existing interagency collaboration and partnership approaches will continue to support and drive the Community Safety Strategy. The Community Safety task force and its subgroup, CAILM, will be reconvened and supported. Key agencies and partners to implement this Community Safety Strategy and this Housing Management Strategy will include:

•

Sligo Community Mediation Service

•

Sligo Education Centre.

•

Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership

•

The Community Gardaí & the Inspector of Community Policing.

•

The Community Safety Taskforce.

•

The Community Wardens

•

The North West Regional Drug and Alcohol Task Force.

•

Sligo County Council Housing Department

•

Clúid Housing Association

•

Residents Associations

•

FOCUS Housing Association

•

The Regeneration Team

•

Youth organisations

P a g e | 60

Section 7.

Sport & Recreation

Background The vision of the Irish Sports Council is one where sport contributes to enhancing the quality of Irish life and everyone is encouraged and valued in sport. Sport should be an integral enjoyable part of the busy lives of young people. Individuals should be able to develop their sporting abilities and enhance their enjoyment, limited only by their talent and commitment. The Irish Sports Council has set national targets for participation in sport. These include targets to increase the percentage of the adult population participating in sport from 33% to 45% by 2020 and to reduce the number of adults who are sedentary from 18% to 13% by 2020. Increasing participation in sports and in physical activity is understood to require multi-sectoral effort. It requires the involvement of agencies from education, transport, environment, health, and sporting bodies at national and local level. Initiative is also required from schools, and from private and voluntary groups. Increasing children’s participation in sport is identified as a key health objective. Targets have also been set to increase the percentage of primary level children taking part at least once a week in extra-school sport from 83% to 85% by 2015 and to reduce the number of children who never take part from 11% to 10%. For post primary level children the targets are to increase regular participants from 64% to 70% and to reduce non-participants from 34% to 20% by 2015. The Government policy document Healthy Ireland: A Framework for Improved Health and Wellbeing 2013 -2025’ identifies sport as one of the key determinants for health and wellbeing. ‘Sporting partnerships’ are identified as valued local actors in progressing health and wellbeing. The Cranmore regeneration project recognised how sport and recreation contribute to an enhanced quality of life. Annual Cranmore Regeneration through Sport action plans have been developed and coordinated by the Community Sports Development Officer in the Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership since 2006. Various community and statutory organisations have been involved. These annual plans aim to increase participation by children, young people and adults in sports and recreation activities. A wide range of activities have been included, clubs have been supported, and volunteer training has been provided. The strategic plan of the Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership 2013-2016 reflects significant and ongoing commitment to the Regeneration Area. It also includes a commitment to generate a case study of the Cranmore regeneration sport initiative. There are a number of small play spaces, including a playground beside Abbeyquarter Centre. There is a small grass football pitch in the Cranmore estate and there are widely used Park facilities, including an outdoor gym, along the Garavogue River. The regional sports centre is also located in the area. However, there is no sports hall in the Regeneration Area to host indoor sports and an allweather multi-use floodlit pitch would be of benefit. The provision of high quality facilities and maximising the use of the amenities in the area will be important in implementing this Sport and Recreation Strategy. This will benefit local people, draw people in from the hinterland to the Regeneration Area, and enhance the tourism potential of the area.

P a g e | 61

Goals The goals of this Sport and Recreation Strategy are to: •

Increase the levels of participation by all groups within the local community in regular exercise.

•

Promote and support the engagement of volunteers from the local community in organising and assisting with sports and recreation activities.

Principles This Sport and Recreation Strategy is based on an acknowledgement of the importance of:  Ensuring access for the full diversity of groups within the local community to sports and recreation activities of their choice.  Participation in regular exercise across the lifecycle. 

Giving particular attention and effort to develop and support the involvement of young people at risk in sports and recreation.

Strategy There are four strands to this Sport and Recreation Strategy. The first strand is foundational. This is to support and sustain the opportunities currently being provided for sports and recreation activities in the Regeneration Area and the infrastructure that plans, coordinates and enables these activities. The second strand is to assess take-up of these activities and to identify gaps in the groups involved and in the opportunities provided. This assessment will be used to develop a strategy to further expand provision of sports and recreation activities in the Regeneration Area. Particular attention will be paid to targeting specific disadvantaged groups in the area to become more active. The third strand is to promote volunteering and to build on and expand the training initiatives for volunteers from the Regeneration Area involved in the provision of sports and recreation activities. Accredited training opportunities will also be developed and made available to local people with an interest in working in the provision and management of sports and recreation activities. Training will be provided for staff in youth and community organisations working with people from the Regeneration Area to enable the further development of sports and recreation activities. The fourth strand is to maintain and further develop the facilities and amenities available in the Regeneration Area that are being or could be used for sports and recreation activities. There is a particular need for indoor facilities. Play facilities for children will also be included in this. New facilities and amenities will be developed as part of the regeneration process. The maintenance and further development of a club infrastructure and links with schools serving the Regeneration Area to support sports and recreation activities will also form part of this strand of work.

Objectives Objective One:

Maintain and further develop opportunities for participation in regular exercise for all members of the community.

Objective Two:

Support and expand local capacity in relation to the provision of sports and recreation opportunities. Maintain and further develop new and existing local facilities, amenities, clubs and school links to provide an adequate infrastructure for sports and recreation in the area.

Objective Three:

P a g e | 62

Sport & Recreation Strategy Actions Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Objective One: Maintain and further develop opportunities for participation in regular exercise for all members of the community The post of Community Sports Development Officer in the Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership that has driven the Cranmore Regeneration through Sport action plans will continue to be supported and resourced.

Existing//Ongoing

An audit of existing sports and recreation activities in the Regeneration Area and the take up of these activities will be conducted by the Sligo Sports Partnership. This audit will identify groups that are not engaging in these activities, gaps in the activities available, and any further expansion required in existing activities.

Existing/Develop Short-term

New opportunities for a wider group of local people to access a greater diversity of sports and recreation activities at local venues such as Cleveragh Regional Park, Regional Sports Centre and Garavogue River will be developed

Medium Action is ongoing, however, plans are in place to expand the current programming in a Community Sports Hub which extends the

(completed and results published in 2015)

 A coordinated approach to the development of sport involving statutory agencies and community stakeholders driven by a dedicated sports development officer priority post maintained  Increased levels of participation in sport and physical activity by residents in the East City  Capacity building for community personnel facilitated  Audit completed as part of the Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership 2015 external evaluation of the Cranmore Regeneration through Sport project conducted by the Centre for Research in Social Professions at Institute of Technology Sligo and launched in 2015.  The evaluation report will be reviewed and recommendations will be implemented  An audit of the wider East City area for gaps in sporting provision will be conducted  Community capacity building leading to increased opportunities for participation in sport  Strong and effective sports clubs and programmes led by community organisations supporting sporting opportunities  Network capital developed leading to greater engagement between

€55,000 per annum

DECLG, HSE, local statutory agencies

Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, Regeneration Project, Sligo County Council and the HSE

€5,000 per annum

Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership Regeneration Project HSE IT Sligo

Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, Regeneration Project, Sligo County Council, HSE, IT Sligo

€10,000

Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, DECLG, Regeneration Project, Sligo County Council, HSE

Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, Regeneration Project, Sligo County Council, HSE

P a g e | 63 Action

A lifecycle approach will be taken to ensure that children, young people, people of working age, and older people in the Regeneration Area participate in regular exercise.

An information campaign will be developed in the Regeneration Area to inform local people about sports and recreation activities and to encourage and enable their full participation.

Timeframe reach of the programme into the wider geographical area of the East City Ongoing.

Medium

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

residents in Cranmore and the wider community in sporting activities

 Community capacity building leading to increased opportunities for participation in sport  Strong and effective sports clubs and programmes led by community organisations supporting sporting opportunities  Network capital developed leading to greater engagement between residents in Cranmore and the wider community in sporting activities  Current programming expanded to Community Sports Hub which extends the reach of the programme into the wider geographical area of the East City  New Sport and Physical Activity Guide produced bi-annually on sporting opportunities in the East City area  Continuation of Sport and physical activity information channelled through the Community Development Forum and through partner agency networks

Within existing resources

Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, Regeneration Project, Sligo County Council

€2,000 per annum

Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, DECLG, Regeneration Project, Sligo County Council, HSE

Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, Regeneration Project, Sligo County Council, HSE

Objective Two: Support and expand a local capacity in relation to the provision of sports and recreation opportunities. A volunteer recruitment strategy will be developed by local organisations to expand the number of volunteers involved in supporting sports and recreation activities in the Regeneration Area.

Medium

 Volunteer recruitment strategy developed  Programmes implemented  Increased number and capacity of volunteers

€2,000 per annum

Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, DECLG, Regeneration Project, Sligo County Council,

Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, Regeneration Project, Sligo County Council, HSE

P a g e | 64 Action Training opportunities will be provided to staff in schools, sporting organisations and clubs, youth groups and community groups working with people from the Regeneration Area to further develop their capacity to stimulate, support and provide sports and recreation opportunities for people from the Regeneration Area Training opportunities will be made available through the Education Training Board to people from the Regeneration Area to gain accredited skills in the management and provision of sports and recreation activities.

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

On-going

 Training opportunities continue to be provided

Existing resources

On-going – dependant on demand

 QQI accredited courses at Level 4 and 5, part-time offered by MSLETB in response to demand

Existing resources

Funding Sources HSE Existing resources

SOLAS

Lead/Partners Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, MSLETB, Regeneration Project, Sligo County Council MSLETB, Regeneration Project, Sligo County Council

Objective Three: Maintain and further develop new and existing local facilities, amenities, clubs, and school links to provide an adequate infrastructure for sports and recreation in the area. A sports hall and an all-weather multipurpose floodlit pitch will be developed as part of the neighbourhood centre to be built in the Regeneration Area. A policy will be developed and agreed on the use and management of these new facilities and amenities. Improve the quality and range of local outdoor recreation facilities including further development of recreational opportunities at Cleveragh Park, Doorly Park and Garavogue River Children’s play facilities will be expanded and further developed.

Medium

 Options for a sports hall and an allweather pitches explored and report explored

To be identified

Sligo County Council, DECLG, Dept of Transport Tourism and Sport

Sligo County Council, Regeneration Project

Medium

 Options for facilities to be explored in line with the masterplan for Cleveragh Park and plans by Sligo County Council for the development of the Garavogue River  Children play facilities expanded and developed in response to need identified and as funding allows

To be determined

Regeneration Team, Sligo County Council, local sporting partners

To be identified

Existing clubs in the Regeneration Area, including those for pre-school children, will continue to be supported and resourced. New clubs will be developed and sustained to further expand sports and recreation activities on foot of the audit of current provision in the area.

