FRCs forum hears of value to communities

Thomas Lyons

It’s one of the most important community groups in the country, blending volunteers and professionals, but the work of Family Resource Centres (FRCs) is often overlooked.

FRCs in Ireland act as community hubs providing early intervention, family support, and social development programs.

The website of the Family Resource Centre National Forum speaks of ‘collective action, community empowerment, social justice, sustainable development, human rights, and participation’.

The real value of what the collectives do can sometimes be lost in jargon. They are heavily volunteer driven and community led, but they usually operate as a hybrid model.

Volunteers form the backbone of daily operations. They help run the youth clubs, facilitate support groups, teach classes, and organise community events.

While volunteers are vital, centres also employ paid staff, for example family support workers and coordinators, to ensure professional services and continuity.

Funded primarily by the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, they deliver services like counselling, childcare, parent training, and social prescribing to disadvantaged areas.

Most families don’t need to avail of FRC services, but they are a lifeline for those who engage with the 136 Family Resource Centres across Ireland. It’s all about support.

“Communities don’t happen by accident, they’re built by people with purpose and ambition,” Ellen Duggan, chairperson of the FRCs National Forum, told members who gathered for their annual conference at Bloomfield House Hotel, Mullingar, on Wednesday June 24.

“People who care enough to make a difference and come together to create something better for everyone – that is exactly why we are here today and it is my great pleasure as the chairperson of the National Forum on the Resource Centres to warmly welcome you all to this conference,” Ms Duggan said.

The conference brought together representatives of FRCs, community development practitioners, policymakers, elected representatives, and stakeholders from across Ireland to discuss issues affecting families and communities nationwide.

All in the conference room were briefed on the theme of the conference: ‘Keeping communities at the heart of change: How the community development approach of FRCs delivers prevention and early intervention that works.’

Focusing on a jumble of words can detract from the real work FRCs do. They are at the centre of communities, helping out those who need it the most; filling a gap the state is reluctant to occupy.

That said, they do get state funding, but often only after jumping through significant bureaucratic hoops. Which is why jargon is rife in the sector.

There are many that engage with FRC who have the ability to cut through that specialised vocabulary. One such is Uachtarán na hÉireann, Catherine Connolly, who addressed the conference.

President Connolly is a champion of FRCs, and has frequently highlighted them as essential pillars of community support. She regularly visits FRCs across Ireland, and praises their relationship-based, open-door approaches to delivering education, childcare, and support services.

At the conference in Mullingar, she lauded their role in strengthening communities, supporting families, tackling disadvantage, and promoting social inclusion across Ireland.

Ms Duggan began by commending those in attendance: “I’d like to begin by recognising the fantastic turnout and the sense of purpose of us being here today. The energy is quite high in the room, so thank you for that.

“With over 250 people attending, this is our largest conference to date. That growth reflects the strength, commitment and shared purpose across the Family Resource Centre programme. People coming together with that same purposeful ambition to build a stronger community.”

Even before the 9.30am start, representatives from as far away as Mayo, Dublin, Donegal and Cork had been filling up the hotel lobby.

The appetite for interaction was apparent: “It highlights the importance of our work and the value of connecting, learning and strengthening our values by our collective voice.

“Events like today don’t just happen, they’re built through the dedication of people who care. I want to sincerely thank the organising committee, the staff of the National Forum, the volunteers, the representatives from all of the Family Resource Centres around the country and everyone who contributed their time and energy to make today possible. Your commitment reflects community development in action.”

The importance of the part FRCs play in gluing society together was clear by the high profile invitees at the gathering. Uachtarán na hÉireann was joined at the top table by Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley, TD, who also addressed the guests: “I’m delighted to be here today to speak to you and to listen to your questions,” she said.

The minister spoke of the importance of the “coming together of the network of Family Resource Centres” and what she would get from it: “It gives me the opportunity to see first-hand the work that you’re doing on the ground,” she said.

“I can sense your positive enthusiasm here. The single-mindedness of purpose that draws you all here together, which ultimately is to provide service within the community, so thank you for that. In many respects, I think this is a powerful gathering because it reflects a powerful network of innovative, creative leadership on the ground.”

Acknowledging how society benefits from the blending of volunteers and grant-funded paid staff, Minister Foley said: “I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I am an admirer of the Family Resource Network and that’s largely because I have seen what you do and you do it quietly and unobtrusively, and you do it with a determination and sense of purpose that is second to none.

“I’m conscious that at the heart of every single Family Resource Centre I’ve seen this across the country are community and service to community.”

Minister Foley emphasised the vital role of FRCs: “It could be engaging with vulnerable families, it could be offering services to individuals across their whole life and crucially fostering a positive and inclusive community spirit and now more than ever we need that positive, inclusive community spirit.

“Young and old, from early years to senior citizens are welcome to participate in the life of their local FRC and to avail of the wide range of services the FRC has to offer. The Family Resource Centre programme is a dynamic mix of 136 members located all across the country.

“It’s an essential component of our prevention and early intervention architecture as a government and indeed as a state. It’s many prevention and early intervention initiatives make a real and substantial difference in communities. I know that thousands could testify to the value of the services that they have received at the right time and in the right place. This is the best way to make a real impact.”

Each year the FRCs look to the minister for funding to continue the support they offer. Minister Foley gave a commitment at the gathering: “We will do all that we can to provide the additional resources so that you can do more and more in your communities. Unacknowledged maybe, but not unappreciated as I said. So thank you.”

How FRCs change lives came through a parent who engaged with Tacu Ballinrobe FRC. Adelle Hyland recounted a story of empowerment, one in which FRCs played a heroic role.

This was a tale of humour and adversity in which she explained that her two young boys were diagnosed with profound autism within 12 months of each other. Not long after Adelle was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

“The first years were exceptionally hard,” she said and recalled “grieving for the life we thought we would have”.

She said: “We learned to embrace the life we had, a home filled with love and laughter, filled with affection.

“Our two boys taught us more than we could teach them.”

Adelle emphasised the importance of a network, and said in that time she learned many lessons from other parents. Having engaged with Tacu Ballinrobe FRC, The Space of Our Own Club was set up to provide a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment where children with additional needs and their families can simply be themselves.

Families were welcomed to a warm, community-led space where social connection, understanding, and acceptance are at the heart of everything they did. Adelle said: “We don’t need inclusion, we just need to belong.”

She explained that the most valuable sentence she heard through her journey was the simple line from her local FRC: “How can we help?”