At a special event in City Hall today the Deputy Mayor of Limerick, Cllr. Kieran O’Hanlon acknowledged the great achievement by students of Focus Ireland’s education and employment programme in Limerick who have overcome many hurdles to gain qualifications.
The Focus Ireland Education course in partnership with the VEC is called Preparation for Training and Education Programme (PETE) and aims to support people over 18 to prepare for education or training.
It delivers foundation education and training to people who are homeless or at risk in the Limerick area.
The staff also work with people to link them in with other services to help them secure permanent accommodation and move on from being homeless.
Deputy Mayor O’Hanlon said: “I know that access to housing and support services are vital to combat homelessness but it is also clear that it is important for people to gain access to education and training to help them to move on in life.”
Focus Ireland Limerick Manager Ger Spillane said: “Many people who are homeless or at risk here in Limerick have a fear factor of taking part in education as they have often dropped out of school early. A key part of the service is that our staff actually really encourage and engage with people who are at risk or have been homeless and encourage them to take part in our education course. “
He added, “This is really important as the people frequently have to overcome other difficulties to get to the point where they are ready to take part in an education programme. Our staff work to help people get to this point by supporting them to gain access to housing and support.”
Focus Ireland said that all its staff at its education service in Limerick recognize the value of lifelong learning and second chance education and actively set about engaging with people at risk to take part in education.
Speaking at the event he added: “In partnership with the VEC, we began our education programme here in Limerick in January of this year to respond to local needs in the city and county. And today marks a very special celebration for Focus Ireland and our customers. Today we mark the achievements of 7 people who are receiving their Certificate of participation for the PETE programme and also 2 who received their Fetac level 2 awards and are currently preparing for their return back to education in the coming week.“
Focus Ireland has been working in Limerick since 1998 and is proud to have supported in the region of upwards 1000 households through our work in this time and in partnership with the Homeless Persons Centre, Limerick City and County local authorities, Clare County Council, HSE, Irish Prison Services and the VEC.
The services the charity provides in partnership with these organisations include Community Sustainment Service, transitional accommodation, long term housing, prison Inreach, Family Support Project, Genio Moving On Project, Advice and Advocacy, Tenancy Support and Settlement, and PETE.
Mr. Spillane said, “We know from our work that early access to advice and information can help to prevent people from losing their home in the first place. We have found here in Limerick that many of the enquiries we receive are by people seeking prevention support to help stop them from losing their existing accommodation.”
He added: “If people are in difficulties with their rent, mortgage or housing situation I would ask them to contact Focus Ireland at Tel: 061 405 300 or they can drop in to meet our staff at our offices inCatherine Place in the city.
Focus Ireland also highlighted that the charity has suffered repeated funding cuts at a national level and has to raise one third of its annual budget to keep its services running.
Demand for support has shot up by 23 per cent in two years – from the 6,500 the charity supported in Ireland in 2011 to over 8,000 people last year.
“We rely very heavily on the support of the public and local business and we need this support now more than ever before – People can donate online at www.focusireland.ie or call 1850 204 205”, said Mr. Spillane.
“People can also find out about volunteering by visiting our website. For anyone donating we really appreciate this vital support and are proud to say that 90 cents of every euro goes directly on services to combat and prevent homelessness,” he added.