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Posts Tagged ‘Tom O Brien’

SIPTU calls on FAS to withdraw directive on Community Employment grants

Sunday, January 1st, 2012

Date Released: 22 December 2011

SIPTU has sought a meeting with the Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, to discuss a Directive issued by FAS Community Services Unit in relation to its Materials and Training Budget for 2012. The Directive states that FAS will impose a proposed cut of 66% in materials and training grants for community employment schemes from January next.

This is despite recent commitments given to SIPTU President, Jack O’Connor by the Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore, and Joan Burton that a review of CE schemes to establish their viability will be carried out before any further developments as the result of cuts announced in the December Budget.

SIPTU Sector Organiser, Eddie Mullins, said that FAS must be completely unaware of the commitments given to Jack O’Connor by the two ministers.

In separate letters to Jack O’Connor earlier this month, the Labour Party ministers stated that “community employment schemes provide a very important and valued contribution to social employment training and progression for unemployed people.” They said that no CE scheme will closed pending a review of their viability.

“The purpose of the review will be to establish the on-going viability of each scheme in the context of the overall objectives of the CE programme and recognising in particular the community and social value of each scheme,” the ministers wrote.

“In the event that the reduction in the training and material grant announced in the Budget creates financial difficulties for schemes that would otherwise be viable, the Department of Social Protection will be in a position to fund such schemes from the overall Departmental Budget,” they wrote.

Eddie Mullins said; “In the context of these commitments the officials within the FAS Community Services Unit should immediately withdraw the Directive and allow the review to take place as promised.”

http://www.siptu.ie/media/pressreleases2011/othernews/fullstory,15298,en.html

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Burton creates total confusion over cuts to CE schemes – Cowen

Friday, December 16th, 2011

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Social Protection Barry Cowen has called for urgent clarification from the Taoiseach and the Minister for Social Protection as to whether or not a review is taking place on massive cuts to grants for Community Employment schemes. Minister Joan Burton created further confusion in the Dáil last night by attempting to hide behind “reviews” of the cuts she proposed to CE schemes in Budget 2012, despite the fact that yesterday the Taoiseach told the Dáil that any reviews cannot result in a reversal of the 66% cuts to grants for Community Employment schemes. Deputy Cowen said: “Fine Gael and Labour appear to be at odds over the cuts to Community Employment schemes announced in the Budget. The conflicting reports from the Government are causing great distress to those involved in community employment projects around the country. “I again questioned Minister Burton in the Dáil about what these cutbacks will mean for individual CE projects nationwide. Once again she failed to provide a clear response. She said the cuts will not result in any CE schemes shutting down, but she didn’t deny that each of them would be hit with massive cuts of 66% to the grants provided by the State. “Minister Burton has offered no solace to people around the country who are deeply worried about the impact of these cuts. There is real fear among community groups, the long-term unemployed and employers involved in CE schemes about what these cuts will mean to them. It is incumbent on the Minister to clear this up once and for all.”

ENDS

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Email from Sankalpa to Minister Gilmore TD

