August 2014 Newsletter

August 2014 Newsletter

Happy August Bank Holiday Weekend! A few things to keep ye busy...

Wishing everyone a fab long weekend and a bit of sunshine on the side :)  As we know bank holiday weekends are an opportunity to relax and have a bit of fun for many people but some of us can find it rather long, and without a few things to look forward to, the long weekend can feel even longer...

So, here are a few city wide events and activities that may be of interest and worth checking out so that the weekend can be a fun and relaxing time for all of us ~ thanks to Richard M for bringing in the Urban Fleadh leaflets and to Joerg at the dublin free event guide for keeping track of all the great free things happening around the city every week.

~ enjoy and see you soon,
Fionn :)

Bank Holiday Urban Fleadh a highlight of Northside Music Festival

Dublin City Council has announced details of this year’s Northside Music Festival which is sure to energise parks and open spaces on Dublin’s Northside every weekend this August. It’s a free, family friendly music extravaganza that will showcase music from all over the world, including Irish trad, reggae, rock, and hip-hop.

The festival opens with an Urban Fleadh at Wolfe Tone Square, Jervis Street, during the Bank Holiday Weekend ( Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th August). The Fleadh will feature Sean Nos dancing exhibitions, the Tolca Ceili Band, live music session tents and headline concerts The Ronan O’Snodaigh Trio on Saturday and The Woodbines on Sunday.

Northside Music festival, now in its seventh year, is organised by Dublin City Council. It is supported by Dublin City BID, The Church Bar and Restaurant, Ceoltoiri Chluain, axis Ballymun and local groups and communities.

Admission is free to all events. Music sessions at Urban Fleadh and drumming workshops in Fairview Park and The Red Stables are available to book on the day and are subject to availability. Please come prepared for changeable weather. See DCC website for more info and facebook for the schedule of events.  Enjoy!                             

Dublin Castle Sand Sculpture Exhibition

Dates:

Live Carving: Monday July 29th - Sunday August 4th

Remains on display: Monday August 5th - Tuesday August 27th

Theme:

"What we can be proud of/Happy with, being Irish?"

Opening times:

Entrance to see the sand sculptures is FREE, and you are free to wander around the Dublin Castle courtyards almost anytime, via the back gate. However if you like to take a peek inside some of the more splendid buildings you will need to join a guided tour. Tours are held Mondays to Friday between 10:00 and 16:45 and Saturdays and Sundays from 14:00-16:45

Getting To Dublin Castle:

Dublin Castle can be reached by an easy 10 minute walk from Temple Bar or Grafton Street.

Dublin Bus routes 77/77A, 56A and 49 from Eden Quay and the 123 from O'Connell Street all stop at Dublin Castle's Palace Street Gate.

Slovak Cultural Week - Meet Slovak Artists

18:00 to 23:00 Friday 01 Aug

Centre for Creative Practices, 15 Pembroke Street Lower, Dublin 2

Meet Slovak artists and members of the Slovak community. Integration workshop open to public followed by performance by Folklore group OSTROHA.

Other events will take place on Sat and Sun and the next Dublin Event Guide (for Free Events) will include these events.

See their website for details: Slovak Cultural Week - events

Warsaw Uprising - Exhibition Launch

19:00 Friday 01 Aug

St. Audeon's Church, 14 High Street, Dublin 8

"The 70th Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising" is an exhibition, organised by "Discover Poland" and the Polish Chaplaincy in Ireland, that tells the story of the Uprising and the roles of chaplains and churches involved.

The exhibition will open on 01 Aug at 19:00 and during the event Dr. Gabriel Doherty from UCC will talk about ''Warsaw Uprising in comparative context''. The exhibition will then be available from 02-04 August and again on 09+10 August in both periods from 12:00-20:00.

At the opening food from the era will be available, a souvenir shop will be on site and the film City of Ruins will be shown.

Admission is free to opening and exhibition.

See their website for details: discovering.poland

Bray Summerfest - Gigs

20:00 to 23:00 Friday 01 Aug

Seafront, Bray, Co. Wicklow

The following gigs will take place at the Bray Summerfest:

Friday 01 August

20:00-21:00 Jet Setter

21:30-23:00 The Harleys

All gigs are on the bandstand and admission is free. Check website for more info: braysummerfest.com

Digital revolution in Irish family history - Talk

13:00 Friday 01 Aug

National Library, Kildare Street, Dublin 2

"Genealogy at Lunchtime: The digital revolution in Irish family history" with Brian O'Donovan (Eneclann & FindMyPast) is a 20 min talk, followed by a Q&A.

Admission is free and no booking required.

"This August, the NLI is hosting Eneclann and Ancestor Network's programme of “Twentyx20” lunchtime talks unlocking the richness of Irish family history. Each talk is a short introduction to a key area, essential source or genealogy research method, followed by a Q&A session with the expert."

National Library of Ireland events

Classical Summer Music at Sandford (Dublin 6 every Friday freebie!)

13:10 Friday 01 Aug

Sandford Parish Church, Ranelagh, Dublin 6

Sandford Parish Church in Ranelagh is inviting to Classical Music Summer Concerts from every Friday from June to September.

The next concert is Tanya Sewell (mezzo-soprano) and Alsion Young (piano) - Irish songs and music by Purcell, Mozart, Ravel and others

Admission is free. musical events every Friday - check website for details here

Vital Signs Survey 2015

VitalSigns is a report card on the vitality of the nation. It grades 12 key issue areas that affect the quality of life of those who live, work, play and learn in Ireland. Take the survey online to voice your opinion or in person.

