Barnardos leads call for extra resources to tackle disadvantage in Youghal
Barnardos has called for urgent resources to tackle disadvantage in Youghal, highlighting a higher than average number of single-parent families, a large section of the population deemed as disadvantaged, and big numbers of children who have fallen behind in educational and social development. Picture: Karen Dempsey Photography.
Barnardos has called for urgent resources to tackle disadvantage in Youghal, highlighting a higher than average number of single-parent families, a large section of the population deemed as disadvantaged, and big numbers of children who have fallen behind in educational and social development.
The call for action is coming from a recently formed group in the town, which is spearheaded by the children's charity Barnardos.
The group, Youghal Family Resource Initiative, which represents a diverse range of interests in the town, is hoping to develop a proper family resource centre to address the issues.
Currently, it has a part-time coordinator, Shirley Smyth, who is running an after-school project three days a week for 24 children in two Portacabins which have been provided to her by Cork ETB. She also runs parenting programmes out of an apartment in the town's Catherine Street.
Ms Smyth admits she's only able to scrape the surface at present, because there's a waiting list for the after-school project and if she had the space she would be dealing with up to 80 children.
“35% of families in the Youghal urban area are headed by a lone parent. The majority are lone mothers. This is 10% above the national average,” Ms Smyth said.
Over 3,000 people in the town can be considered “disadvantaged” or “very disadvantaged” and 500 children do not have access to childcare due to capacity issues in registered childcare services in Youghal.
The town has higher than average unemployment, especially outside the peak tourist season when there are fewer jobs on offer.
Ms Smyth is particularly concerned about how negatively many local children have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.
“They have missed out big time. Homeschooling simply didn't work in many cases and they are struggling with being back in school. They've lost out on the development of social skills; hobbies and interests stopped during lockdown,” she said.
She said while they have “a lot of catching-up to do”, children are quick to bounce back when they are given the proper supports and resources.
“We need to help children with emotional language and how to express and manage their feelings. This is one of our key goals to do this and to support parents to help them,” she said.
Ms Smyth would like to run a breakfast club for the children but doesn't have anywhere big enough for it.
“I'm borrowing space wherever I can get it to meet the needs,” she said.
The Barnardos-led group believes the formation of a proper resource centre for the town has to be a priority.
“Barnardos is calling for more supports for parents and children in Youghal, to turn this around and ensure better outcomes for them [in terms of education and employment prospects.]
"We have some funding from Tusla. We hope to come under the umbrella of the National Family Resource Centre Network. We want to get funding from wherever we can get it. The need for this has never been so urgent, especially with the pandemic impacts,” Ms Smyth said.
She made a presentation on the situation in Youghal to members of the East Cork municipal district council.
Her primary aim was to raise awareness, as well as getting support to have the creation of a proper family resource centre enshrined in the new County Development Plan.
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