Friday, December 9th, 2011

Dear Minister Gilmore,
Thank you for your reply.  There are a number of issues and questions I would like to address in this email.
1.  Are you telling me that the training and materials budget of community employment schemes will now not be reduced by 66%?
2. If the Labour Party really believes that Community Employment Schemes carry out an important role within our communities supporting the social fabric, why then would you support measures to undermine these services by reducing their budgets and forcing many of them to close down?
3. If the Labour Party want value for money from CE scheme, why take such a unfair measure of cutting every CE project by the same arbitrary figure of 66%?  If you want value for money you will first have to carry out an assessment or evaluation and do this in partnership with the community and voluntary sector.  I want value for money and I want better outcomes.  I don’t believe your begin honest, fair or just in this budgetary measure.
4.  You refer to the Minister Joan Burton seeking value for money, good outcomes, progression and experience for participants.  Well I manage Sankalpa (www.sankalpa.ie) and for the last 4 years since starting to work in the service that is what I have been committed to doing.  Sankalpa comes under the special CE schemes for drug users seeking support with their recovery, rehabilitation and progression towards life long learning and future employment.  The biggest obstacle we face in trying to progress our participants is the overly medicalized treatment they receive for their addiction.  They have been overly medicalized on methadone, zimovaine, valium, anti-depressants and other medications.  By the time they reach our service, they have been brain washed by psychiatry and medicine – policies supported by Government.  It can take up to 3 years to bring someone through the Sankalpa program from being highly medicated to becoming drug free, dealing with the underlying causes of their addiction and embracing education, social change, housing and re-integration into family systems and local communities.  During those two to three years, on a small budget we work hard to maximize the value of every euro spend and every hour of the day and day of the week.  We face intimidation on a regular basis and work in highly stressed environments and communities.  I work 60 hours a week to make Sankalpa an effective service with better outcomes.  So before you judge the work of these services and make unfair cuts, please find out the facts and involve us in the process of evaluation, analysis and redevelopment.  Please do not leave this to senior officials from FAS or the department of Social Protection.  Respect the communities who voted for Roisin Shortall TD and John Lyons TD (Dublin North West).
5. As for asking your FAS regional directors “to analyze the capacity of sponsoring organizations to absorb their budget reductions”. Minister Gilmore you are simply endorsing the culture of ‘the shadow employer’ where by FAS are micro managing CE services in community and voluntary services and ignoring the rights of the employers.  FAS officials and no doubt when they become officials of the department of social protection, do not have a commitment to partnership or collaboration in my experience.  It seems unfair that you are suggesting such a strategy, one that further disempowers communities and local organizations.  I really don’t understand where your are coming from giving that you are a Labour (I assume socialist) TD?
6. Finally, I was in the Public Gallery today during the so called debate on the social welfare budget today, with two participants on Community Employment in Sankalpa.  Both of whom have been homeless, heroin dependent users, and now both are drug free, detoxed off their methadone, both doing a progression course linked to Cabra VEC called the ‘explore program’.  One of them lost his brother to addiction this year, and yet David still remains drug free and committed to his recovery.  Both of these men are fathers and are trying to do their best by their Children.  Both of them were shocked at the pantomime that passes for a debate on a bill that will affect the most vulnerable in our society.  Only Dessie Ellis TD, Mary Lou McDonald TD and Richard Boyd Barrett TD took the time to speak to us and acknowledge our presence.
Minister Gilmore I believe that you want to respect the needs and rights of all our citizens equally.  Please have the courage to be transparent and honest and state clearly that this government is not going to cut the funding to community employment services.
Please ensure a fair and transparent review of community employment takes place and that this review will be done in partnership with the community and voluntary sector, the communities in which they are based and the participants who use these services.
Kind Regards
Dr. Tom O Brien

Manager
Sankalpa Finglas – Cabra

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Action Signals – Use Negative Emotions as a Call to Action

Sunday, August 7th, 2011

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — Albert Einstein

You can use how you feel to make your life better.  While negative emotions may be painful, they may also be our best friend.   We can use them to change the quality of our life immediately.

I was listening to Tony Robbins talk about how we could master our emotions.   He said that the key to mastering emotions is to use them as a call to action.   Every emotion has a message for you.  Appreciate the message.  Negative emotions are a signal that change is needed.  You can either change your perception or change your approach.

Change Your Perception or Change Your Procedure
What if you knew that no matter what negative emotion you felt, in a moment or two you could  get out of that feeling?   According to Tony, you can.  At any moment when you feel any negative emotion, the first step is to identify the Action Signal.  The Action Signal is the message that the particular negative emotion means.   The next step, after you clarified the Action Signal, is to take action by either changing your perception or changing your procedure.  You change your perception by changing how you look at it or what you focus on.  You change your procedure by changing your approach or how you are responding in the situation.

