3,500 meals delivered by family support service

AFTER delivering 3,500 hot meals to families in the Tallaght area during the first 12 weeks of the pandemic, a local project of Barnardos is encouraging its community to support the charity’s Food Support Appeal.

Barnardos in Millbrook is an early years and family support service, providing referral-based supports for children living across Tallaght and their parents.

Alongside providing childcare services, for children aged two to five, Barnardos Millbrook also has a parenting coaching programme, which provides practical, crisis and parenting supports.

There is also the Parenting Plus programme, which parents engage in together, and a Parent/Toddler group, which is open to the community.

“The role of Barnardos is to improve the lives of children and we do that by working with the children and with parents,” Mark Brennan, Project Leader at Millbrook, told The Echo.

In recent weeks, Barnardos has launched its national Food Support Appeal in the run-up to Christmas.

Speaking with The Echo, Mark said that food poverty is a very real issue across local communities.

“There’s lots of families in this day and age who for different reasons aren’t able to provide sufficient food each week,” Mark said.

“Food poverty is not usually in isolation, there can be other adversaries that can contribute to difficulties in providing food.

“Poverty is a huge risk and other factors such as addiction, homelessness and mental health issues may impact on a parent’s ability to provide food.

“Families plunged into temporary debt due to mounting bills or an unexpected crisis or expense can also be a factor.”

He added: “At the start of the pandemic there was a definite spike in need… and we started delivering hot meals to families with an assessed need.

“We delivered 3,500 hot meals in the first 12 weeks of the pandemic.”

Barnardos Millbrook also supported families identified by the HSE and other local projects, and in addition to delivering hot meals, distributed around 2,500 food hampers to Barnardos projects along the East coast.

Deemed an essential service, Barnardos Millbrook re-opened in summer 2020, and today provides more than 160 weekly meals to the children attending its services – with families in need of food support also receiving vouchers and weekly hampers.

“We can see the difference a hot meal can make for a child, we can see the difference in a child’s concentration, their physical energy, their mood… it lifts their mood,” Mark said.

“It helps a child to get on with the rest of their day.”

Working with parents is key for Barnardos Millbrook and building mutual relationships.

“Imagine how difficult it is for someone to say, I can’t afford to buy food,” Mark said.

“The basis of all our work is that partnership with parents… and building a place where they realise, they are in a safe pair of hands with Barnardos.”

As Christmas approaches, the community is invited to support the work of their local Barnardos.

“We’re here all year round, there is a big focus at Christmas but our services are continuous all year,” Mark said.

“Anyone who would like to support our work can make a donation through the main Barnardos page, which is used to fund local services.

“People can also make contact with the Barnardos project in their local area and ask, how they can help?

“There are a number of Barnardos services in Tallaght, and people can maybe donate a voucher, clothes, food and we’ll distribute them to families in need.

“Nothing goes to waste and anything we can’t use will go to the Barnardos shop in Clondalkin.”

For further information on Barnardos and how you can help visit barnardos.ie, where you can donate or find details on your local project.