Ongoing

 Additional outreach sporting opportunities provided  Greater number and diversity of sporting opportunities across the life cycle for residents in the East City area provided by clubs and community organizations

€10,000 per annum

Sligo County Council, DECLG, Dept of Transport Tourism and Sport Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, Sligo County Council, HSE

Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, Sligo County Council, Regeneration Project Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, Regeneration project, Sligo County Council and HSE

Ongoing

P a g e | 65 Action

Timeframe

Links will be developed with schools serving the Regeneration Area to support the achievement of the goals of this strategy. School facilities will be maintained and improved and after school programmes will continue to be supported and expanded.

Ongoing

Actions will be taken to identify the barriers to accessing sports facilities in the surrounding area and to address any such barriers.

Medium

Target/Outcome  Capacity building in community organizations and clubs resulting in more trained personnel and volunteers delivering sporting opportunities  Links with schools developed and maintained  Greater involvement by schools in the area

 Barriers identified  Strategy to address issues developed  Taster programmes facilitated encouraging use of facilities  Programmes at facilities offered at a reduced rate  Transport issues addressed

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Existing resources

Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, Regeneration Project

€3,000 per annum

Sligo Education Centre, Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, Regeneration Project with local schools Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership, Regeneration Project, Sligo County Council, HSE

Cost

P a g e | 66

Implementation A Regeneration Area based network of funders, clubs, schools, youth workers, volunteers, and other providers of sports and recreation activities will be convened on a regular basis. This will be linked to the expanded Community Development and Youth Network. It will secure pathways between informal and formal provision and between different forms of provision in the Regeneration Area. It will identify emerging needs and support new responses to these. The Community Sports Development Officer working on the Regeneration Area will play a key role in enabling this networking. The structures and drivers for the implementation of this Sport and Recreation Strategy are: •

Health Service Executive

•

Mayo Sligo Leitrim Education Training Board

•

Schools serving the Regeneration Area

•

Sligo County Childcare Committee

•

Sligo County Council

•

Sligo GP Association

•

Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership

•

Sligo Volunteer Centre

•

Youth organizations

•

The Regeneration Team

P a g e | 67

Section 8.

Income Adequacy

Background Inadequate income and poverty are at the root of many of the social issues in the Regeneration Area. The poverty line (the income threshold below which people are considered to be income poor and at risk of poverty) was 10,889.00 Euro per individual in 2011. An analysis of information from Sligo County Council suggests that a significant number of local authority tenants in the Regeneration Area are living on incomes that are well below the poverty threshold. Ninety-five or 75% of one person households, seventy-eight or 95% of two person households and twenty-eight or 85% of three person households reported incomes that were below the poverty line. There is a significant number of households in the Regeneration Area that are experiencing financial difficulties. A total of 36% of local authority rented households were in rent arrears in 2011 with 17% of local authority rented households in rent arrears for over eight weeks. Unemployment, a key indicator of low income, is significantly higher in the Regeneration Area than the average in Sligo or at national level. The proportion of those unable to work due to permanent sickness of disability is 8% in the Regeneration Area, double that at national level (4%). A total of 19.8% of people in the regeneration are identified as people with disabilities compared to 13% nationally in Census 2011. People with disabilities are twice as likely as the general population to live below the poverty threshold. Additional costs of disability have also been estimated at a third of average weekly income. Lone parents are more likely to be living on lower incomes, in poverty and with deprivation than the general population. There are 191 lone parent families in the Regeneration Area, accounting for 40% of all family units. This figure is significantly higher than the national proportion (18.3%). A total of 265 people in the Regeneration Area described themselves as non-nationals in the 2011 Census, 14% of the total population in the area. Globe House, a direct provision centre for those seeking asylum, is located in the area. Income poverty is a major issue for those living in direct provision. Illegal moneylending is a significant issue in the Regeneration Area. This is a difficult issue to tackle at local level. Legislative change at national level is needed if illegal money lending is to be challenged effectively. Education and the availability of alternative access to credit at local level are the best options in the absence of such change. Income adequacy is a key regeneration issue in such a context. Successful economic regeneration that includes job creation and rising employment will address much, but not all, of this issue. However, successful economic regeneration takes time. In the interim it will be important to develop and implement a strategy to promote and support income adequacy in the Regeneration Area. This will create the conditions for successful economic regeneration by reducing levels of deprivation. It will develop and enable wellbeing and participation among people in the Regeneration Area that will be key to effective social regeneration. The means to access an income outside of securing employment over this interim period is therefore an important goal.

P a g e | 68

Goals The goals of this Income Adequacy Strategy are to: 1. Promote and support people in the Regeneration Area to have an adequate income that allows them to provide for themselves and their family. â&#x20AC;˘

Improve the economic situation of people in the Regeneration Area.

Principles This Income Adequacy Strategy is based on acknowledgement of the importance of: ď&#x201A;ˇ

Ensuring action on the adequacy of income levels from the start of the regeneration process as an issue in its own right alongside other strategies for economic development, job creation and employment.

ď&#x201A;ˇ

Recognising diversity and taking account of the practical implications of diversity. This includes having additional costs that diminish their already low incomes.

Strategy There are two strands to this Incomes Adequacy Strategy. Social welfare supports are a key source of income in the Regeneration Area. While successful regeneration will reduce this dependence, it is clear that these payments will play a central role in underpinning income adequacy in the Regeneration Area for the next period. The first strand of the strategy refers to the importance of welfare rights work in ensuring that people are aware of and take-up their full entitlements. This will need to involve a mix of information provision, campaigning on welfare rights, and advocacy supports. The second strand focuses on taking action to reduce recourse to illegal money lending will be important in supporting people to make the most of the income available to them. Awareness raising, access to alternatives sources of credit, and support in budgeting and financial management will need to be developed.

Objectives Objective One:

Support the take-up of welfare payments and ensure that people in the Regeneration Area are aware of and avail of their entitlements.

Objective Two:

Develop initiatives to combat illegal money lending, support households in debt and provide alternative access to credit and to budgetary advice.

P a g e | 69

Income Adequacy Strategy Actions Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Objective One: Support the take-up of welfare payments and ensure that people in the Regeneration Area are aware of and avail of their entitlements. Sligo Citizens Information Centre will sustain its engagement with the Regeneration Area and will further develop this in response to changing demands. A series of welfare rights campaigns will be developed over a long-term period in the Regeneration Area.

Existing/Develop

 Local information needs addressed

Existing resources

Sligo CIC, Regeneration Project with local organisations

Medium

 Improve full take up of welfare rights

To be identified

DSP will work with those returning to work in order to improve awareness and understanding of the benefits of work and of the employment supports available.

Medium

 Enable participation in the labour market

Existing resources

Regeneration Project to further research with CIS and Sligo LEADER Partnership DSP with local groups

Objective Two: Develop initiatives to combat illegal money lending, support households in debt and provide alternative access to credit and to budgetary advice. Enforcement by the Garda Síochana to combat illegal money lending will continue. Cross agency enforcement initiatives will be developed as opportunities arise and as required. Illegal moneylending will also be combated through education initiatives, access to alternative sources of credit, and support in budgeting and managing finances.

Existing/Develop

 Reduction in illegal money lending

Existing resources

Garda Síochana

Medium

 Increased awareness  Improved access to credit

To be identified

An outreach service from the Money Advice and Budgeting Service will be established and supported to increase the number of families from the Regeneration Area taking up the service. Access to credit union facilities will be developed. The barriers to accessing the credit union services will be identified and addressed.

Medium

 Increased take up by local people of MABS services  Reduction in level of debt

To be identified

Interagency approach to be developed initially led by Regeneration Project, MABS, Vincent de Paul, Springboard Resource House Project, Credit Union, local community organisations MABS and Regeneration Project

Medium

 Increased membership of credit union

To be identified

Interagency approach to be developed initially led by Regeneration Project,

P a g e | 70 Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

The savings club developed by the Springboard Resource House Project Project in Cranmore will be assessed as a model to be further expanded.

Existing/Develop

 Assessment and, if appropriate, expansion of this model

To be identified

A continuum of supports from crisis intervention (Vincent de Paul) to crisis management (MABS) to prevention (access to credit) will be developed with two-way referral between each organisation.

Short/Develop

 Coherence and integration of action by relevant organisations.

To be identified

Issues of saving, budgeting and borrowing will be developed as a focus within schools serving the Regeneration Area

Medium

 Increased awareness and skills

To be identified

Lead/Partners MABS, Vincent de Paul, Springboard Resource House Project, Credit Union, local community organisations Interagency approach to be developed initially led by Regeneration Project, MABS, Vincent de Paul, Springboard Resource House Project, Credit Union, local community organisations Interagency approach to be developed initially led by Regeneration Project, MABS, Vincent de Paul, Springboard Resource House Project, Credit Union, local community organisations Interagency approach to be developed initially led by Regeneration Project, MABS, Vincent de Paul, Springboard Resource House Project, Credit Union, local community organisations

P a g e | 71

Implementation The structures and drivers for the implementation of this Income Adequacy Strategy are: •

An Garda Síochana

•

Springboard Resource House Project

•

Sligo Citizens Information Centre

•

Sligo Credit Union

•

Sligo Money Advice and Budgeting Service

•

The Citizens Information Board

•

The Department of Social Protection

•

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul

•

The Regeneration Team

P a g e | 72

Underpinning Strategies

P a g e | 73

Section 9.

Community Development & Youth Work

Background The Community Development and Youth Work Strategy is designed to be a facilitating strategy, enabling and supporting the other strategies in the Social Plan. It will be an underpinning strategy for the regeneration plan alongside arts and culture and public sector cooperation and coordination. Community Development refers to the process of addressing poverty, social exclusion and inequality in a way that emphasises the participation and empowerment of local communities and collective action. It is both an approach, the principles of which can be embedded into projects and programmes, and a strategy, enabling specific programme that focus on social exclusion, poverty and inequality. Youth Work is ‘a planned programme of education designed for the purpose of aiding and enhancing the personal and social development of young persons through their voluntary participation, and which is complementary to their formal, academic or vocational education and training and provided primarily by voluntary youth work services’.25 It is above all an educational and developmental process, based on young people’s active and voluntary participation and commitment. It is often defined as ‘non-formal education’. Youth work is for all young people, with particular focus on those aged 10 to 25 from all aspects of Irish life, urban, rural, all nationalities and social classes. 26 Youth work is predicated on the voluntary participation of young people. Flexibility of approach and emphasis on the interpersonal, enables it to offer an educational and personal development process complementary to that provided through formal education. In addition, Youth work often acts as the point of contact and referral in the interface with other youth- related issues spanning the realms of care, health, and welfare. Community development and youth work were identified by the Stage 1 report as essential tools in developing a holistic and sustained approach to addressing structural disadvantage such as poverty, discrimination and inequality and their outcomes. Working collectively within communities in the Regeneration Area will enable people to be active participants in the ongoing regeneration process and to access and benefit from services and labour market activation measures that many may not be in a position to access currently. Community development and youth work will underpin and support the strategies identified by the Social Plan, as well as being strategic objectives in their own right.

