Welcome yb live - Summer 2010

youngballymun is all about making real change happen for children and families - children’s wellbeing, growth and development is being addressed through transforming our supports and services to infants and toddlers, to school age children and their parents, through the teenage years and beyond.  

Our work is now established and visible and we have in place the connected proven services, at every vital stage, for children and their families across the community of Ballymun.  So many great people bring the work to life – all the parents and children and young people who participate and get involved, our public health nurses, our teachers, health, education, community and youth workers, the youngballymun team, all the practice experts and those in advisory roles who help us develop and deepen the work. 

We hope that yblive Summer 2010 captures some of the enthusiasm and energy across youngballymun for change for children, young people and families and for evidence-based proven practice across our health, education, and community services.

In this issue, we focus in on Literacivic and on Language and Communications supports across our programme of work – the innovative and creative ways we are building up resources to support language, literacy and learning. Our Literacy, Language and Learning Week (26th September to 1st October – see Programme of Events in the Highlights section of the newsletter) promotes the family, community, and school dimensions of the vital children’s vital journey in literacy, language and learning and how we can accompany and support them as they travel.  

In September we are launching our Literacivic Bursary Fund to support creative and innovative projects that promote communications, creativity, celebration and the rights of the child. Catherine Byrne, Chair of the Literacivic Working Group, brings us through the various stages of the work on establishing Literacivic.
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We are always working to connect our proven service models together, to make sure that every child and family has an opportunity to link in with our work at every vital stage of development. Three examples of creative approaches to language and communications are – our Story Sacks partnership with Ballymun Adult Read and Write, our work with parents and children in the Talking For Fun classroom workshops and a creative writing process which was part of our Women Telling Stories project organised in partnership with Ballymun Women’s Resource Centre and Ballymun Drop In Well Family Resource Centre. Lana Mc Carthy, Duana Quigley and Ann Brophy describe these different elements of language and communications.
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We give tell you more about our new community bases, see our new Programme of Events Autumn 2010, hear from the Early Years Conference in Donegal, find out about Mission Transition  and celebrate the graduation of Junior and Senior Infants from Dina School.
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The Last Word for Summer 2010 is given to Lillian O` Brien, from our Board. Lillian is a longtime resident of Ballymun and active on many community fronts. She shares her thoughts on Ballymun and youngballymun. 
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And finally ……

Connected proven services that target supports to infant and child development, parental and family relationships, and address vital matters such as language, literacy and mental health across a child’s life cycle are some of the keys to unlocking the potential of every child and young person. 

youngballymun is working actively with all our partners to ensure that every baby and child and family in Ballymun gets those services and supports. 

Eleanor McClorey, CE, youngballymun