Castlebar social services to invest 800000 in harmony centre
CASTLEBAR Social Services Limited has been granted planning permission to go-ahead with the renovation and extension to its existing premises at Castle Street car park in an overall investment of over €800,000.
The project will now go through the normal process of the various financial and regulatory procedures and it is expected, all going well, to be in a positive position by mid-2015, which will enable the organisation to further expand its services in the community.
When completed, the facility is to be renamed the Harmony Centre to reflect a vision of a place offering health, happiness, enjoyment and support to better serve our older population.
An appeal has been issued to members of the public to come and be part of it all and to donate to the service by signing up to a weekly, monthly or annual direct debit mandate at Allied Irish Bank, Castlebar. The account number is 05220486 and the sort code is 93-70-88.
Members of the board explained: “The new centre will be a model upon which future provisions for older and more vulnerable people can be based.
“It is designed in line with the aims and objectives of the organisation for the benefit of both the company and the people of Castlebar and surrounding areas in the long term. As it stands, the centre has a weekly footfall of 2,200 people and this number will significantly increase when the Harmony Centre is fully operational.”
At present, Castlebar Social Services supplies over 30,000 meals per year, seven days a week, 365 days of the year. It has developed a befriending service to support people who may need regular contact for various supports or who may be alone.
A free bus service is available to Castlebar three days each week covering a radius of 10 miles. Laundry services are provided to the elderly and the centre operates cultural and recreational tours. Security and personal safety devises are provided to the older population.
However, as Deirdre Waldron, manager, pointed out, some stark statistics emerged during the course of a needs analysis which convinced the company of the urgency for extended facilities. Almost 60% of the adult population is single, widowed, divorced or separated, a segment of the population left isolated and vulnerable with little family or community support.
Ms. Waldron elaborated: “We learned that the population we serve live in rural and urban isolation and have no access to social networks or supports. Communication is greatly restricted. The analysis also revealed that 13.4% of our population within the Castlebar environs reported they had fair, bad or very bad health.
“The information emphasised that the quality of life of many members of the community is poor. It is now our vision, through Harmony Centre, to expand the type and extent of supports to incorporate activities which will drive the Age Friendly County programme in Castlebar and its catchment area.”
Additional services will include establishing a safe and regular refuge for local people, encourage older people’s participation in the arts, establish book clubs, create oral history projects, organise IT instruction for older people which will incorporate Skype, establish locally based learning centres, create a library reminiscence therapy project and establish age appropriate leisure and recreational exercise programmes.