Goals The community development strategy will: • Embed professional community development in the area. •

Ensure engagement, participation and representation of the community in all regeneration initiatives,

25 26

Section 3 of the Youth Work Act 2001 National Youth Council of Ireland http://www.youth.ie/nyci/what-youth-work

P a g e | 74 The youth work strategy will: â&#x20AC;˘ Embed professional youth work in the Regeneration Area. â&#x20AC;˘

Ensure that the voice of young people is central to the Regeneration Area.

Community Development Strategy There are three strands and four objectives to the Community Development Strategy. The first strand and main focus of the Community Development Strategy will be to embed community development in the regeneration project. It will involve a focus on collective action, capacity building and empowerment of communities in the Regeneration Area. It will require working with organisations and programmes that already exist in the area and building and co-ordinating activities, supports and initiatives that empower the local community. It will be responsive to the existing, new and emerging needs of the community. It will focus on pre-development work with disadvantaged sectors of the community, including those most difficult to engage, and seek to ensure that they are supported to address the issues they face. There will be a particular focus on working with sectors of the community identified as particularly disadvantaged such as the residents of Globe House, the Traveller community, lone parents, those with educational disadvantage, older people, people with a disability, and the long term-unemployed. Ensuring representation will be the second strand of the Community Development strategy. Significant work has been done to ensure this in the current Regeneration Area and this work will be expanded to include areas new to the project and people from the already existing areas who have not yet been involved. It will include a focus on capacity building and organisation development. Ensuring that communities are supported to engage with a wide range of services designed to address the needs that they face will be the third strand of the work. This will include the empowerment of communities to engage in decision making on local policies, planning and services. It will also include creating bridges between the local community and the services and facilities that they should and need to avail of.

Objectives Objective One:

To embed and build on the conditions for effective community development in the Regeneration Area.

Objective Two:

To ensure an active, engaged and empowered community in the Regeneration Area.

Objective Three:

To ensure that all communities in the Regeneration Area are organised and represented.

Objective Four:

To ensure that communities are engaged in decisions that affect their lives.

P a g e | 75

Community Development & Youth Work Strategy Actions Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Community Development Objective One: To embed and build on the conditions for effective community development in the Regeneration Area. In order to ensure that community development is supported as an underpinning strategy to the Social Plan, two Community Development workers will be supported by the Regeneration Project.

Short/Develop

 The appointment of one Community Development Worker to the Regen area within one year to supplement the existing community development work provided by the Cranmore co-op  Plan developed to employ second worker

Support to develop the capacity of local organisations to manage the work of the community development workers and the Community Development & Youth Work elements of the Social Plan will be provided by a community development support agency. The structure of the existing Community Development Network will be formalised, its membership expanded and extended to include Youth Work

Short/Develop

 Local organisations are developed to such an extent that they can support the work of the community development workers.

Existing/Develop

 Existing Community Development network formalised and extended to include youth work

€50,000 per annum increasing to €100,000 per annum when two workers are in place €5,000.00

Sligo LEADER Partnership DECLG

Regeneration Project, Sligo LEADER Partnership with Cranmore Co-op

Regeneration Project

Regeneration Project, Sligo LEADER Partnership, Cranmore Co-op, Abbeyquarter Centre, Foróige, North Connaught Youth & Community Services

Nominal Cost

Existing resources

Regeneration Project with members of the network

Objective Two: To ensure an active, engaged and empowered community in the Regeneration Area. A programme of work that will include empowerment, capacity building and collective action within the Regeneration Area will be developed and implemented.

Short/Develop

 Programmes delivered  Empowered, engaged and active community

Existing resources

Regeneration Project, Sligo LEADER Partnership, Cranmore Co-op, Abbeyquarter Centre, Foróige, North Connaught Youth & Community Services, Youth Workers and Community Development Workers

P a g e | 76 Action Pre-development and bridging programmes to upskill those most distant from existing services and opportunities will be designed and implemented using a community development approach.

Objective Three: A process of support for the establishment/development of representative associations and community organisations focusing on areas new to regeneration will be implemented and on those communities of interest who have yet to engage with the regeneration project. The capacity of these groups to develop and implement programmes of work will be supported.

Timeframe Short/Develop

Target/Outcome  Programmes delivered  Capacity increased  Enhanced number of people engaging in opportunities

Cost Existing resources

Funding Sources Existing resource

Lead/Partners Regeneration Project, Sligo LEADER Partnership, Cranmore Co-op, Abbeyquarter Centre, Foróige, North Connaught Youth & Community Services, Youth Workers and Community Development Workers

To ensure that all communities in the Regeneration Area are organised and represented Short/Develop

 Programmes delivered  Empowered, engaged and active community

Existing resources

Existing resource

Medium

 Support provided  Empowered, engaged and active community

Existing resources

Existing resource

Regeneration Project, Sligo LEADER Partnership, Cranmore Co-op, Abbeyquarter Centre, Foróige, North Connaught Youth & Community Services, Youth Workers and Community Development Workers Regeneration Project, Sligo LEADER Partnership, Cranmore Co-op, Abbeyquarter Centre, Foróige, North Connaught Youth & Community Services, Youth Workers and Community Development Workers

Objective Four: To ensure that communities are engaged in decisions that affect their lives. Community education and capacity building programmes to ensure that all sectors of the community, particularly the most disadvantaged communities, are supported to participate in decision-making structures, including those directly related to regeneration and others that relate to the wider decision-

Medium

 Programmes delivered  Empowered, engaged and active community  50 young people participating in the Gaisce Award programme and 10 leader/mentors trained in the community over 4 years.

€7,000 for Gaisce programme

Shared resource Regeneration Project

Regeneration Project, Sligo LEADER Partnership, Cranmore Co-op, Abbeyquarter Centre, Foróige, North Connaught Youth & Community Services, Gaisce, Youth Workers and

P a g e | 77 Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners Community Development Workers

making arenas (such as Sligo Community & Voluntary Form/Public Participation Network) will be supported.

Youth Work Objective One: To embed and build on the conditions for effective youth work in the Regeneration Area. In order to ensure that youth work is supported as an underpinning strategy to the Social Plan, two Youth Workers will be supported by the regeneration project. The Youth Workers will ensure that all areas of the regeneration project are included in their programme of work. The structure of the existing Community Development Network will be expanded to include youth work.

Short/Develop

 Youth workers employed  Programme of work developed and implemented

€50,000 per annum increasing to €100,000 per annum when two workers are in place

Sligo LEADER Partnership, MSLETB, DECLG

Existing/Develop

 Existing Community Development network formalised and extended to include youth work

Nominal Cost

Existing resources

MSLETB Regeneration Project, Sligo LEADER Partnership, with Cranmore Co-op, Abbeyquarter Centre, Foróige, North Connaught Youth & Community Services Regeneration Project with network members

Objective Two: To develop and implement effective and innovative responses to the needs of young people in the Regeneration Area A general focus on ensuring youth activities and clubs will be continued and expanded. Training for volunteer youth leaders will be provided. There will be a particular focus on young people identified as difficult to engage.

Ongoing

 Club established within Cranmore community  Training provided

Nominal

Club Affiliation fee

Foróige

Short/Develop

To be identified

Foróige, Regeneration Project

A Youth Café or similar drop-in service in the area on an open and accessible, non-judgemental basis will be established and staffed by the youth workers.

Short/Develop

 Outreach intervention including street work, in-home visits delivered  Two Family Support Youth Workers employed targeting hard to reach population of 10-18 year olds (for Sligo town)   Youth café providing a range of programmes for young people in Cranmore and surrounding areas established

Cost to be identified

Regeneration Project

MSLETB Regeneration Project, Sligo LEADER Partnership, with Cranmore Co-op, Abbeyquarter Centre,

P a g e | 78 Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners Foróige, North Connaught Youth & Community Services

Objective Three:

To ensure the voice of young people is heard and to ensure the participation of young people in the Regeneration Area

Programmes to enhance the capacity of young people to have their voice heard will be developed. They will create opportunities for young people to participate in decision making that impacts on them.

Short/Develop

 Programmes designed and delivered by Youth Workers

Existing resources

Comhairle na nÓg, Gaisce and other youth initiatives will ensure that young people from the Regeneration Area are included and empowered to engage in decision making roles.

Existing/Develop

 Gaisge three year programme implemented  Capacity and personal development of local young people enhanced  Young people progressed to engaging in decision making in the community

€9,000

Gaisce, Regeneration Project

Informed participation by young people in all structures established under the regeneration project will be facilitated.

Short/Develop

 Programmes designed and delivered by Youth Workers

Existing resources

MSLETB Regeneration Project, Sligo LEADER Partnership, with Cranmore Co-op, Abbeyquarter Centre, Foróige, North Connaught Youth & Community Services, Gaisge, Youth Workers MSLETB Regeneration Project, Sligo LEADER Partnership, Gaisge with Cranmore Co-op, Abbeyquarter Centre, Foróige, North Connaught Youth & Community Services, Youth Workers MSLETB Regeneration Project, Sligo LEADER Partnership, Gaisge with Cranmore Co-op, Abbeyquarter Centre, Foróige, North Connaught Youth & Community Services, Youth Workers

P a g e | 79

Implementation The key structures and drivers for the implementation of this Community Development & Youth Work Strategy are: • • • • • • • •

Youth organisations Comhairle na nÓg Gaisge Sligo Family Resource Centre Sligo LEADER Partnership The Avalon Centre The expanded and formalised Community Development & Youth Work Network The Regeneration Team

P a g e | 80

Section 10. Arts & Culture Background Sligo City and county offers a rich and creative context for an Arts and Culture Strategy in the Regeneration Area. The scope of and potential in this context is captured in ‘Space for Art: Sligo Arts Plan 2007-2012’ which continues to provide the framework for the development of arts and culture in Sligo. This was developed by Sligo Arts Service, which is a department of Sligo County Council. Reflecting the situation around the country, current fiscal consolidation of the public finances has impacted negatively on the public funding available for arts and culture in Sligo. As a consequence the scale and accessibility of opportunities for involvement in or engagement with arts and culture have been diminished. This is evident in Sligo Arts Service itself where staffing has been substantially reduced over this current period. The original Cranmore Regeneration Project Social Plan identified arts and culture as important for developing a pride of place and expanding the horizons of young people. It sought to increase access to existing arts and culture facilities for local people, increase arts and culture opportunities on the estate, and utilize arts and culture as a means of bringing people together to explore community identity. A number of arts and culture projects have been supported in the area and this support has been continued into the current regeneration process. In particular, the regeneration project has teamed up with Sligo Music Generation to provide music lessons in a number of different venues for children and young people from the Regeneration Area. These endeavours offer a valuable basis from which to build a central role for arts and culture in the current social regeneration strategy. Activity to date has, however, been characterised by short-term and project-based initiatives. It will be important for action in this field to become more sustained and more embedded within the regeneration process. The focus for activity has principally been on the provision of opportunities for individual skills development, with a particular emphasis on young people. While this important, action in this field should further evolve and expand its scope and ambition such that an Arts and Culture Strategy would be community led, encompass all sectors of the community, and operate from a collective and community development perspective. The ‘Final Report Stage 1: Building on our past…looking to our future’ identifies that Regeneration Area would benefit from an increased and sustained focus on the arts. It suggested that a more comprehensive, holistic Arts Strategy, embedding the arts in the regeneration project, should be a feature of the regeneration project as it evolves. An Arts and Culture Strategy has the potential to make the Regeneration Area a place that people from the wider Sligo context would want to go and visit. It could provide opportunities for local people to take part in the arts and culture activities and events taking place in other areas of Sligo. Most valuably, it could stimulate and service a vibrant cultural life for a flourishing, resilient and creative community within the Regeneration Area. This will require a more intensive and sustained focus on arts and culture in the social regeneration of the area.

