Local Area Employment Service runs Traveller Employment Outreach at Longford community hub

As part of a new outreach initiative, Seetec’s Local Area Employment Service (LAES) has been hosting special ‘Thursday Talks’ for women in the Longford travelling community at The Community House in Ardnacassa to talk about their unique barriers to employment.

LAES Employer Services Consultant, Helena Foy said: “For us, the first step to engaging people is asking how we can make our employment service work for them. Every single person we offer employment support to has unique needs. We wanted to hear from members of Longford’s travelling community to find out more about the specific barriers they face in gaining access to employment. Building connections with these fantastic women has taught us so much. We’re hoping to ensure from this outreach that our service supports have a meaningful impact.”

Over the course of the weekly sessions, topics like women’s rights, married women working outside the home, voting, working mothers, stigma, discrimination, budgeting and the high rate of suicide in the traveller community. One of the highlights was a visit from leading National Mental Health Coordinator, Ann-Marie Gaynor from the No Shame Project, a countrywide youth mental health programme that supports young travellers.

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She said: “I’m the national youth mental health coordinator, so it was brilliant to get the opportunity to come to Longford and spread the message and meet people there. We had a very open and positive discussion. The women spoke about their own beliefs surrounding mental health and how attitudes are changing in their community around mental health and seeking help.”

The response from women who attended the weekly sessions was overwhelmingly positive. Helena Ward spoke on behalf of the group, saying: “The ladies were great, they did not judge us, and they made us feel very welcome. We loved getting out of the house for a few hours to talk about the things going on in our lives. We’d love to see these weekly meetings kept going.”

Helena Ward and the group also spoke about the complex issues preventing their participation in the workforce. Along with barriers to employment facing many women in the Longford area such as lack of childcare, transport, education and lack of confidence. Helena mentioned further specific issues faced by traveller women:

“It’s not always common in traveller culture for women to go out to work, some families can be more traditional. Also, travellers can sometimes face discrimination from employers.”

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LAES Operations Director, Noeleen Nannery said: “Longford County Council has supported Seetec’s community outreach efforts by providing a venue in the Ardnacassa Community Hub for us. This centre is such an important local space to engage with the community for workshops, training courses, information events and coffee mornings. This space has been a vital resource for the Ardnacassa community, it’s wonderful to have this venue on your doorstep.”

Breda Greaves from Longford County Council added: “The series of talks and open meetings held by the Local Area Employment Service at Ardnacassa are exactly the type of community building and outreach that this space was created for. We were delighted to be able to facilitate such a worthwhile endeavour.”

The Intreo Partner Local Area Employment Service in Longford and Westmeath is funded by the Department of Social Protection and is delivered by Seetec in Athlone, Longford and Mullingar”.