VitalSigns was first published in Europe by the Community Foundation for Ireland in 2013. Over 1,000 people in Ireland voiced their opinions and told us what was important to them.  YOU have the opportunity to have your voice heard and listened to. 

Complete the people's survey to pick which issues are most important to you in Ireland today. 

Vital Signs 2015 Survey

Don’t want to complete the survey online?

On the 4^th and 5^th of August the VitalSigns team will be surveying residents in the Rathmines and Pembroke area. Keep an eye out for them and make sure to have your voice heard.

Gateway Project selected for inclusion in Tesco Community Fund for good causes

Gateway Project has been selected for inclusion in Tesco's Community Fund to support local charities and good causes.

For the next six weeks Gateway Project will be in the running along with two other important community groups St Mary's Day Care for the Elderly and the Rathmines Women's Refuge to receive funds via the Tesco Community Fund for good causes.

The fund was just launched on Monday 17th July 2014 and has set aside a million euro towards the funding of local community groups and charities.  You can read more about it here Irish Examiner Tesco launch Community Fund.

The way the scheme will work is that each store nominates three local good causes worthy of financial support for customers to vote on (customers can nominate through an application form here).  Votes come in the form of tokens that are given out to customers at the check out when shopping.  Customers give their tokens to the charity or charities of their choice over a six week period.  At the end of the six weeks, the money is divided according to the votes of customers.  For smaller branches like Tesco in Rathmines (our branch), the total amount available is €500.  So at the start of September, depending on how customers vote over the coming six weeks, Gateway Project will receive a Community Fund cheque from our local supermarket.  

So please help to spread the word and make sure you ask for tokens to vote.  The voting stand is just behind the self service check outs and looks like this:  Happy Voting!

Personal Development FETAC 4 starting next month, find out more at our information sessions in July

We are getting very excited about the new assertiveness and confidence building course starting up in Gateway next month. As a way to help members work out if this course is for them, we have planned a some information sessions for interested people during drop in...

Information sessions will run during Gateway's drop in and will last from 30 minutes to an hour. There will be a short presentation and then a group discussion will follow so that everyone can ask questions and get answers before deciding on registering.  If you are stuck and can't get to one, just contact Fionn in the office to find out more.

New Course Information Sessions:

Monday 21^st  July & Thursday 24^th July from 1.30-2.30pm. Please confirm attendance with Fionn on 01-4965558 or email Fionn@rpcp.ie beforehand if you can.

Please be aware that for any people interested in participating in the programme, they will need to have attended at least one information session and a short relaxed interview with Fionn beforehand.  The interview will be very brief and more of a chat in person or over the phone as suits the person best. We also ask interested people to complete and return the Registration Sheet to Fionn as soon as they can (at the end of the information booklet). Forms can be given to a project worker during drop in or posted to us at Gateway Mental Health Project, C/O Rathmines Pembroke Community Partnership, 11 Wynnefield Rd, Rathmines Dublin 6 or your details and ideas can be emailed to us on fionn@rpcp.ie. Go for it!

Thanks for reading and hope everyone is having a great summer so far :) 

Fionn

Personal Development FETAC 4 Course Information 2014

Iarnród Éireann Offers Free Travel to Community & Voluntary Groups

Gateway members have been busy seeking out funding opportunities for the project in 2014.  Following on from our recent application to the Dublin Bus Community Spirit awards for a special group project we are working towards, members are also taking the opportunity to enlist some transport help from The Journey is On Us programme to organise a group trip later in the year.  

Here's the info for any other groups interested in applying:

Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail has launched the 2014 programme for The Journey’s on Us, an initiative to support organisations and groups in the voluntary, community, sporting and charity sector.

“The Journey’s On Us”,will provide 100 groups with a free group travel return journey for up to 50 people per group during 2014, meaning 5,000 free journeys are on offer across the company’s services. The travel facilities will be ideal in particular for organisations bringing a group to a special event, or as part of a specific support to the members of the group which requires travel.

Iarnród Éireann Chief Executive David Franks said “Voluntary organisations are the life blood of communities across the country. However, like everyone, their budgets have been cut. We know there are youth, sports, music, voluntary, charity and other groups in the community who would benefit greatly from being able to undertake initiatives which involve a travel cost, but have had to scale back. We in Iarnród Éireann, through The Journey’s On Us, want to do what we can to help such groups achieve their goals, and say thank you to the organisations which play such a vital role in the daily lives of communities. The initiative is now in its third year with the interest and amount of groups applying has grown significantly each year, which we are absolutely delighted with.”

The company has today invited all community, voluntary, sporting and charity groups to apply for the 100 group travel trips available. Entry forms are available at all Ianród Éireann stations or online at www.irishrail.ie/journeys. Entry forms can be filled out online, emailed to journeys@irishrail.ie or by post to Corporate Communications, Iarnród Éireann, Connolly Station, Dublin 1. The closing date for receipt of entries is Monday 14 July, at 16.30hrs.

Last year, over 750 groups applied for the scheme, and organisations ranging from Men’s Sheds to choirs, Special Olympics to Girl Guides, and groups representing youth and elderly, benefited from ‘The Journey’s on us’. Last year we offered for the first a special Prize for the winning group that submitted the most interesting and inspirational account of their day travelling with us. The winner of the prize was Special Hands Activity Group from Kelly, Co. Meath.

The initiative is being supported nationally by RTÉ Radio 1’s Mooney Show which will also feature successful groups throughout the year.

D12DMAP Drop in for July