OVER 100 parents and children from Ballymun have sent a special Valentine’s message to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, asking him not to break their hearts by ending a hugely successful local strategy.
Significant uncertainty is hanging over the youngballymun strategy after it was told recently to prepare for closure by the Department of Youth Affairs.
Described as a groundbreaking model of prevention and early intervention, youngballymun is a partnership of 30 local service providers, working collectively to tackle poverty and improve literacy in the area.
Established in 2007 as a 10-year strategy and co-funded by Atlantic Philanthropies, youngballymun is credited with helping to narrow the literacy gap between local pupils and national norms and reducing conduct problems and hyperactivity in children by over 50 per cent.
Last week parents attending the youngballymun Breakfast Buddies literacy and language workshop told how the service was working for them.
“The way I communicate with my daughter is really different after taking part in the group,” said one.
“Now I give her much more space to talk and let her speak about things that she really wants to rather than bombarding her with questions. I find she really opens up to me now and tells me everything.”
Another parent explained how youngballymun had helped her child.
“Before youngballymun, with my older child I never read to him. Then I did the programmes and that made me start reading to the younger one. She absolutely loves it. She has the reading ability of a 13-year-old and she’s only nine. She has a brilliant imagination.”
These, and dozens of other endorsements from parents, are being sent to Youth Affairs Minister, James Reilly, and a series of events and meetings are being organised over the coming weeks to try and prevent youngballymun’s closure.
Fianna Fáil leader on Dublin City Council, Cllr Paul McAuliffe, said he was baffled by the request that youngballymun be wound down and closed.
“It defies logic to establish a model which has been internationally validated, to roll it out to other parts of the country and then to shut down one of the organisations that pioneered it,” he said.
“This project has been a real example of new thinking in evidence-based policy where agencies work together to deliver results for a community.
“I was delighted when last year these programmes were expanded to areas like Finglas and elsewhere, so I am totally shocked by this.”
Cllr Noeleen Reilly (SF) said youngballymun must be saved and described it as crucial to the early development of children in the area.
“This is a huge mistake and will have serious consequences for young families in the area,” she said.
“Whoever the new Minister for Children and Youth affairs is, they need to reinstate this funding immediately and I will be doing everything in my power to ensure that this is an election issue in Ballymun.”