P a g e | 81

Goals This Arts and Culture Strategy will: 1. Draw out and develop arts and culture practices within the community. It will build on those practices already present in the area and develop connections between them. It will engage and stimulate the creativity in all sectors of the community, reinforce a sense of shared place, and enable a vibrant cultural life in the area. It will enable cultural agency to be vested in the local community where the community is driving and shaping its own cultural life. 2. Establish arts and culture as an integral part of community life. It will develop routes for people in the Regeneration Area into existing arts and culture opportunities. It will broaden the access to such experiences across all sectors of the community. 3. Serve as one of the three underpinning elements to the overall social regeneration strategy. It will empower local people and act as a catalyst for change. Arts and culture will serve as sources of insight, understanding, and inspiration. They will enable learning, education and new perspectives.

Principles This Arts and Culture Strategy will be: 

Expansive in going beyond the generally accepted notions about what arts practice is or might be and in embracing the full spectrum of arts and culture practice.



Community led, accountable to all sectors of the local community and rooted within organisations representing the local community.



Empowering of the local community in ensuring their capacity in relation to arts and culture provision and practice, and in relation to negotiating the implementation of the Arts and Culture Strategy with all other stakeholders involved. Cultural agency will rest with the local community.



Rooted in practice-based research that enables new ideas, approaches, capacities, and possibilities to emerge out of actions taken.



Accessible for and tailored to the diversity of people in the local community with particular attention to the specific needs of women, lone parents, people with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people, older people, young people, children, and Black and minority ethnic people including Travellers.



Cognisant of the key contribution of artists to this strategy, of the importance of the relationship negotiated between the artist and the local community, and of the need to recognise the local community as the hosts within this relationship.



Integrated into all other activities of the social regeneration plan in particular the fields of community development, youth work, education, health and wellbeing, family support, training, and social economy.

P a g e | 82 

Engaged in alliance building with a range of stakeholders from the field of arts and culture in the wider context of Sligo city and county.

Strategy This Arts and Culture Strategy is a long-term process. It will be sequenced over time and will be developed in overlapping phases. The first phase will be focused on building an infrastructure for arts and culture within the Regeneration Area. The second phase will be focused on implementing a local arts and culture plan through this infrastructure. The third phase will be focused on sustaining and further evolving the model of local arts and culture development into the long-term future.

Phase One: Building an Infrastructure The purpose of this phase is to: 

Build local community capacity.



Test out different approaches and activities.



Create an organisational setting capable of driving an Arts and Culture Strategy.

Key actions in this phase will include providing opportunities for local people to engage in arts and culture practice, to explore the field of arts and culture and to understand its potential to enable a flourishing community. Activities will be implemented to enable artist residencies to work with the community in testing out various approaches and forms for arts and culture action within the Regeneration Area. Actions will be taken to support local community engagement with arts and culture experiences outside of the Regeneration Area. Actions will include establishing an ongoing partnership with an arts organisation skilled in community arts practice and the employment of a local Community Arts Development Coordinator. The physical regeneration itself will be used to provide opportunities for community led arts and culture action including design aspects and public art.

Phase Two: Implementing a Local Arts and Culture Plan The purpose of this phase is to: 

Provide a comprehensive spectrum of arts and culture opportunities to enable children and young people to develop skills and to engage in diverse forms of arts and culture practice.



Provide a comprehensive spectrum of community based opportunities to enable local people to explore and engage in diverse forms of arts and culture practice.



Integrate an arts and culture dimension into all other fields of action that form part of the regeneration process.



Create moments of collective arts and culture action that enable the local community to celebrate, explore and imagine together.



Sustain and further develop the organisational capacity to drive this Arts and Culture Strategy.

Key actions in this phase will include review and learning from the first phase with a view to establishing a detailed plan of action for this phase. Actions will be taken to enable skills

P a g e | 83 development, arts and culture practice, and access to arts and culture experiences. Activities will include investment in opportunities for collective action involving arts and culture. Actions will be implemented to ensure the strategic inclusion and development of an arts and culture dimension to the community development, youth work, education, health, family support, training and social economy and, as appropriate, other strategies within the regeneration process. Local facilities for arts and culture practice will be established and local physical resources will be developed as sites for practice.

Phase Three: Sustaining Arts and Culture Action into the Future Key purpose of this phase is to: ď&#x201A;ˇ

Continue to implement the strands of activity outlined for the previous phase but evolve methods and actions to reflect learning from and the new opportunities that arise from the previous phase.

ď&#x201A;ˇ

Deepen local community leadership and ownership for the Arts and Culture Strategy and the accountability of this local leadership into all sectors of the Regeneration Area community.

ď&#x201A;ˇ

Evolve and establish a model for arts and culture practice and provision that will be sustained into the longer-term.

Key actions in this phase will include review and learning from the first phase with a view to establishing a detailed plan of action for this phase. Actions taken will enable the growth and development of the opportunities to engage in arts and culture practice and to access arts and culture experiences. Activities will be implemented to sustain and deepen a tradition of arts and culture practice that serves community building, shared understanding and the pursuit of change for and by the community. Funding will be identified and secured for a long-term model of arts and culture practice and provision for the area.

Objectives Objective One:

Build foundations for a long-term Arts and Culture Strategy in the Regeneration Area.

Objective Two:

Develop diverse experiential forms of arts education through all sectors of the community.

Objective Three:

Provide opportunities for local people to access arts and culture provision in Sligo city and county.

Objective Four:

Develop and implement a programme of community arts provision and practice.

Objective Five:

Integrate and arts and culture dimension into all elements of the social regeneration plan.

P a g e | 84

Arts & Culture Strategy Actions Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Objective One: Build foundations for a long-term Arts and Culture Strategy in the Regeneration Area.  Direction, practical support and direct engagement provided by the Arts in the Community group to the strategy.  Implementation of this strategy will be given leadership and drive.

Negligible

Sligo Arts Service

€90,000 to support a parttime position for three years

Regeneration project and relevant partners HSE, Leader, TUSLA, DOECLG

Sligo Arts Service

 Broaden skills and experience range available to implementation of this strategy.  Increased levels of engagement in producing arts and culture by local people.

To be identified

€25,000

Medium

 A practice of arts and culture developed within the Regeneration Area and links made with local community.

€50,000

Short/Develop

 Support for and engagement with the implementation of this strategy mobilised.

Negligible

Regeneration project and relevant partners DECLG, % for Art Scheme Regeneration project and relevant partners – DECLG, % for Art Community Arts Development Coordinator

Sligo Arts Service with Arts in the Community Group Community Arts Development Coordinator

Medium

 Arts and culture strategy integrated with physical regeneration.

To be identified

The Arts in the Community for the County cross-sector/agency group will support this Arts and Culture Strategy.

Existing/Develop

A local Community Arts Development Coordinator will be funded and employed through a relevant local organisation to lead the development and implementation of this strategy. The coordinator will work alongside Sligo Arts Service and will have extensive skills and experience in the field of community arts practice. An arts organisation, skilled and experienced in community arts practice, will be contracted on a tender basis as required. A community arts and culture taster or testing programme will be developed

Short/Develop

A series of artist residencies will be commissioned, building on experience already developed in this field.

Alliances will be developed by the local Community Arts Development Coordinator in support of this Arts and Culture Strategy with key stakeholders in the field of arts and culture in the wider context of Sligo city and county. Artists, with a community arts skills, will be commissioned by Sligo County Council at appropriate moments during the regeneration process to work on the final design, colour and construction of relevant elements of the physical regeneration programme.

Medium

Short/Develop

To be identified

Community Arts Development Coordinator

Sligo County Council with Community Arts Development Coordinator

P a g e | 85 Action A physical space will be built or provided for arts and culture activities in the Regeneration Area. This will provide space for arts education, arts practice and exhibitions after the initial foundations have been laid for this strategy. It would form part of a wider multidisciplinary neighbourhood facility for the area.

Timeframe Medium

Target/Outcome   

Options for Arts & Culture Space explored. Initial report to establish brief for space and demand for service provided. Report for delivery of the centre provided.

Funding Sources

Cost The costs of this space will be dependent on the options chosen for the neighbourhood centre and will be apportioned over the overall cost of this.

Regeneration Project, Sligo County Council, Arts Council.

Lead/Partners Regeneration project with Sllgo County Council and Arts Council

Objective Two: Develop diverse experiential forms of arts and culture education through all sectors of the community  Knowledge base developed to support implementation of this strategy  Children’s engagement with arts and culture encouraged.

Negligible

Medium

 New drivers to contribute to the objectives of this strategy mobilised and enabled.

Negligible

Medium

 Health and wellbeing of people supported by programme.

Medium

 Teachers enabled to promote children’s engagement with Arts and Culture  Teachers supported to explore how Arts and Culture enhances a child’s learning experience

Existing arts and culture activities engaged in by or provided to the local community will be mapped and assessed The schools serving the Regeneration Area will be stimulated and supported to continue to offer and further develop opportunities to children in arts and culture.

Short/Develop

Community based organisations within and serving the Regeneration Area will be stimulated and supported to provide learning and experiential opportunities in the field of arts and culture. Arts therapy practice be supported and further developed for people in the Regeneration Area.

In-service training will be provided to principals and teachers in these schools and to the workers and management in these community based organisations to enable their understanding of the potential for arts and culture

Medium

Community Arts Development Coordinator Sligo Education Centre, Music Generation Sligo and Craft Council of Ireland already provide an amount of funding Community Arts Development Coordinator

Community Arts Development Coordinator Sligo Education Centre with Sligo County Council Arts Office, Music Generation Sligo and Regeneration project

Cost neutral within existing resources

HSE

€1,000 per annum

Sligo Education Centre

HSE Mental Health Services with Sligo County Council Arts Office and Regeneration Project Sligo Education Centre

€800 per school per annum additional funding

Community Arts Development Coordinator

P a g e | 86 Action

Objective Three:

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Provide opportunities for local people to access arts and culture provision in Sligo city and county.

