Galway City Community Network
The Public Participation Network in Galway City

Age Action has launched a COVID-19 Hardship Fund in conjunction with the Irish Red Cross to respond to the immediate needs of older people in vulnerable situations across Ireland experiencing additional hardship as a result of the COVID-19 health crisis. Read more here.
For applications and further details go on the Irish Red Cross website here.

Funding to Tackle Illegal Dumping

The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Richard Bruton announced on Wednesday the 22nd of April that €1m of funds from the Anti Dumping Initiative will be ring-fenced to support efforts to tackle a reported increase in illegal Dumping during the current COVID-19 crisis. Read more here.

€10 Million ICT Funding for Schools

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Local Enterprise Business Continuity Vouchers

The new Business Continuity Voucher, now open for applications. is available through Local Enterprise Offices and is designed for businesses across every sector that employ up to 50 people. The voucher is worth up to €2,500 in third party consultancy costs and can be used by companies and sole traders to develop short-term and long-term strategies to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. For more info or to make an applications click here.

Stability Programme Update 2020

The HSE have 16 Community Assessment Hubs now up and running around the country, with more opening shortly. If you have or are suspected of having COVID-19, your GP will refer you to a hub for a face to face appointment with a GP.
Read more here.

An Garda Siochana have released a video showcasing important support information for the Deaf Community. One thing they are making people aware of is that the Emergency Call Answering Service ECAS provides an emergency text messaging service for registered users. Before you can use the 112 SMS service, you will need to register your mobile phone on www.112.ie.
See more info here.

Rape Crisis Helpline

The Rape Crisis Network of Ireland is working closely with Rape Crisis Centres around Ireland to provide regularly updated details on supports available to sexual violence survivors during this difficult period. Information can be found here.

• Galway Rape Crisis Centre Helpline: 1800 35 53 55
• National Rape Crisis 24-Hour Freephone: 1800 77 88 88

One Parent Family Payment

New Transport Regulations
Road Safety Authority

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross, has announced the details of the legislative steps he has taken in support of the necessary closure of a range of Road Safety Authority services as result of the ongoing COVID 19 situation. Read more here.

 

To support healthcare workers Bank of Ireland have a dedicated phone line 1800 946 146 for all healthcare workers' banking needs, it is open from 9.30am to 4.30pm, Mon-Fri. Alternatively, healthcare workers can request a call outside normal banking hours by emailing healthcareStaffQueries@boi.com

Check out this video explaining some other changes they have made to services during COVID-19.

An Post Newspaper Delivery Service

The An Post newspaper delivery service in urban and rural areas is now available. You can subscribe to your newspaper of choice and An Post will deliver the newspaper. For older people the delivery of the newspaper will be free. They will deliver the paper daily – except for weekend papers which will be delivered on Mondays. Click here to find out which newspapers are available and how to sign up.

Social Housing applicants and applicants for the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan should note that in light of the Covid-19 emergency, a temporary alternate arrangement has been put in place. Read more here.

 Safety and Protection for a Vulnerable Adults

If you have a safety or protection concern for a vulnerable adult or you feel you yourself are at risk of abuse you can contact the Galway based HSE Safeguarding service at Safeguarding.cho2@hse.ie and on 091-748432.
You can also contact Safeguarding Ireland on 061 461 358 or at info@safehuardingireland.org. See more here.

Seniors Alert Scheme Befriending Service

A new befriending phone-call initiative will support participants of the Seniors Alert Scheme. The initiative will allow older people to receive a regular phone call to check on their wellbeing and needs during the current COVID-19 emergency. The befriending scheme will be operated in conjunction with POBAL and ALONE.
If you are not a participant in the Seniors Alert Scheme you can avail of the befriending service by contacting ALONE directly on 0818 222 024.
See further details here.

Social isolation due to COVID- 19 makes it harder for authorities to identify child abuse cases. That is why it is important for essential workers with potential access to family homes to be able to recognise signs of abuse and know where to report their concerns. Download the Tusla guide here.

An information leaflet has been developed to support people living with a long-term health condition. The leaflet can be downloaded here.

To promote daily physical activity at home among older adults who are currently cocooning due to COVID-19, Healthy Galway City and Healthy County Galway, in partnership with Galway Sports Partnership have adapted an Exercise Leaflet developed by HSE Physio Services in Cork, for use in Galway. Hard copies of the leaflet are available for distribution across Galway City. If you work with older people or have any suggestions in relation to distributing the leaflets within communities, please contact healthygalway@gcp.ie.
The leaflet can be downloaded here.

Resources and Support for Women

In response to the Covid-19 Pandemic, The National Women’s Council of Ireland have created a list of resources and supports in relation to the needs of women during this time. This information can be found here.

NALA Plain English Guide to COVID-19 and Further Sevices

The National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) have developed a plain English guide to COVID19 words for anyone who has literacy difficulties and needs help understanding health terms.
The full list is available here. 
NALA are also providing a free distance learning service to help people who struggle with reading and writing in this difficult time. Free online courses and phone tuition are available by Freephone 1800 20 20 65 or by Texting LEARN to 50050 or by visiting the NALA website.

Opportunities to
Learn More about Managing Volunteers

Whether your organisation is open or not during COVID-19, Volunteer Ireland are developing many resources to help you learn more about volunteer management right now or to help be ready for when you group gets up and running again. Find the upcoming webinars here.

Information and Support for Young People,
Parents and Guardians

It can be hard to feel positive during this time of self isolation, lockdown and cocooning, especially when the future seems uncertain. That's why it's important to focus on the things we can control rather than those we can't. 

The International Coaching Federation (ICF), Ireland, is running a series of free webinars each Wednesday lunchtime to help us to do just that. You can attend in listen mode only or ask questions if you prefer.
See more here.

GRETB Community Education

The Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board GRETB have created a the GRETB Community Education YouTube channel. To watch video tutorials including art, fitness, wellbeing, cookery, upcycling and much more go here.

Young Social Innovators (YSI) calls for young people across Ireland to put forward solutions on how to respond to the challenges of coronavirus in their communities.
To sign up for this initiative, go here.
See further details here.

Disruption to Work During the COVID-19 Crisis Research
Survey

University College Cork has approved a social research project by Dr Joe Whelan, Dr Fiona Dukelow and Dr Tom Boland.  They are interested in understanding people’s experiences of work disruption, how they react and what they think of the current health crisis.

This survey is for people who have become unemployed or whose work has been disrupted by being put on hold or on reduced hours since the COVID-19 crisis in the Republic of Ireland.

In particular they are interested in:

The survey can be accessed here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScTuKJjCcfJI7aG7gMZEma4ZdqRsLkBnvmL48wTFgLy1TiF2A/formResponse
For further information please contact the researchers at: workandwelfare@ucc.ie
Please feel free to circulate this where appropriate