Waterford Leader Partnership

The objective of establishing a women’s group in Cappoquin was to support and facilitate women and lone parents in the Cappoquin area in identifying and meeting their own needs in relation to interpersonal skills, academic upskilling and participating in the community.  It also gives them a chance for social interaction and to meet new people.

Waterford LEADER Partnership began working with the women in Cappoquin in April 2009 under the Local Development Social Inclusion Programme.  A general information meeting was held following a local leaflet drop and letters in through doors as well as an announcement at the local mass.  The initial turn out was good with approximately 13 women signed up to start.  The programme was devised with the assistance of the group who put forward suggestions of training that they would like to cover and the staff of WLP.  The group started with Basic Computer training, which ran for ten weeks and was FETAC accredited.  This was followed with five weeks of Personal Effectiveness which was found to be very beneficial for all concerned.  The group took a break for the summer months and reconvened in September.  Numbers dropped significantly at this stage for various reasons, as some members had progressed to employment while others took up fulltime education.  The group had chosen to do some Nutrition and Cookery but as the tutor was unavailable, chose to do some Personal styling instead.  This they found very lighthearted and enjoyable and they learned a lot from it.  The final weeks of the programme were taken up with First Aid and Arts & Crafts.  All elements of the course proved to be extremely popular with the group and they are now looking forward to carrying on some more training in January 2010, subject to funding being available.

WLP officers responsible for this programme were Michael Power, Julie O’Donnell and Niamh Budds.