Cara News

Cara elects new Chair

At our Board meeting on 13 September 2007 we were sad to see Seamus McAdden step down as Chair, having served the maximum 6 years in that role. The Board extended a warm thank you to Seamus for all his hard work and commitment to the association, and we are delighted that Seamus will be around to continue to offer his advice and support. We are also delighted that Danny Lynch has agreed to take on the role of Chair. Danny brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role, from both his work as Deputy Development Director for Dominion Housing Group and having served on Cara's board since 2001.

Cara success with Dion grant

Cara is one of a number of organisations to benefit from grants awarded to organisations working with the Irish community.

Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern TD, has announced grants of £6.67 million to 130 organisations in the voluntary sector that work with the Irish community in Britain. The particular focus of the funding is to support the services that help the most vulnerable members of the Irish community.

The bulk of the funding (79%) will go to welfare projects, including significant funding for projects providing services for the elderly Irish, and also to support the provision of mental health services for those vulnerable members of the Irish community.

In announcing the grant allocations, Minister Ahern expressed the particular priority which he attaches to supporting projects that benefit older Irish people:

"Assisting the older members of our community in Britain is a clear priority. Many of the organisations receiving funding this year cater for the elderly, ranging from informal community networking groups for senior citizens to professional organisations that offer a range of services."

Cara will receive £85,244 towards the following projects and services:

supporting gypsies and travellers in North London
its lunch club for older Irish people
a 'Green Surfers' IT club for older people

Cara Construction Course

In order to get working on site you need a construction skills certificate scheme card (CSCS). For the past few weeks Cara ran a scheme in conjunction with Learning & Skills Solutions. Candidates were able to work towards their CSCS card and associated literacy and numeracy qualification for free. One candidate who successfully completed the course has now been referred on for forklift training.

This course has now finished but if you would like a referral onto the training centre nearest to you, please contact the Social Inclusion Officer on 020 8800 2744.

Cara continues to invest in staff development

GTAC - Growing Talent at Cara

Cara is committed to developing staff and has embarked on an 18 month management development training programme called 'GTAC' with all its managers.

Working in partnership with InterChange Training, the programme covers all key areas of management:

Leadership
Personal effectiveness
Team effectiveness
Performance management
Effective communication
Conflict management
Financial management
Project management
Negotiation skills
Voice coaching
Presentation skills
Coaching and giving feedback
Innovation and creativity
Recruitment and selection

The programme is being supported by peer support and regular action learning sets.

If you would like to discuss this programme, or for more details, please contact Patrick Walsh, HR & Learning Manager on 020 8809 8413.