11 THOUSAND GALWAY RESIDENTS SEEK HELP FROM FAMILY RESOURCE CENTRES

Date Published: 11-Jul-2012

Over 11 thousand Galway residents have sought help from Family Resource Centres across the city and county.

The figures compiled for 2011 are broken into constituency and show that 9 thousand 200 people sought help in Galway East while 2 thousand 500 looked for assistance in Galway West.

The study also shows that a further 2 thousand 800 were referred on to other service providers.

A trend has been noted of an increased demand for access to information on upskilling with 416 Galway residents going on to take up education courses and a further 226 availing of work training placements.

The group also operates and in-house counselling service which has seen an uptake of 124 people in Galway centres last year.

The Galway Family Resource Centres are assisted with a team of 28 volunteers, as well as core staff.

Annie Rosario is the Co-Ordinator of Gort Family and Community Resource Centre.

She says future cutbacks could severely impact on the centre's ability to deliver key services such as counselling.

Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald launched the report findings today [Jul 11] and says inter-agency co-operation will assist in the delivery of key services.