co-operative housing news · cloughjordan is an eco-village in tipperary, currently in the process...

Co-operative Housing News Summer 2018


Staff News

Co-operative Housing Ireland has welcomed a number of new members of staff in the last few months.

Jason Deegan has joined us in the new role of

Marketing Officer. The role of Marketing Officer is

intended to promote the activities of the organisation

and our members, and to support various staff

departments in their work. Conor Bernard has been

appointed as Project Manager. In addition, Charlie

Maples joins our team of Buildings Officers while

David Cunningham and Ann Marie McEvoy join

our Housing Officer team. We are also delighted to

announce the appointment of Tim Porter as our new

Head of New Business. Tim, who has vast experience

in the housing sector, having worked for the Irish

Approved Housing Body, Clúid, and, more recently,

Catalyst Housing Association in the UK, will join us

in August.

In addition, we are thrilled to have officially launched

our new Castleton Housing and Finance IT systems.

This comes after months of hard work from staff

across the country, and will result in a more efficient

and streamlined process, resulting in an improved

quality of service to our members.

Member News

In member news, we are delighted to welcome Ralahine Co-operative Society to the organisation.

Ralahine operates in the Mid-West region of the

country. The Society’s AGM was held in April, where a

large number of members in attendance elected their

Board. We look forward to continuing to support the

members of Ralahine in their work.

In Cork, the Munster Co-operative Society were

pleased to support a member in their efforts to

fundraise for a 3-day trip to Sweden for their son, in

order to participate in an international basketball

competition, playing against teams from Sweden,

German, Italy, Japan and Denmark.

Also in Munster, the Boiler Service & Carbon

Monoxide Installation is close to completion. It

is advised to contact the Munster office if your

boiler service is not complete. In addition, the Rent

Assessment process has been completed, with rent

changes to be introduced in July. Members should

make contact with the Munster office if the relevant

documentation has not been sent or received.

Co-operative Housing News Summer 2018 3

Member Gathering

Our first ever Member Gathering was held on May 26th in Airfield Estate in Dundrum, Dublin.

The event offered an opportunity for members to get

together and share their experiences in involving other

members in events and activities in their local

co-operatives. Lisa Kinsella-Colman from Dublin

South Co-operative Society gave us the low-down on

how best to organise local events and to encourage

engagement and enthusiasm. Charlie Bradley from

Dublin West Co-operative Society gave us an insight

into his work in running art workshops – even for those

of us without an artistic streak! Charlie hopes to roll

out workshops across Dublin. Details of upcoming

workshops will be widely circulated.

We were also joined by Kate Fine from ReCreate on the

day. ReCreate is a social enterprise making art materials

and educational supplies accessible and affordable to

every sector of the community, for all kinds of creative

purposes. Kate offered tips on how best to reuse

everyday materials for artistic purposes, promoting the

idea of waste reduction and community collaboration.

The day ended with a guided tour around Airfield

Estate, Ireland’s only urban organic farm. The estate

is run as a charitable organisation, established by the

Overend Family in 1974 for educational and recreational

purposes. We learned all about (and ate!) their organic

produce, as well as their mission to promote a culture of

sustainability and care for the environment.


Board Training

Our latest round of Board Training took place across four separate days in Dublin, covering modules in Governance & Strategy, Change & Communication, Policy and Finance.

The provision of training is something that is very

important to us in terms of ensuring that members feel

adequately equipped and comfortable in their role as

representatives of their communities. Thanks to the

Wheel for their development and delivery of the training

and congratulations to members who participated.

Further training rounds will be announced in due course.

Neighbours Day

Dublin West Co-operative Society’s Neighbours Day takes place on August 6th from 2-4 p.m. in Avondale Park. There promises to be plenty of fun, activities, music, a BBQ and maybe even some face-painting! All welcome.

AGM

Our AGM and Elections to the National Board will be held on Saturday, September 29th, in the Ashling Hotel, Dublin.

The Secretary of your Local Board will receive an

AGM pack with further details, and will be in touch

with members to confirm attendance, National Board

nominations and motions.


Communications

Our website has had a revamp!

We’ve added a splash of colour and have removed

some of the clutter. A member portal is also in the

pipeline. In addition, we’ve launched a brand-new

website for our Childcare Services, which offers details

on our facilities in Brookview in Tallaght, St. Finian’s in

Lucan and Island Key in Dublin 3. Check it out on

www.cooperativechildcare.ie

We’re also increasing our presence on social media.

Follow our Twitter account at @coophousingie

Childcare

Summer remains a busy time in our Co-operative Childcare services across Dublin.

St. Finian’s in Lucan held a Grandparent’s Day,

celebrating older people as part of their theme of the

week at the end of May. Following this, children from

the service visited a local nursing home, singing nursery

rhymes, exchanging handprints and enjoying some

refreshments with residents. Ensuring that our Childcare

services are fully embedded within their community is

essential to what we’re all about.

In Tallaght, our Brookview Childcare service held an

end-of-year party, celebrating the end of year for

children heading off to primary school in September.

Plenty of cake and fun was had by all!


Outreach

Our Policy and Communications Manager, Fiona Dunkin, attended a conference on ‘Livability and Affordability in the Digitized City’, and the AGM of Housing Europe in Tallinn, Estonia in May. The conference offered an insight into innovation in the housing sector across Europe and methods by which affordable housing might be extended to all. The AGM gave us the opportunity to network with other housing organisations across Europe and share best practice and ideas.

Also in May, alongside our partners in the Better

Europe Alliance, we presented our response to

the European Commission 2018 Country Specific

Recommendations for Ireland. The European

Commission, as part of the EU semester process,

provides an annual set of recommendations to Ireland

with respect to a range of economic and social issues,

including housing, employment, childcare, healthcare

etc. Our response to their report highlighted the

importance of Approved Housing Bodies, including

Co-operative Housing Ireland and others, in the

provision of housing in Ireland and the requirement

to ensure the sector is adequately financed and

supported, in order to continue to thrive and form part

of the solution to the current housing crisis.

We also spoke at ‘Housing Ourselves: A cooperative

approach to regenerating, redesigning and

reimagining housing’ on June 9th, organised by

member organisation Cloughjordan Community

Co-operative Society. Cloughjordan is an eco-village

in Tipperary, currently in the process of developing

co-operative housing. The conference gathered those

interested in the concepts of co-operative housing

and co-housing, as well as representatives from

organisations including O’Cualann Cohousing Alliance

and Community Finance Ireland.

In addition, we continue our provision of support to

individuals and groups looking to set up co-operatives

in their locality. Support provided includes advice on

registration, financing and access to land. This is an

important component of our work in representing

and promoting the co-operative housing movement

in Ireland and is one which we hope to build on.


Development News

Summer 2018 is shaping up to be an exciting time for our Development Team, with an important project in Dublin coming to fruition.

Orchard Meadows in Cherry Orchard, Dublin 10, a

72-unit development comprising 3-bedroom family

homes and a linear park, developed by Co-operative

Housing Ireland in partnership with Dublin City Council,

is close to completion. All homes boast an A3 BER

rating. Members will be welcomed to the development

this summer. A range of other units and developments

across the country are also in progress.

co-operative housing news · cloughjordan is an eco-village in tipperary, currently in the process...

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