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On Thursday, November 17th, ATD Ireland headed to University College Dublin to teach a two-hour module to social work students. This module is called ‘Poverty Aware Practice’ and aims as always to center those with experience with poverty and social workers. Four community activists joined us: Paul, Gavin, Lorraine, and Andrew.  The purpose of the module is to give students an insight into what good practice in social work looks like.  This module has been designed to be structured to an extent, yet with some flexibility.  It consists of presentation slides which guided the conversation, however, it was not restricting. The…

Nessan is a social justice worker and a friend of ATD. He is involved with other organisations including The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Northside Partnership, and Lourdes Youth and Community Services. He was MC for the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty event on October 17th 2022.When asked why the 17th of October is important to him, he says that “it highlights the issue of poverty.” Nessan likes that ATD always “gives prominence to the voice of the people who have experienced poverty or have life experience in poverty” which is especially seen on October 17th. Nessan described…

Gavin is one of ATD Ireland’s community activists. He has done many things for ATD including speaking at Trinity to social work students, writing for the Lockdown Liberties poetry and spoken word project, speaking at UN events and taking part in numerous other projects. He is in the new feature film by ATD Ireland: Through our Lens at Last: The Stories of Socio-Economic Discrimination Untold. Gavin comes from an area of Dublin called Darndale. The town has a negative image in the news and from wider society. He says that “the media and all would always write articles like Darndale did…

On October 15th, community activist Andrew and Mark Hogan, long- term ally with ATD Ireland, headed to New York. Andrew was asked to speak at a UN event that commemorated the 30th anniversary of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. He has previously given an address to the UN via zoom which is how he was invited. Mark describes the morning saying that “family members and partners of ATD began to gather in the First Avenue House. Over coffee and bagels, old acquaintances were renewed, and new relationships were started. We travelled together by bus to the United Nations,…

Our Leave No One Behind Series 3 workshops have now begun.  SDG 3 - Health and Wellbeing is at the core of this series, as SDG 3 and SDG 1 No poverty emerged as two of the goals most significant to the participants of Leave No One Behind Series 2.  In particular, we uncovered the connection between these two goals.  In light of this, Leave No One Behind Series 3 will focus on positive actions taking place around the country which aim to improve the health and wellbeing in local communities- putting these goals into practice. To begin series 3, ATD staff…

Following on from the development of our Hidden Dimensions of Poverty educational resource app, ATD Ireland have also developed a 'Poverty Aware Practice' module in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin.  We have also recently delivered this module an the Irish Association of Social Workers conference and hope to bring it to other groups in the future.  This module is based on the Hidden dimensions of poverty international research and is led by ATD community activists with lived experience of poverty and socio - economic discrimination. The module is comprised of testimonies based on lived experience, group exercises, a presentation and an…

On 21st October ATD community activists presented at a conference organised by the Irish Association of Social Workers.  The theme of the conference was ‘Accelerating inequalities, impossible choices: Exploring anti- poverty practice in social work’. This conference provided space for discussion on how those working within social work can better address the needs of those experiencing poverty, and the need for more inclusive methods when working with those experiencing poverty.  “The conference is an opportunity for the profession to take a pause to consider how best to respond to the inequality we witness every day, to speak up for social justice,…

On Tuesday, October 25th we hosted our weekly Chooseday Tuesday open house.  Each week we have been doing a different free and fun activity together such as art & DIY, cooking, singing and cultural outings. We also always have some lunch together and provide a safe community space for nice chats to happen over a cuppa.  Recently we have been welcoming a group from the Dublin Adult Learning Centre.  DALC have kindly agreed to participate in our ongoing LNOB series 3 workshops and it has been fantastic to learn more from them over the past number of weeks.  This week we…

Monday marked the commemorations for the 17th October UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2022.  As always, the Dublin event was held at the Human Rights and Poverty Stone.This year marks the 35th anniversary of the first such gathering in Paris in 1987 and the 30th anniversary of the United Nations recognition of the day.  The Dublin event is one of many events happening across Ireland and across the world.  See here to read ATD Ireland Community Activist Andrew’s speech at the United Nations. Also keep an eye on the 17th October website to read about 17th October events around…