Pascal Donohoe

HOPE 2017 Annual Report

H.O.P.E. 2017

A Chara,

It has been another year in H.O.P.E. where we have accomplished much, with very little, thanks to the hard work and goodwill of so many. It has been a privilege to manage this project and work in Dublin’s North Inner City, a fantastic community. The dedication to making this community, and this world, a better place has driven our work. We have a fantastic team, and I would like to extend my appreciation to the following:

Our voluntary Board of Management for the many years of support and guidance and the time they have given up to help run H.O.P.E. Three of our current management committee are founding members, Carmel Cosgrave, Angela Hart, and Theresa Brady. Also with us for many years are Yvonne Bambury, Kevin Murray, Catherine O’Connor, and Martin Cooke. Our wonderful staff: Senior project worker Joe Dowling, Project Worker Alison Gray and “IT Guy” David Brown. Client Work Volunteer Connie Murphy; Counsellor Paul Flannery; Holistic Therapies: John Hanamy and Alison Gray. Interns 2017: Jamie Murphy, Shauna Byrne, Karen Mooney, John Donohue.

I also thank the following without whom our work would not be possible: The North Inner City Drug and Alcohol Task Force, our funders the HSE, and Dublin City Council for our premises. Also, thanks to An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and his office, Paschal Donohue TD, Catherine Byrne TD, Mary Lou McDonald TD, Maureen O’Sullivan TD, Joe Costello, Cllr Christy Burke, Cllr Ray McAdam and Cllr Niall Ring, all of whom came down to this community and supported H.O.P.E. in 2017. Also, the newly established Programme Implementation Board and the NEIC for the great work being carried out and commitment to this community.

Finally, many thanks to our colleagues in the North Inner City and all the agencies and individuals we have worked with AND allof our clients for their continued trust in us and their willingness to put in the work. We hope to be here for many years to come.

Irene Crawley,
H.O.P.E. Manager

About

Hands on Peer Education, is a front-line service in Dublin’s north inner city, where those suffering with addiction and their families can get access to much needed support and treatment options. H.O.P.E. facilitates and advocates for recovery through abstinence. We also offer a wide range of advocacy services. H.O.P.E.’s free and confidential drop-in clinic is open from 10am ‘til 1pm, Monday to Friday.

Now That You’re Here

We love to get feedback, it helps us improve our service to the community. If you have a minute, we would greatly appreciate it if you write a few words about our service. Follow the link below to see our reviews on Google. Click ‘write review’ on the right hand side to add your own.

https://goo.gl/BgznUi

Many thanks from the team in H.O.P.E.

Thanks for coming! [#hopefest’17]

#hopefest’17

With the help of a lot of community organisations and people, we hosted a hugely successful street party – it was amazing craic! The sun was out, the food was great, and the families had a great time. Most graciously, Peter Murtagh gave us a tremendous write-up in the Irish Times on Wednesday, 9th August, Online and in Thursday’s (10th August 2017) print edition.

“There are about 75 children, most in the toddler to young teen age bracket, shepherded by about 20 volunteers in high-vis vests.

The children spring through an elongated bouncy castle, have their faces painted, play hopscotch, generally mess about and have a good feed of chips and burgers and nuggets and curry sauce and fizzy drink.”

We were expecting around 100 guests, but as the day went on the event grew as more and more families came down and took part. Of the nearly 300 meals provided, 151 of them were kids’ meals. Circuit Catering‘s Burger Deli service was second to none. The immaculately clean food truck dished out a wide variety of chipper food – beef & chicken burgers, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and chips with or without toppings – that the crowd thoroughly loved. Although the queue was long, the food was absolutely worth the wait.

Local youth group, Urban Soul, came down – in force – with the bouncy castle obstacle course and many, many volunteers. They manned the obstacle course, painted faces and played basketball, hopscotch, hula-hoop games, to name but a few, with the children. The children would not have had such a high level of engagement and gameplay without Urban Soul’s participation. We cannot thank them enough!

Although there was a bit of a hiccup with the venue for the magic show, Magic Martha delivered the show, al-fresco, which turned out better for the small children and added to the atmosphere of the event as it sprawled out from the Home monument. Martha puts on a great show, the children love it! Martha really knows how to hold a crowd, make them smile and laugh out loud!