10 Types of Emotions
According to Tony, here are the 10 broad categories of emotions to use for this exercise:

  1. Uncomfortable – Impatient, uneasy, distressed, mildly embarrassed.
  2. Fear – Concern, apprehension, scared, terrified.
  3. Hurt -  Sense of loss.
  4. Anger – mildly irritated, resentful, livid, rage.
  5. Frustration – held back or hindered in the pursuit of something.
  6. Disappointment – sad, defeated.
  7. Guilt – emotions or regret.
  8. Inadequacy – less than or unworthy.
  9. Overloaded – overwhelmed, hopeless, or depressed.
  10. Loneliness – apart or separate from.

This is the set of negative emotions that we’ll turn into Action Signals.  Instead of getting controlled by these emotions, we’ll use them as signals to take action.  That action is to either change our perception or change our behavior.

Action Signals
According to Tony, here are what the 10 Action Signals mean:

  1. Uncomfortable -  When you feel uncomfortable, this is a signal to change your state.  Clarify what you want, then take action in that direction.
  2. Fear – Fear is a signal to prepare ourselves or get prepared.  Get yourself prepared to deal with something that’s about to come.  If it’s beyond your control, then change your perception and let it go.
  3. Hurt -   Hurt is a signal that you have an expectation that’s not being met or you have a sense of loss.   Evaluate whether there really is a loss.   Next, change your perception or change your way of communicating your needs or change your behavior.
  4. Anger -  This is a signal that an important rule that you have in your life has been violated by somebody else or maybe even you.  Clarify your rules or adjust them.  Your rules might not match other people’s rules so if you don’t change them, you might be angry the rest of your life.
  5. Frustration -  The signal is you’re doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result.  You need to change your approach to achieving your goal.
  6. Disappointment – This is a signal that you need to realize that an expectation or an outcome you had won’t happen, and you need to change your expectation.  For example, maybe your timeframe was too short.
  7. Guilt – Guilt is a signal that you violated one of your own standards.  Don’t stay in guilt, but don’t deny it.  Make things right when you screw up. When you can’t change the past, change your present and future behaviors.  Recognize when you’re feeling guilty when you shouldn’t be, change your perception, and let it go.
  8. Inadequacy – This is a signal that you need to do something to get better.  Get up and do something to get better or change your criteria.  Maybe your rules are too harsh.  You don’t have to be perfect – you simply need to start taking action, such as go practice, to improve at whatever it is.
  9. Overloaded –  This is a signal to reevaluate what is most important to you in this situation.  Distinguish between what is a necessity versus. what is a desire.  Prioritize your list.  Take the first one on your list and do something about it.  Do something to take control of events instead of let them control you.  The simplest way is to chunk it down, take one thing, and act on it.
  10. Loneliness -  The signal is we need a connection with people.  Clarify what kind of connection you need: basic friendship, somebody to laugh with, somebody to listen to you, etc.  Then change your approach or change your perception.

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Sankalpa begins it fundraising campaign in Ballymun!

Monday, February 28th, 2011

Sankalpa got its fundraising campaign off to a successful start at the weekend in Ballymun.  While the last of the votes were being counted in the General Election, some members of the Sankalpa fundraising team organized a collection outside some of Ballymun’s catholic churches.  The people of Ballymun were very supportive and generous at a time when every euros counts.  The team raised 242 euros!  We really appreciate the support of the people from Ballymun.  Our next fundraising event will be our bag pack organized by our fundraising co-ordinator Joeann Byrne.  We are still looking for volunteers, so if your interested please contact us at hello@sankalpa.ie

Below is a list of fundraising activities complements of Enable Ireland (www.enableireland.ie).

A-Z Fundraising Ideas

A

Absailing
Aerobathon (sponsored per minute or charge those taking part)
Antique Fairs
Art Exhibitions
Astrology Evenings
Athletic meetings
Auctions

B

Baby-sitting
Bad Hair Day
Bad Tie day
Bag Packing
Bake sale
Baked beans bath
Balloon race
Barbeque
Barn Dance
Bazaar
BBQ
Beard Shaving
Bed push
Bike tours
Bingo
Blind Date
Bob a job
Book and Jumble Sale
Book sale
Breakfast event
Bridge drive
Bring and buy sale
Bungee Jumping

