Carmen Paredes and Anthony Duffy with students who passed their 8 week course on Introduction to Leadership in the Community
Empowering locals to identify challenges in their own areas
Prospective community leaders from North Clondalkin were welcomed to Balgaddy Community Centre this week for this year’s Community Leadership Event.
This event – a collaborative effort between Lifelong Learning and the Empowering Communities Programme, alongside South Dublin County Partnership – aims to support communities to identify challenges that exist in their areas.
Communities Programme Manager for North Clondalkin, Anthony Duffy, and Lifelong Learning Development Worker Carmen Paredes, have worked together to deliver this programme to communities that face issues such as poverty and social exclusion and help residents develop their own local responses.
The eight-week programme is designed to help people from the locality grow confidence, network in their community and meet like-minded people, all while gaining leadership skills and getting involved in local action projects.
“We want to build people’s confidence, so that they are able enough to really start a small-scale project in their community.
“It’s really to encourage community involvement and to encourage people to work together as a team, to share their experiences and knowledge and to learn from each other as peers. It’s a real strengths-based approach we are trying to focus on,” Anthony said.
Anthony Duffy has been in the role since 2023 and is entering his eighth year with South Dublin County Partnership Local Development Programme.
Since he first stepped into the role, Anthony has witnessed positive progression of the Community Leadership Programme as it has gained traction in several North Clondalkin communities.
“I’ve been stated into this role since March 2023 and the fact that we’re getting people in a room from harder to reach estates is really a sign of progress” he said.
Communities are supported in this work by their Local Community Development Committee, and this year, people from all around North Clondalkin got involved.
“We had a wonderful, diverse group from all different ethnic backgrounds and all different ages, and it was really successful” Anthony said.
The programme includes an added incentive of a short work placement with South Dublin Partnership “as an optional extra for local people who wish to avail of it.”
The idea behind including this work placement opportunity is to offer work experience and to spread awareness about the services that are available in these communities.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