The community was out, en masse, with help for the setup and running of the event. We had volunteers help us setup, with games and with music. Thanks to the community volunteers, the overall event went off without a hitch! Gerard O’Neil donated his time and DJ equipment and a number of community members took part with singing and dancing.

And in the end, the event was taken down quicker than it went up. We had the space cleared in under half an hour thanks to the army of volunteers. Now that it’s over, we’re already planning for next year 🙂

Every participant brought their best game and gave the event 110% effort, and for that we cannot thank everyone enough. That being said, none of it would have been possible without the huge support of Cluid Housing and Dublin City Council and the very gracious donation from the Croke Park Community Fund. Together however, we put on a fantastic day that will hopefully go down in memory as a great day in the summer of 2017.

“Community street party in front of the HOPE office, August 2017”

From HOPE-FEST’17. Posted by HOPE Hands On Peer Education on 8/11/2017 (206 items)

: Urban Soul….amazing group of people

Generated by Facebook Photo Fetcher 2

Dublin’s North East Inner City: Creating a Brighter Future

The Kieran Mulvey Report, February 2017

Last night – Thursday, 16th February, 2017 – the government task force to north east inner city launched the Kieran Mulvey report. H.O.P.E., along with many other community stakeholders, were present in anticipation of the final report. The communities of the north east inner city have suffered severe social inequalities for many years. With that in mind, this project welcomes the report and it’s suggestions.

After meeting with community groups, individuals, organisations over the last few months and taking some 50 organisational/individual submissions, Kieran Mulvey used the issues put forward to inform the report. And from these submissions, an action plan has been formulated. But what does the action plan have in store for the north east inner city?

The action plan outlines four key areas for priority action

Tackling crime and drugs; Better and more visible policing with an emphasis on community policing needs to be key feature in the Plan. It must be “safe” to lead; it must be “safe” to live, work, learn and play in the community.
Maximising educational/training opportunities/ creating local employment opportunities; There needs to be significant enhancement of the linkages between education and employment opportunity for this current generation of school goers, young adults and the unemployed in local businesses and enterprises, particularly in the business / retail area of the inner city and in the Docklands Development – both in construction and business occupation stages.
Creating an integrated system of social services; Social, educational and training services to address the real problems faced by families and their children need to be planned and delivered in a far more coordinated fashion. Services should be co-ordinated under a single plan which is in response to the particular needs and circumstances of different communities within the area.
Improving physical landscape; The area has some of the broadest streets in the City with potential for refurbishment and revitalisation. Future regeneration needs to explore the potential within the area to renovate, make it liveable and bright with improved physical landscape; to eliminate waste, derelict sites and progress the refurbishment and replacement of the existing flat complexes.

The Examiner, on Thursday, February 16, 2017 – 06:46 pm, highlights

Government accepts recommendations of the Mulvey Report for regeneration of the North East Inner City.
Ring-fenced funding of €5m will support implementation of the report.
Policing resources in the area to increase by 30 additional Gardaí by end 2017.
Rutland Street School to remain in state ownership and to be developed as a community hub.
Design, planning and procurement relating to the re-opening of Fitzgibbon Street Garda Station to begin.
Government to move quickly to put in place Implementation Structures recommended with strong Community Engagement and Government Oversight.

The full report can be read below.

“Kieran Mulvey’s NEIC Report Launch”

From NEIC Report Launch. Posted by HOPE Hands On Peer Education on 2/17/2017 (10 items)

Generated by Facebook Photo Fetcher 2

A New HOPE for the community.

Last night the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny and the Minister for Public Expenditure, Pascal Donohoe, paid a visit to the HOPE project.

It was a very positive meeting and Enda & Pascal showed great interest in the community.

Enda and Pascal were very interested in the process of recovery. There was even talk of new recovery initiatives. We’re very excited.

All the boys were very excited to see our Enda.

It was a very exciting meeting. We feel very positive and are very excited for the community. We at HOPE would like to say a big thanks to Minister Donohoe and an Taoisigh for coming down to the project and talking