C

Cake sale
Car boot sale
Car cleaning
Car rally
Car Wash (suitable for all ages)
Carol Singing
Casino night
Casual day at work/school
Children’s sports day
Christmas Day Swim
Church Collection
Churchgate Collection
Cinema charity screening
Coffee mornings
Coin chain
Coin collections
Coins (fill a smartie tube/jar with coins)
Comedy Night - www.laughterlounge.ie
Concert

D

Dance
Dance-a-thon
Darts Tournament
Dinner Dance / Party
Disco
Do door-to-door collections – we can supply you with all you need!
Dog show
Dog Walking
Donations in lieu of presents
Donkey Derby
Drama
Dress down day at work
Duck race

E

Easter bonnet competition
Easter egg hunt
Egg & Spoon Race
Exercise Bike Marathon (complete ‘shifts’ over a set period)
Exhibitions
Expeditions

F

Face Painting
Fancy dress ball / competition
Fashion show
Festivals
Film show
Firm wide raffles, auctions and collections
Fishing Competition
Five-a-Side
Flower show
Football Match
Football tournament
Fortune telling
Fun run

G

Gala evening
Garden party
Gigs
Girls V Boys Day / Event
Give up something for Lent and get it sponsored!
Golf classic
Golf Day (invite local firms to organise teams)
Golf tournament
Good as new sale
Gourmet Raffle
Greyhound meeting
Guess the amount of sweets in a jar
Guess the Height / Weight / Amount…
Gymkhana

H

Halloween fancy dress party
Halloween party
Head and beard shaving
Head Shave
Hill Walking / Running
Hopscotch
Horse Race
Horticultural Exhibition (charge and admission or sell plants)
Human Chain

I

Individual Gifts
Indoor Games Night (board games, skittles, cards)
Inter-departmental quiz in your workplace
Irish Coffee Morning

J

Jamboree
James Bond event
Jelly Eating Challenge
Jigsaw Puzzle Challenge
Joke Competition
Juggling Challenge
Jumble sale

K

Karaoke Evening (ask a local pub to host a karaoke night for you and charge entry)
Karate Event
Kite Flying
Knit In
Knitting Challenge
Knitting Sprint (knit for an hour – provide regulation wool and needles!)
Knobbly Knees Challenge
Kris Kindle

L

Lawn mowing
Leg Waxing (good for the men!)
Line Dancing
Litter Collection (sponsored per item/black sack)
Little Italy party
Local Pub Quiz
Lottery
Lunch runs at the office
Luncheons
Lunch-time event

M

Magic Show
Marathon (get fit and run a marathon, get people to sponsor/guess your time!)
Marathons / Mini Marathon
Masque Ball
Matched giving from companies for employee fundraising
Mountain climbing
Mums Run (ask your local school to help)
Murder mystery evening
Music recital
Musical Chairs

N

New Year’s Eve party
Night In (stay in on Saturday night with your friends and donate the money you save)
No Smoking Day
No Smoking/No Chocolate Day (give up your vices for charity)
No uniform day

O

Obstacle Course
Odd One Out
Oiche Gaelach
Old Time Dance (sponsored per dance)
Open Gardens – garden parties around your neighbourhood

P

Pancake breakfast
Panto
Parachute Jumps
Payroll deduction
Penalty Shoot-out
Pet show
Pie Eating Competition
Pillow Fight
Pizza party
Plant sales
Poetry Competition
Pool Competition
Pram Race (babies not included!)

Q

Quiz Night (general knowledge table quiz or themed quiz e.g. music/tv)

R

Race Night (horse/greyhound racing)
Radio Controlled Car Race
Raffle
Rag weeks
Read-a-thon
Role Reversal Day

S

Scrabble Tournaments (pay to play or sponsor points)
Shave- a- Thon
Shoe Shining
Sleep-out
Sponsored Bag-Pack
Sponsored bike ride for young and old
Sponsored Cycle / Walk / Run / Slim / Silence / ANYTHING!
Sponsored Dart Match
Sponsored Dog Walk
Sponsored Events, e.g. slimming
Sponsored silence
Sports day
Spot the baby photo competition
Street Collections (Don’t forget – you will need a Garda permit)
Street party
Supermarket Bag Packing
Swear box
Sweepstakes
Swimathon
Swimming gala