Participation by people from the Regeneration Area in arts and culture activities provided in Sligo city and county will be mapped and assessed by the local Community Arts Development Coordinator. An access and outreach programme will be developed by providers of arts and culture exhibitions and performances. This will address some of the barriers identified in the mapping and assessment exercise.

Medium

 Knowledge base developed to support implementation of this strategy

Negligible

Community Arts Development Coordinator

Medium

 Increased access to arts and culture exhibitions and performances by the local community

Existing resources

Arts organisations, arts venues, and arts services

Arts in the Community group with arts organisations, arts venues and arts services

Objective Four: Develop and implement a programme of community arts provision and practice Actions will be developed to mark and celebrate key moments in the life of the community, including important moments in the regeneration process.

Medium

 Actions taken.

To be identified

Community Arts Development Coordinator

These moments will be recorded as a part of the Arts and Culture Strategy. Local people would develop and apply their skills to record these creatively in film, photography and written word. The green spaces within the Regeneration Area could serve this Arts and Culture Strategy.

Medium

 Records made.

To be identified

Community Arts Development Coordinator

Medium

 Green spaces identified and developed.

To be identified

Sligo County Council

Objective Five: Integrate an arts and culture dimension into all elements of the social regeneration plan. Actions will be taken to ensure the strategic inclusion and development of an arts and culture dimension to the community development, youth work, education, health, family support, training and social economy and, as appropriate, other strategies within the regeneration process

Medium

 Arts and Culture objectives and approaches integrated into the implementation of this plan.

Negligible

Community Arts Development Coordinator

P a g e | 87

Implementation The structures and drivers for the implementation of this Arts and Culture Strategy are: •

Sligo Arts Service will be the lead stakeholder for this strategy.

•

Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim Education and Training Board, schools, the Sligo Education Centre, Youthwork organisations and community organisations all have key roles to play in implementing the strategy.

•

The Forum of Arts and Culture Stakeholders will support this strategy.

•

The Community Arts Development Coordinator will be a key driver for implementing the strategy.

•

The contracted community arts organisations will give direction and guidance to the strategy.

•

The Regeneration Team

P a g e | 88

Section 11.

Inter-Agency Collaboration & Engagement

Background Public sector reform is changing the landscape of the public sector nationally. This encompasses new institutions, re-arrangements between institutions, internal institutional reforms, and new policies and programmes. This is particularly evident in the field of children and family services, labour market activation and social protection, further education and training, local government and local development. All of these policy fields have a direct relevance to the regeneration project. This is a challenging context for many public sector bodies. However, it may also be a context of opportunity to enhance innovation in their engagement with the Regeneration Area and to further develop inter-agency partnership and collaboration as part of this engagement. This could add value to the impact of the work of the many individual public sector bodies involved in the Regeneration Area. Public sector bodies and other agencies have suffered significant resource cutbacks and staff reductions. This could leave them less well equipped to implement their mandates and, in particular, to support the regeneration process. However, the public sector reform challenge â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;to do differently with lessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; could be addressed through testing out new approaches by public sector bodies and other agencies to policy design and programme delivery within the Regeneration Area. The availability of specific finance for regeneration could further act to make the Regeneration Area a target for public sector body intervention. High levels of poverty, exclusion and disadvantage characterise the Regeneration Area. Public services play a defining role in responding to these issues and in meeting the needs of people living in the Regeneration Area. The persistence of these issues presents a challenge to public sector bodies and other agencies to meet needs that are complex and that differ from the wider areas they serve. In order to achieve the transformation aimed for in the Regeneration Area, a particular focus will be required from public sector bodies and other agencies. Systems within public sector bodies and other agencies need to adapt policies, programmes and ways of delivering services so that they can have greater impact on these issues and better meet local needs. A more effective and intensive targeting of resources on the Regeneration Area is required. Positive work has been done to build collaboration between public sector bodies and other agencies in the regeneration process to date. Positive relationships have also been developed between public sector bodies and other agencies and local people and community organisations in the Regeneration Area. However, public services can be fragmented and can, at times, operate without reference to one another and partnership arrangements with local communities could be further strengthened. The social regeneration plan will make demands on public sector agencies providing services to the area. Impact and success will require public sector agencies to operate in a more integrated manner, to develop new ways of intervening in the area, and to sustain a focus on the Regeneration Area over a long-term period.

P a g e | 89 Formal collaboration between public sector agencies will be important in securing an effective implementation of this plan. This will enable the implementation of new policy priorities that cut across different institutional responsibilities. Formal structures will be needed to govern and progress the regeneration process. These will involve collaboration between public sector agencies and the local community. This will be important in securing access to knowledge and information needed for innovation and new responses to the issues facing the Regeneration Area. It will be vital in ensuring local community ownership of the regeneration process.

Goals The goals of this Collaboration and Engagement Strategy are to: 1. Secure the participation and commitment of relevant public sector bodies and other agencies alongside local community leaders and community organisations in formal structures for the regeneration process. 2. Mainstream a focus on the Regeneration Area and the people who live there within the planning, policy-making and provision on public sector bodies and other agencies. 3. Enable an effective and intensive targeting of resources in meeting the needs and priorities of the Regeneration Area and the people who live there. 4. Serve as one of the three underpinning elements to the overall social regeneration strategy. It will enable innovation, flexibility, and adaptability of policies, programmes, and delivery; the partnership with the local community; and the inter-agency cooperation that would secure the impact and success of the social regeneration plan.

Principles This Collaboration and Engagement Strategy is based on acknowledgement of the importance of: ď&#x201A;ˇ

Long-term engagement in and commitment to the regeneration process by public sector bodies and other agencies.

ď&#x201A;ˇ

Institutional structures and systems with public sector bodies and other agencies to sustain engagement with and support for the regeneration process and the Regeneration Area.

ď&#x201A;ˇ

Innovation, adaptability and flexibility in public sector body and other agency policies, programmes and service delivery in response to the complex needs of the people in the Regeneration Area.

Strategy There are three strands to this Collaboration and Engagement Strategy. These three strands will underpin the impact made by the public sector bodies and other agencies through the regeneration process. It will be possible in implementing this strategy to build on positive progress already made along these strategic strands by public sector bodies and other agencies. The development and sustaining of commitment from public sector bodies and other agencies to the regeneration process and the Regeneration Area is at the heart of this strategy. This first strand requires leadership from senior management in the relevant public sector bodies and other

P a g e | 90 agencies. It requires those within public sector bodies and other agencies with a connection to the Regeneration Area to champion the needs of people from the area within their organisations. Formal structures are the key focus for the second strand of this strategy. Formal structures to govern and progress the regeneration master plan will require a significant and committed involvement from public sector bodies and other agencies. These organisations are central to the implementation and impact of the plan. These structures will allow them to engage directly with local community representatives in the problem solving, innovation, and flexibility that will be required on an ongoing basis by the regeneration process. Formal structures are also required to deepen inter-agency collaboration. These structures will allow integrated approaches where mandates of public sector bodies and other agencies overlap. They will ensure the multi-dimensional responses required by complex societal problems in the Regeneration Area. These formal structures for cooperation will provide necessary support for the implementation of the social regeneration plan. Processes for partnership with the local community, their leaders and their organisations need to be further evolved. These processes will take place within the structures established for the regeneration project. However they must also be developed or deepened on a bilateral basis by individual public sector bodies and other agencies. These processes should enable the local community to have access to key decision makers and to play a role in decision-making processes. They should also ensure an empowered participation by the local community and must be concerned with supporting capacity development for this participation within the local community. A dual strategy of mainstreaming and targeting will guide and support public sector body and other agency involvement in the regeneration process. This is the third strand to this strategy. Systems will be required within public sector bodies and other agencies to mainstream a focus on the Regeneration Area. These systems will establish a focus on the Regeneration Area in the planning, policy making, policy implementation and policy review of these organisations and will ensure the flexibilities required to ensure an impact on the needs of the people from the Regeneration Area. Existing resources targeted on the Regeneration Area and available to the people from the Regeneration Area will need to be reviewed and assessed. This review will explore the adequacy of these resources in light of this social regeneration plan. It will assess impact of these resources in light of the issues identified and quantified in the Regeneration Area. This will lead to a process of targeting where available resources are made available with the flexibility and the intensity deemed to be required on foot of the review exercise.

Objectives Objective One:

Secure long-term commitment to and engagement with the regeneration process from key public sector bodies and other agencies.

Objective Two:

Support the development or deepening of institutional structures for interagency collaboration and for partnership between public sector bodies and other agencies and the local community.

Objective Three:

Develop systems for mainstreaming a focus on the Regeneration Area within public sector bodies and other agencies, for effective targeting of the Regeneration Area by these organisations, and for supporting adaptability, innovation and flexibility in the provision of services and programmes in the Regeneration Area.

P a g e | 91

Inter-Agency Collaboration & Strategy Engagement Actions Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Objective One: Secure long-term commitment to and engagement with the regeneration process from the relevant public sector bodies and other agencies. Public sector bodies and other agencies with a key role to play in the implementation of this social regeneration plan will be invited to nominate a senior representative to act as a member of the Oversight Group. The Oversight Group will support the planning for the regeneration project, drive the implementation of the regeneration project, and extract learning from the regeneration project for application in other parts of Sligo. It will enable public sector bodies and other agencies to account for their contribution to the regeneration project and to the targets established for the regeneration plan. It will involve public sector bodies and other agencies in a dialogue with the local community representatives in progressing the regeneration project. Liaison officers will be appointed within each of these public sector bodies and other agencies and given responsibility to support an internal focus on and contribution to the regeneration project within the organisation. An annual meeting of liaison officers will be convened.

Short/Develop

 Implementation of the plan will be stimulated and monitored with new evolutions made as required.

Negligible

Agencies represented

Regeneration Project

Short/Develop

 Implementation of the plan will be stimulated and monitored with new evolutions made as required.

Negligible

Agencies represented

Oversight Group

Short/Develop

Negligible

Public agencies involved

Regeneration project with public agencies

Personnel from public sector bodies and other agencies already working within the Regeneration Area or with people from the Regeneration Area will be supported to be champions for regeneration within their organisations. They will receive regular briefings about the regeneration project and

Short/Develop

 Strong communication channels for the implementation of the plan and informed champions for the plan in each agency.  Where an agency is a member of the oversight group that person could usefully serve as the liaison.  The HSE liaison officers allocated, MLSETB liaison continued, St Angela’s a liaison officer appointed, and Garda liaison considered by Garda Superintendent.  Those working in the area fully informed of progress, barriers and successes in implementing the plan.

