Our Committee

Name: Martina Gallagher

Role: Community Development Officer

Address:
FÁS Community Services,
Church Avenue,
Mullingar,
Co Westmeath.

Phone: 044 9330015
Email: martina.gallagher@fas.ie
Website: http://www.fas.ie/en/default.htm

Profile: FÁS provides community based employment and training programmes to make learning accessible in local areas. Programmes are organised in conjunction with community, voluntary and public organisations. Over 30,000 people benefited in 2005 alone.

Community Employment (CE) and Job Initiative are employment programmes primarily aimed at the long-term unemployed and other disadvantaged groups. CE offers participants an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a temporary, fixed-term basis. In this way, local organisations help to develop their area by Sponsoring Programmes, typically in the areas of social services, healthcare, heritage, arts, culture, tourism, sport, environment and education.

The Local Training Initiative is another programme where community groups can set up a project aimed at providing training and community services locally. Training is delivered across a broad range of areas, for example childcare, horticulture, public health and genealogy. The aim of the programme is to provide flexible training opportunities to help people gain qualifications and progress to further training/education or into employment.

Other FÁS resources based in the community are Community Training Centres catering mainly for early school leavers, and Job Clubs offering practical advice and assistance in finding a job.

Other Committee Members