T

Talent competition
Talks and demonstrations – e.g. book readings, cookery demonstrations
Tea party
Teddy bear’s picnic for children
Tennis tournament
Theatre Premiere or Gala Evening
Theme evening
Themed event based on particular countries/cultures
Three-legged Race
Tombola
Treasure Hunt (sponsored/ask local firms to donate prizes)
Treks
Tug-o-war

U

Unwanted Christmas presents sale
Unwanted Gifts Sale
Used Book Sale (bestsellers at bargain prices)

V

Valentine’s Day event
Valet Services
Variety Show (sketches, song, dance, readings)
Vegetable sale
Veteran car rally

W

Walks
Weigh-a-thons
Welly-Throwing Contest (sell your tickets or ask for donations at the end)
Who wants to be a millionaire
Window cleaning
Wine & cheese party
Wine and chocolate night
Wine tasting
World record beating attempt

X

Xmas Pantomime
Xylophone Concert (?!!)

Y

Yacht Race
Yard Cleaning
Yodelling Competition
Yoga Demonstration
Your own thing!

Z

Zany Ideas
Zodiac Readings
Zzzzz – a sponsored sleep in or even stay-awake!

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Posted in Sankalpa News | 2 Comments »

Sankalpa supports Citywide Campaign

Friday, February 4th, 2011

Today Sankalpa travelled from Finglas to Dáil Éireann to support the Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign to make the drugs crisis an election issue.  The event was was well attended by community groups and services who work with drug users.  Drug rehabilitation and recovery reduces crime and saves lives.  Drug prevention programs offer hope of better lives to young people.  According to Dr. Tom O Brien, Manager of Sankalpa, ‘the problem in Finglas is huge.  The drug problem is fueling gang and gun culture.  If governments cut services further, it will send a message to young people in Finglas that there is no hope.  We need a government that will treat all of its citizens equally and that means prioritizing young people from Finglas and Cabra, in the same way we prioritize young people from Blackrock and Foxrock’.

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Posted in Addiction news, Sankalpa News | 2 Comments »

Interview with Tom on the making of ‘The Pharm’

Wednesday, November 24th, 2010

The manager of Sankalpa Dr. Tom O Brien talks openly about the making of ‘The Pharm’ and the value of film making as a model of adult learning and personal development.  Currently Sankalpa is making two new films, one looking at elderly abuse and another exploring long term methadone maintenance.

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Sankalpa gets creative in the battle against addiction

Monday, September 6th, 2010

In a recent survey of its clients, Sankalpa, a rehabilitation program for heroin addicts from the Finglas and Cabra communities, found that on average, clients had reduced their methadone by as much as 45 per cent over a 12 month period.

Dr. Tom O Brien, Manager of Sankalpa, believes that the figures demonstrate a real and positive impact for those attending the program. “When clients start to reduce their methadone they begin to feel better about themselves and start to deal with the underlying causes of their addiction,” Dr. O’Brien said. “Of the current group of clients attending the program the average methadone dose when they started was 73mls – this has reduced to 40mls after an average of 15 months on the program. Once clients reduce their methadone to below 50mls they begin to believe they can go further and this has a positive effect on their motivation and commitment to all aspects of our program.” 

While Dr. O’Brien welcomed the new statistics, he warned that reducing methadone in a sustainable way can only really work if a client is ready to engage in a process of personal change supported by counselling and an educational program that supports both cognitive and emotional development in a creative and rewarding way. “Clients need to develop psychologically and emotionally if they are to sustain reductions in their methadone,” he said. “Creativity is central to Sankalpa’s ability to attract and retain clients long enough to make the required changes. In that respect, Sankalpa is unique in that we offer some of our client’s art therapy as a way of addressing the deeper roots of addiction. Art can get around people’s psychological defences, which are often verbal in nature, and can help people to identify and address the issues that are causing difficulty for them.”

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Posted in Addiction, The Sankalpa program | 1 Comment »