Negligible

Public agencies involved

Regeneration project

P a g e | 92 Action

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Negligible

Public agencies involved

Lead/Partners

updates on progress made. They will be involved in regular exchanges in relation to reviewing progress and enabling further progress on the regeneration. Public sector bodies and other agencies involved in the implementation of this Social Regeneration Plan will assist in monitoring progress in its implementation and the impact and outcomes from its implementation.

Short/Develop

 Relevant data gathered and made available to Oversight Group

Regeneration project with public agencies

Objective Two: Support the development or deepening of institutional structures for inter-agency collaboration and for partnership between public sector bodies and other agencies and the local community Existing and proposed inter-agency structures in Sligo city and county that have a remit that covers or is relevant to the Regeneration Area will include representation from the regeneration project. This will include the new Local and Community Development Committee Existing inter-agency and partnership structures relevant for this plan will be supported to make their contribution to the implementation of the regeneration plan. These structures will be formalised, supported and sustained. A number of intervention taskforces will be established and supported for an appropriate period of time as part of the regeneration process. Participation of local community representatives and local community organisations on inter-agency fora will be enabled and supported. Leadership training opportunities will be devised and provided through the Community Development Strategy. Mentoring supports will be developed and provided through the Community Development Strategy.

Existing/Develop

 The needs of the Regeneration Area articulated and included in relevant fora.

Negligible

Regeneration project and local groups

Regeneration project

Existing/Develop

 Coherence and integration of effort behind the objectives in the plan sustained over the long term

Negligible

Public agencies and organisations involved

Interagency structures in place

Short/Develop

 Stimulus given to actions in this plan and coherence of effort and integration of resources enabled.

Negligible

Regeneration project to convene initially

Short/Develop



Negligible

Public agencies and organisations involved Local groups with community development worker

The voice, perspective, and interests of the local community advanced.

Community development worker

P a g e | 93 Action

Objective Three:

Timeframe

Target/Outcome

Cost

Funding Sources

Lead/Partners

Develop systems for mainstreaming a focus on the Regeneration Area within public sector bodies and other agencies

Public sector bodies and other agencies involved in the Regeneration Area will develop, adopt and implement a statement in relation to their engagement with this Social Regeneration Plan. The resources currently targeted on the Regeneration Area and the current take-up of public services and publicly funded services by people from the Regeneration Area will be kept under review by each public sector body and other agency involved in the regeneration process. Adaptability, flexibility and innovation in policies, programmes and service delivery will be supported within public sector agencies working in the Regeneration Area or providing services to people from the Regeneration Area or funding such services. Public sector bodies and other agencies will locate teams work across the city and county within the Regeneration Area where possible.

Medium

 A concern to support regeneration enabled within each agency

Negligible

Public agencies involved

Oversight Group

Medium

 A concern to support regeneration enabled within each agency

Negligible

Public agencies involved

Oversight Group

Existing/Develop

 The impact of public sector programmes on the Regeneration Area enabled.

Negligible

Public agencies involved

Oversight Group

Existing/Develop

 Investment in the Regeneration Area.

Existing resources

Public agencies involved

Oversight Group

P a g e | 94

Implementation The structures and drivers for the implementation of this Cooperation and Engagement Strategy are: 

Sligo County Council and, in particular, the Regeneration Team.



The Oversight Group.



The public sector bodies and other agencies involved in implementing the regeneration plan: o

Cranmore Co-op

Department of Social Protection

Gardaí & Probation Service

IT Sligo

Sligo Age Friendly project

Sligo Children’s Services Committee

Sligo Community Training Centre

Sligo County Childcare Committee

Sligo County Council

Sligo Education Centre

Sligo LEADER Partnership

Sligo Leitrim Mayo Education Training Board

Sligo Lifestart

Sligo Older People’s Network

Sligo Social Services

Springboard Resource House Project

The Abbeyquarter Centre

The Avalon Centre

The North West Regional Drug & Alcohol Task Force

TUSLA

Youth organisations

P a g e | 95

Implementing the Social Plan

P a g e | 96

Section 12. Implementation This final section of the social regeneration plan sets out the structures, processes and indicators required to enable the successful implementation of the plan. The implementation of the plan requires the establishment of structures and initiatives that will drive, monitor and evolve the plan over the ten year period envisaged. These are set out under the individual chapters above but are gathered here for greater clarity. Processes are needed to develop annual workplans, gather data and monitor progress, and evaluate and measure progress. The social regeneration plan is a ten year strategy. It will need to evolve over the period of implementation. This evolution will be guide by monitoring and evaluating implementation and by building the learning from this into annual workplans. Indicators enable progress to be assessed. Quantitative and qualitative indicators are required. Quantitative indicators require measured baselines which have been identified in the Stage One report. Qualitative indicators are identified in terms of milestones for the implementation of the plan.

Structures for Implementing the Social Regeneration Plan The structures to implement this plan can be gathered under five different sets: 1. Structures needed to take an overview of the overall plan and its implementation. 2. Existing interagency structures. 3. Interagency structures dedicated to the specific strategies that make up this plan. 4. Key agencies that will lead the different strategies. 5. Key posts and steps created to secure a high quality and effective implementation of the plan. The core principles shaping these implementation structures and their operation are: â&#x20AC;˘

Commitment to the regeneration process from public sector agencies, non-governmental organisations and the local community.

â&#x20AC;˘

Interagency cooperation to secure the most effective implementation of the steps set out in this plan.

â&#x20AC;˘

Participation by the local community and their organisations in all aspects of implementation of this plan, including planning, monitoring and evaluation.

Set One:

Structures to driving and monitoring the overall social regeneration plan

A Regeneration Steering Group is to be established. Public sector bodies and other agencies with a key role to play in the implementation of this social regeneration plan will be invited to nominate a

P a g e | 97 senior representative to act as a member of the Oversight Group. The Oversight Group will support the planning for the regeneration project, drive the implementation of the regeneration project, and extract learning from the regeneration project for application over the life of the regeneration and in other parts of Sligo. An Advisory Group is to be established. Public sector bodies and other agencies involved in the implementation of this social regeneration plan will be invited to participate on an advisory group to support the effective implementation and further development of the plan. This will be convened on a twice yearly basis and regular updates will be provided to its members.

Set Two:

Interagency structures contributing to implementing the social regeneration plan

The following existing inter-agency and partnership structures will be supported to make their contribution to the implementation of the regeneration plan: 

The Sligo Education Working Group;



The Sligo Leitrim Children’s Service Committee;



The Youth Mental Health Committee;



The Healthy Cities Initiative;



The Community Safety Task Force;



The Communities against Illegal Money Lending subgroup of the Community Safety Task Force.

Set Three:

Interagency structures to drive and monitor implementation of specific strategies that form part of the regeneration plan

The following intervention taskforces will be established and supported for an appropriate period of time as part of the regeneration process: 

The expanded Community Development and Youth Work Network - to focus on promoting and supporting high quality professionalised community development and youth work in the Regeneration Area.



Employment Taskforce – to ensure that people in the Regeneration Area are adequately equipped to engage with labour market activation and other opportunities.



Early Childhood Education Network – to coordinate, drive forward and further develop the objectives of the education strategy focused on early childhood.



Regeneration education steering group - to coordinate, drive forward and further develop the objectives of this education strategy



Forum of Arts and Culture Stakeholders – to support the implementation of the Arts and Culture Strategy.

P a g e | 98 

North West Drugs Task Working Group – to explore interagency perspectives and responses to these issues as they are presenting in the Regeneration Area.



A formal network of agencies working with families in the area - to maintain and improve the interagency approach to family support.



A network of funders, clubs, schools, youth workers, volunteers, and other providers of sports and recreation activities – to provide mutual support, secure pathways between informal and formal provision and between different forms of provision in the Regeneration Area, and identify emerging needs and support new responses to these.



The Forum of Arts and Culture Stakeholders will support this strategy.

Set Four:

Agencies playing a lead role with the strategies that make the social regeneration plan.

The Regeneration Team, will play a key leadership role in the implementation of all strategies. The lead agencies for the Education Strategy include the Sligo Education Centre, the Department of Social Protection, Tusla and Sligo Leitrim Mayo Education Training Board, the Sligo LEADER Partnership and educational establishments serving the area. The lead agencies for the Unemployment & Training Strategy include Intreo, Sligo LEADER Partnership, Sligo Local Enterprise Office, Mayo Sligo Leitrim Education Training Board, and Sligo Community Training Centre. The lead agencies for the Health and Wellbeing Strategy include the Health Service Executive and Tusla. The lead agencies for the Family Support Strategy include the Department of Social Protection, Gardaí & Probation Service, Sligo Children’s Services Committee, Sligo County Childcare Committee, Sligo County Council, Sligo Education Centre, Sligo LEADER Partnership, and Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education Training Board and Tusla The lead agencies for the Community Safety Strategy and the Housing Management Strategy include Sligo County Council, the Community Gardaí & the Inspector of Community Policing, the Community Wardens, Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership, Sligo Community Mediation Group, Sligo Education Centre, North West Regional Drug & Alcohol Task Force, and youth organisations. The lead agencies for the Sport and Recreation Strategy include Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership, Sligo County Council, Mayo, Sligo. Leitrim Education Training Board, the Health Service Executive, Sligo Volunteer Centre, Sligo County Childcare Committee, and Sligo GP Association, schools and youth organisations.

P a g e | 99 The lead agencies for the Income Adequacy Strategy include the Department of Social Protection, Citizen Information Board, Sligo Citizens Information Centre, Garda Síochana, Sligo Money Advice & Budgeting Service, Sligo Credit Union, Springboard Resource House Project, and Society of St. Vincent De Paul. The lead agencies for the Community Development Strategy and the Youth Work Strategy include the Regeneration team, Sligo LEADER Partnership, Youth organisations, The Avalon Centre, Comhairle na nÓg, Gaisce and Sligo Family Resource Centre. The lead agencies for the Arts and Culture Strategy include the Sligo Arts Service, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim Education and Training Board, schools, the Sligo Education Centre, youthwork organisations and community organisations.

Set Five:

Foundational initiatives to drive implementation of key elements within the social regeneration plan.

A number of posts will be created and initiatives developed that underpin the implementation of this social regeneration plan and its various strategies. •

Liaison officers will be appointed in each of the public sector bodies and other agencies involved in implementing this plan to support an internal focus on the regeneration project.

•

Public sector bodies and other agencies involved in implementing this plan will develop, adopt and implement a statement in relation to their engagement with this Social Regeneration Plan that establishes their commitment to the regeneration plan.

•

An Education Co-ordinator and an Education Worker will be funded and employed to drive and secure the implementation of the Education Strategy.

•

An Independent Activation Worker, outside of the Intreo system, will be funded and employed to stimulate, support and implement initiatives to ensure engagement by and outcomes for local people from the activation system.

