PRESS RELEASE

September 2023

 

Annual County Kildare Social Inclusion Week

#ImIncluded

September 25th – 29th, 2023

Kildare Public Participation Network in collaboration with County Kildare LEADER Partnership is delighted to announce the launch of Social Inclusion Week 2023.

County Kildare Social Inclusion Week is an annual event which is running since 2017 and has become an important opportunity to promote the work of local organisations active throughout the county. It is an educational, and insightful week with opportunities for services, organisations, community groups and educators from right across the County to showcase the work they do. County Kildare has many initiatives that support individuals and communities affected by issues which can lead to social exclusion, such as poverty, unemployment, homelessness, disabilities, and migrant re-location to name just a few.

Social Inclusion Week is an opportunity to make everyone in the county aware of services that are available, how to access them and also perhaps how the general public can assist these services through volunteering, fundraising or simply helping to raise awareness in our local communities.

Social inclusion groups and local community groups play a key role when it comes to inclusion. In many cases they act as the conduit for welcoming, engaging and offering a sense of belonging. Social Inclusion Week offers an opportunity for social inclusion groups and community groups to highlight and welcome new members and spread the word to the greater community.

Similarly Social Inclusion Week also offers the opportunity to highlight many of the needs that exist in the county. With a growing population many services are under resourced or not available within reach of those most in need. Social Inclusion Week offers an opportunity to highlight these needs and encourage action to demand better services for all.

For the launch of Social Inclusion Week 2023 we are privileged to have Ken Kavanagh and members of the KARE community who represented us at the Special Olympics 2023. This amazing inspirational team took home four gold medals, along with other awards. We are delighted that they will join us for the opening ceremony which will be held in Teach Dara, Kildare town on Monday 25th at 10am.

All events will be open to the public and we encourage everyone to come along and join us.

A calendar of events is now available at  www.kildareppn.ie/siw-events/

The organising committee would like to thank everyone involved in what is set to be a fantastic week.

For further information, please contact: Grainne Fleming  gfleming@kildareppn.ie