•

Sligo County Council will maintain the Housing Management Team, including the replacement of current and future vacancies.

•

The positions of the Community Wardens will continue to be resourced and expanded.

•

The post of Community Sports Development Officer in the Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership targeting the Regeneration Area will continue to be supported and resourced.

•

Two Community Development Workers and two Youth Workers will be supported. Support to develop and build capacity to manage the community development & Youth Work Strategy will be made available to local organisations by a community development support agency.

•

An arts organisation, skilled and experienced in community arts practice, will be contracted on a tender basis to provide guidance, act as a sounding board, and evaluate and extract learning from the actions taken.

•

A Community Arts Development Coordinator will be funded and employed to lead the development and implementation of this Arts and Culture Strategy.

P a g e | 100

Section 13. Monitoring and review Regeneration requires investment. The Social Plan is a ten year framework for the regeneration project that sets out strategies, objectives and a set of actions that have been identified as being required in the immediate or short-term. Ongoing monitoring and periodic review and evaluation will be necessary to ensure that this investment is effectively and efficiently made and ultimately addresses the issues identified. Further action planning will be required as both internal and external circumstances and conditions evolve and develop. The planning cycle for the Social Plan will be important in ensuring its ongoing relevance and impact. The Oversight Group will have ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the Masterplan is implemented. In that context, they will play a key role in ensuring that the strategies and actions included in the Social Plan are implemented and the goals achieved. It is critical that progress is monitored, reviewed and assessed. In that context it will be important to identify and commission an evaluation process as soon as possible to establish the necessary planning cycle and to put in place the necessary tools for its implementation. To support this process tables of key output and impact indicators are set out below. It will be important that the evaluation team: •

Assess and finalise these indicators.

•

Gather benchmark data in relation to all indicators selected.

•

Establish time-defined targets in relation to each indicator selected. Targets will need to take account of the resources being made available for implementing this Social Plan.

•

Identify the data and data collection methods that will be required from different stakeholders to support tracking of the indicators selected.

Baseline benchmark indicators were established during Stage 1 of this process. These are based on an analysis of the Census 2011 data. This analysis provides a useful baseline against which progress at a high level can be assessed. It is reliable, regular, dependable and easily accessible on a cycle appropriate to measuring patterns of change (i.e. every five years). However, there are a number of limitations. First, high level benchmarks such as the unemployment rate are largely determined by the macro economic and social context prevailing at the time and may be difficult to influence by local initiatives. Second, reliance on Census data also limits any interim assessment of outcome and impact. Finally, the issues of causation and correlation must be acknowledged – just because there is a correlation between the regeneration project and a change in the socio-economic circumstances of the community does not necessarily mean that this was caused by regeneration initiatives. Notwithstanding this, analysis of data from future censuses of population will be an important indicator of overall progress. Locally gathered information/data will be useful to determine progression towards milestones. Ongoing data gathering to support monitoring will be a key feature of the implementation of the plan and a primary data/information collection element will be essential to provide evidence of impact. There are difficulties with gathering primary data on such a small population, however, both with the issue of inadvertent identification of individuals or families, and with data protection policies that

P a g e | 101 agencies and organisations must adhere to. These are issues that will need to be resolved as part of the data gathering strategy. The Oversight Group will need to ensure that these indicators and targets shape the management and implementation of this Social Plan. Decision-making in implementing the Social Plan will need to take account of and be guided by the indicators and targets established. The inter-agency structures established to support the progress of the Social Plan will need to be informed of these indicators and targets and to keep them under review as they progress their work. The evaluation team contracted will need to design an information-gathering plan which may include surveys and research initiatives to support the evaluation and review of the Social Plan and its implementation. A formal evaluation of progress should be carried out in year three, six and ten of the Social Plan. It will be crucial that the evaluation reviews progress made in implementing the plan and the impact that this progress has had and to establish learning points from the progress that has been achieved. It will also be important to assess the changing context for the ongoing implementation of the Social Plan and identify the implications, if any, of this for the ongoing implementation of the different elements of the Social Plan. The evaluation process should conclude with a review of each element of the plan and the development of a renewed work programme for the following period.

P a g e | 102

Indicators Education & Learning Objective Establish foundations for the Education & Learning Strategy

Output indicators  

Supporting learning and socialisation in the very early years;

 

Supporting children in primary school

 

Draft Impact indicators

Regeneration Subgroup of the Interagency Education Working Group established Sligo Regeneration Education & Learning Project established



Number of programmes and initiatives to support early and socialisation Enhanced childcare provision



Programmes adequate to need provided Support for St John’s School to achieved DEIS status



  

Retaining children in school by addressing issues that lead to early school leaving

 

Supporting parents as primary educators



Support programmes to address triggers for early school leaving in place Increased numbers of NEPs assessments



Family learning programmes implemented



  

Monitoring

Enhanced institutional capacity through collaboration. Sustained institutional engagement by key organisations with the Regeneration Area.

To be determined by the Working Group

Number and diversity of children and parents participating Enhanced early years learning and socialisation for children in the Regeneration Area

Primary data gathering from key agencies to be determined by the Working Group

Number and diversity of children participating Improved literacy & numeracy Readiness for post-primary school enhanced Enhanced resources available to school

Primary data gathering to be determined by the Working Group

Retention to leaving cert improved Learning difficulties identified and supported Improved literacy & numeracy Bullying levels reduced

Primary data gathering to be determined by the Working Group

Enhanced parental capacity to support their children’s education

Primary data gathering to be determined by the Working Group

Data held by schools & local organisations

Data held by local organisations

P a g e | 103 To improve access to higher and further education

 

 To develop and implement a series of lifelong learning, adult education and training initiatives.

   

General

Career guidance enhanced Increased support from higher and further education bodies for children and young people in the Regeneration Area. Long-term value of post higher and further education promoted

 

Enhanced provision of lifelong learning initiatives Initiatives to support access to opportunities under labour market activation provided Number of training programme reflecting local labour market demands Responses to training demands developed

Enhanced education/learning capacity of residents in the Regeneration Area

Enhanced provision of guidance Improved transition to higher and further education

Increased links between training and labour market demand

Primary data gathering Data held by schools, higher and further education & local organisations

Primary data gathering to be determined by the Working Group Data held by schools, higher and further education & local organisations.

Enhanced capacity to respond to demands Increased level of confidence amongst residents in the Regeneration Area in capacity to support education, learning and training

Census 2016 and 2021 data to be analysed and compared to 2011 data analysis

P a g e | 104

Health & Wellbeing Objective To improve the health and wellbeing of residents in the Regeneration Area across the lifecycle.

Output indicators 



  To improve mental health outcomes across the lifecycle for people in the Regeneration Area.



To improve access to appropriate services and early intervention for those in the Regeneration Area currently experiencing health related difficulties.



To improve the range and availability of primary health care services in the Regeneration Area.

 



Impact indicators

Sligo Healthy Cities initiative established with ongoing focus on the diversity of residents and experiences in the Regeneration Area Strategies for the promotion of positive health and the prevention of behaviours that are detrimental to health in place across the lifecycle A community-based health education programme devised and implemented. Social Prescribing in place where appropriate



Positive mental health programmes developed and implemented across the lifecycle



Services to address and prevent addiction and substance misuse enhanced



Improvements in referral including outreach work and improvements in information. Primary care services improved Suitable premises made available



 



Monitoring

Health and wellbeing enhanced across the lifecycle Focus on the Regeneration Area maintained by all relevant agencies and organisations

Primary data gathering to be determined by the Working Group

Enhanced opportunities to improve mental health outcomes for residents across the lifecycle.

Primary data gathering to be determined by the Working Group

Enhanced access to services for those that need them

Primary data gathering to be determined by the Working Group

Improved outcomes for those with addiction issues that seek support Enhanced access to primary care services – number of residents using services

Data held by HSE & local organisations

Data held by HSE & local organisations.

Primary data gathering to be determined by the Working Group Data held by HSE & local organisations

P a g e | 105

Family Support Objective To improve the functioning of families at risk in the Regeneration Area, with an emphasis on improving outcomes for children

Output indicators 

 

Maintaining and expanding current family support services

  

To ensure that the needs of particularly vulnerable sections of the community are met.

   

  General

Impact indicators

Range of supports maintained, retained and developed focusing on supporting families and children in the Regeneration Area. Enhanced outreach capacity Focus on five national outcomes for children in the Regeneration Area by the Children’s Services Committee



Existing services maintained and retained Audit of need of areas new to regeneration carried out Services expanded to new areas where appropriate

 

Range of services provided to particularly vulnerable sections of the community Space to facilitate access provided Number of homes of older people vulnerable to fuel poverty retro-fitted with insulation Inclusion of needs of older people in the Regeneration Area included in the Sligo Age Friendly County Assessment for day-care services carried out and ways of meeting demand identified Community laundry provided



Monitoring

Capacity of organisations to provide services to families in need of support

Primary data gathering to be determined by the Working Group

Maintenance of existing services Number and diversity of people from areas new to the Regeneration Area accessing services

Primary data gathering to be determined by the Working Group

Number and diversity of people accessing services

Primary data gathering to be determined by the Working Group

Data held by HSE & local organisations

Census 2016 and 2021 data to be analysed and compared to 2011 data analysis

P a g e | 106

Unemployment & Training Indicators Objective

Output indicators

Establish foundations for the Unemployment and Training Strategy



Secure employment opportunities for local people in the work of physical regeneration within the area



Develop and secure routes to employment for people in the Regeneration Area – Activation



Develop and secure routes to employment for people in the Regeneration Area – Training



Impact indicators

Employment taskforce established. Skills survey carried out.



Number of regeneration contracts with social clauses. Number and diversity of participants on specific skills courses run. Independent activation worker in place. Targeted interventions made to benefit specific groups. Number and diversity of participants on accredited training. Expanded number of participants on courses run by Sligo Training Centre.

Enhanced institutional capacity through collaboration. Sustained institutional engagement by key organisations with the Regeneration Area.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.



Number and diversity of residents employed on regeneration projects.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.



Number and diversity of clients from the Regeneration Area progressing to employment or further education and training.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.



Number and diversity of participants achieving qualifications and level of qualifications. Number and diversity of participants progressing to employment. Increased levels of confidence and personal development among residents.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.



 

General

Monitoring

Research, survey work, and evaluation.

Census 2016 and 2021 data to be analysed and compared to 2011 data analysis

P a g e | 107

Community Safety and Housing Management Objective To address anti-social and illegal behaviour

Output indicators   

To prevent illegal and anti-social behaviour

  

Ensure that the current Housing Management team remains in place

  

Impact indicators

Level of Garda resources in the area. Awareness campaign to increase reporting. Working Group of the North West Drugs Task convened. Youth café in operation. Number and diversity of participants on substance misuse programmes. Level of Community Garda resources in the area. Community wardens in place. Tenancy Support Officer in place. Estate Officer in place.

 

   

Monitoring

Local crime statistics by type and severity. Numbers of defendants from the Regeneration Area in cases.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.

Rates of exposure to drug use. Rates of specific neighbourhood problems. Residents feeling of safety at home and in the community.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.

Residents’ satisfaction with quality of housing management in the area.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.

Research, survey work, and evaluation.

Implement initiatives so that there is a faster turn-around of vacant properties and so that the community has an appropriate involvement



Appropriate mechanism in place to make use of community knowledge in dealing with vacant properties.



Timely refurbishment and allocation of vacant properties.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.

Support the development of initiatives to facilitate downsizing of properties by tenants



Audit of demand and potential for downsizing.



Number of tenants availing of downsizing.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.

Support for residents’ associations to develop and to participate in housing management



Number of participants on training for residents associations. Tenant participation in estate management strategy in place.



Number and quality of active residents associations. Number and diversity of tenants involved in estate management and quality of their involvement.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.



General



Research, survey work, and evaluation.

Data on house process and demand gathered and compared to benchmark established by the Stage 2 Report

P a g e | 108

Sport & Recreation Objective Maintain and further develop opportunities for participation in regular exercise for all members of the community

Output indicators   

Support and expand a local capacity in relation to the provision of sports and recreation opportunities

 

Maintain and further develop new and existing local facilities, amenities, clubs and school links to provide an adequate infrastructure for sports and recreation in the area

  

Community Sports Development Officer in place. Audit of sport and recreation opportunities and take up of these. Information campaign to encourage participation. Number of participants in training from provider organisations. Number and diversity of participants in training for accredited skills. Sports hall and all-weather multi-purpose floodlit pitch developed. Number of existing facilities repaired and upgraded. Number and diversity of local clubs supported.



  

Impact indicators

Monitoring

Number and diversity of residents participating in sport and recreation activities.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.

Number and diversity of residents volunteering in this sector. Number and diversity of locally run clubs.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.

Number of facilities, clubs, school facilities available for sport and recreation

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.

Research, survey work and evaluation.

Research, survey work, and evaluation.

P a g e | 109

Income Adequacy Objective

Output indicators

Impact indicators

Monitoring

Support the take-up of welfare payments and ensure that people in the Regeneration Area are aware of and avail of their entitlements



Welfare rights campaigns implemented.



Number and diversity of residents engaging with Sligo Citizen Information Centre.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.

Develop initiatives to combat illegal money lending, support households in debt and provide alternative access to credit and to budgetary advice



Garda charges pressed on illegal money lending. Extension of MABS into Regeneration Area. Savings club in the Regeneration Area assessed and further developed.



Residents’ capacity and willingness to access alternatives sources of credit and advice. Inter-agency collaboration to enhance a continuum of supports for households in debt.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.

General

Census 2016 and 2021 Deprivation & Affluence Index to be analysed and compared to 2011 data analysis

 



Research, survey work, and evaluation.

P a g e | 110

Community Development & Youth Work Objective

Output indicators

Impact indicators

Monitoring

Community Development To embed and build on the conditions for effective community development in the Regeneration Area.



To ensure an active, engaged and empowered community in the Regeneration Area.

To ensure that all communities in the Regeneration Area are organised and represented.



Two community workers supported by the regeneration project to cover the extended Regeneration Area in place Support to develop capacity of local organisations to manage the work of the community development workers and the Community Development & Youth Work elements of the Social Plan provided by a community development support agency. Structure of the existing Community Development Network formalised, its membership expanded and its remit extended to include Youth Work Community development programme of work implemented including bridging and capacity building programmes



Capacity building and support for establishment/development of representative associations and community organisations focusing on areas new to regeneration and on communities of interest provided

 



 



Community development embedded in the regeneration project Enhanced capacity to implement strategies to address poverty and social exclusion.

Primary data gathering to be gathered by Community Development Network

Number and diversity of people engaging with community development initiatives Enhanced capacity to address existing and emerging needs

Primary data gathering to be gathered by Community Development Network

Number and diversity of Number and diversity of groups/associations supported Enhanced capacity of supported associations to engage

Primary data gathering to be gathered by Community Development Network

Data held by local organisations

P a g e | 111 To ensure that communities are engaged in decisions that affect their lives.



Range of community education and capacity building programmes to ensure that all sectors of the community, particularly the most disadvantaged communities, provided



Number and diversity of groups/organisations supported engaging with decision-making bodies Capacity

Primary data gathering Data held by local organisations

Youth Work To embed and build on the conditions for effective youth work in the Regeneration Area.



To develop and implement effective and innovative responses to the needs of young people in the Regeneration Area.

   

To ensure the voice of young people is heard and to ensure the participation of young people in the regeneration project.



Two youth workers supported by the regeneration project to cover the extended Regeneration Area in place The structure of the existing Community Development Network expanded to include youth work. Youth activities and clubs continued and expanded. Training for volunteer youth leaders provided. Focus on young people identified as difficult to engage. A Youth Café or similar drop-in service provided



Number of programmes to enhance the capacity of young people to have their voice heard developed. Youth initiatives to ensure that young people from the Regeneration Area are included and empowered to engage in decision making roles supported. Informed participation by young people in all structures established under the regeneration project facilitated.



  

Youth work embedded in the regeneration project Enhanced capacity to implement strategies to address issues faced by young people

Primary data gathering

Number of youth activities and clubs Number and diversity of young people engaging Experience of young people

Primary data gathering

Number and diversity of young people participating in decision making that impacts on them

Primary data gathering

Data held by local organisations

P a g e | 112

Arts & Culture Objective Build foundations for a long-term Arts and Culture Strategy in the Regeneration Area

Output indicators   

Develop diverse experiential forms of arts education through all sectors of the community



Provide opportunities for local people to access arts and culture provision in Sligo city and county



Develop and implement a programme of community arts provision and practice



Integrate and arts and culture dimension into all elements of the social regeneration plan



Impact indicators

Forum of arts and culture stakeholders meeting regularly. Arts organisation contracted to support strategy. Community arts development coordinator in place. Number and diversity of participants in arts and culture activities targeting the Regeneration Area. Number and diversity of participants accessing learning opportunities for art appreciation. Number and diversity of participants in Sligo based arts and culture activities.



Number of community arts interventions to mark key moments in the life of the community.



Evidence of use of arts and culture activities or methods in implementing other Social Plan strategies.



Monitoring

Engagement with and commitment to the Regeneration Area by artists and providers in the field of arts and culture.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan to be agreed

Residents’ level of interest in, capacity to engage in, and appreciation of arts and culture activities.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan to be agreed

Residents’ appreciation of arts and culture experiences provided in Sligo.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan to be agreed

Quality and level of participation by people from different groups of residents in creating arts and culture.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.

Level of creativity and innovation in the implementation of the Social Plan.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan.

Research, survey work, and evaluation.

P a g e | 113

Inter-agency Collaboration and Engagement Objective

Output indicators

Secure long-term commitment to and engagement with the regeneration process from key public sector bodies and other agencies



Support the development or deepening of institutional structures for inter-agency collaboration and for partnership between public sector bodies and other agencies and the local community



 



Oversight group established and meeting regularly. Advisory group established and meeting. Liaison officers appointed in each public sector agency involved. Engagement of existing interagency structures with the regeneration. Establishment and operation of intervention taskforces to support the regeneration. Number and diversity of community representatives participating in the regeneration inter-agency structures. Number of public sector agencies developing a statement on their engagement with the regeneration process.

Impact indicators 



Monitoring

Capacity and commitment in key public sector officials to engage effectively with the regeneration process.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan to be agreed

Enhanced capacity of key stakeholder agencies to intervene in addressing problems identified in the Regeneration Area.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan to be agreed

Adaptability, flexibility and innovation demonstrated in the engagement by public sector bodies in the Regeneration Area.

Data gathering on progress of Social Plan to be agreed

Research, survey work, and evaluation.

P a g e | 114

Appendix 1 Baseline benchmark indicators (Census 2011) HP Pobal Index Deprivation & Affluence

Principal Economic Status

Social class

Education

Labour Force Participat ion Rate

Unemplo yment Rate

Economi c Depende ncy Ratio

27.4

63.2

36.0

1.5

41.7

5.6

16.2

61.5

48.6

2.2

6.5

20.6

66.9

38.7

1.4

Disadvantaged

17.1

56.8

41.8

-6.3

Marginally Below Average

12.8

5.5

53.2

207082013

-20.1

-14.8

Disadvantaged

13.7

27.0

207082017

-15.4

-13.2

Disadvantaged

20.5

-10.7

-8.6

Marginally Below Average

-15.1

-18.2

Disadvantaged

Deprivation Score 2006

Deprivation Score 2011

Pobal HP 2011 Description

-19.8

-16.3

Disadvantaged

10.4

-18.8

-22.6

Very Disadvantaged

207082004

-26.4

-16.7

Disadvantaged

207082011

-13.3

-13.8

-6.8

207082002 207082003

207082012

207082018 207082022 Regen Area Sligo Borough

-2.52

-2.97

Co. Sligo

-0.58

-0.17

State

-0.23

0.24

Marginally Below Average Marginally Below Average Marginally Above Average

Higher Professionals

Semi & Unskilled

Low educat ion

Health

High Education

Very good & good

Computer & Internet

Very bad & bad

With a comput er

Without a compute r

Internet access

No Internet access

11.0

77.4

2.6

45.7

51.9

45.7

50.4

32.6

3.4

73.9

0.7

64.8

27.8

64.8

29.6

31.2

11.0

76.5

2.8

52.9

34.5

51.7

36.8

2.0

22.9

16.5

75.9

2.4

50.0

40.9

54.5

37.9

35.1

1.9

22.2

29.4

63.8

4.3

30.8

29.4

32.9

25.9

66.0

40.7

1.6

31.5

12.2

81.3

2.0

56.6

39.4

64.6

33.3

16.2

53.4

27.3

1.6

26.9

14.0

78.6

3.4

56.4

40.0

52.7

43.6

14.7

13.3

45.7

18.6

1.7

21.5

20.4

76.2

4.9

45.5

49.4

45.5

51.9

7.9

33.2

61.3

43.7

1.9

26.7

6.7

80.8

3.7

56.4

41.0

56.4

39.7

11.7

19.6

59.2

37.6

1.7

29.2

14.1

75.3

3.0

48.6

39.6

50.0

38.5

23.7

15.7

54.6

23.6

1.4

17.7

29.5

82.0

2.5

62.7

33.2

65.2

30.3

32.7

14.1

59.4

18.1

1.1

16.6

30.0

86.5

1.7

67.6

29.8

66.6

30.5

34.6

14.3

61.9

19.0

1.0

16.0

30.6

88.3

1.5

72.7

25.1

71.8

25.8