Enrolment Day September 2008

Enrolment day for the autumn term will be held from 10am to 3pm on Thursday 25th September 2008. Please call in person at the centre to complete enrolment forms for new courses.

We look forward to seeing you!

Please note that courses will only run if there is sufficient demand.

ENROLMENT DAY - THURSDAY 25TH SEPTEMBER 08.
10.00am - 3.00pm

	NAME OF COURSE	NO Wks	START DATE	DAY	TIME
1.	BASIC FOOD HYGIENE	8	7/10/08	Tuesday	10.00-12.00
2.	CREATIVE CRAFTS	6	6/10/08	Monday	10.00-12.00
3.	Reiki 1	6	8/10/08	Wednesday	10.00-12.00
4.	Internet & Email	6	6/10/08	Monday	10.00-12.00
5.	Personal Development	6	8/10/08	Wednesday	1.00-3.00
6.	Reiki 3	6	9/10/08	Thursday	10.00-12.00
7.	Start it	12	9/10/08	Thursday	1.00-3.00
8.	FLOWER ARR	15	9/10/08	Thursday	10.00-12.00
9.	Parchment Crafts	6	9/10/08	Thursday	1.30-3.30
10.	Stress Management	6	10/10/08	Friday	10.30-12.30
11.	Bach Flowers	6	8/10/08	Wednesday	10.30-12.30
12.	RSA Clait	30	10/10/08	Friday	10.00-12.00
13.	Start IT	12	9/10/08	Thursday	10.00-12.00
14.	Introduction to Basic Counselling	10	17/10/08	Friday	10.00-12.00
15.	Introduction to Listening Ear	8	TBC	TBC	TBC
16.	First Aid	12	TBC	TBC	TBC
17.	Basic Computers	6	7/10/08	Tuesday	10.30-12.30
18.	Reflexology	6	6/10/08	Monday	1.00-3.00

The Strabane and Lifford Women’s Centre are having an enrolment day on Wednesday 12th September. There will be two enrolment sessions, one between 11am and 1pm with the other from 7pm to 9pm. There are courses in a wide variety of choices including Reflexology, C.L.A.I.T, First Aid, Beauty, Basic Food Hygiene, Parchment Crafts, Indian Head Massage, Art, Interior Design, E.C.D.L, Sign Language, Creative Crafts, Accounts, Reiki, D.I.Y, Flower Arranging, and An Introduction to Computers.The courses will be held at the centre based at Railway Road, Strabane and will have various starting times and days. For further information please telephone them directly on (048) 71886253.

In October 2006 at the request of Cresco Derry we hosted a group of Spanish and Irish visitors who were participants on an EU Funded Training Project. The Spanish visitors in particular stated their disbelief that the women’s centre was not funded directly by government as is the case in their country. Local groups attended and delivered presentations on their organisations work and detailed their experiences of delivering services in a border area. The following groups attended:

• Citizens Advice Bureau
• Koram Centre
• Strabane and District Women Together
• The North West Volunteer Centre

An open day was held in this centre on 31st August 2006 to inform women that the centre was back on track and open for business again. 56 women attended the open day with 8 agencies delivering presentations outlining their services these are as follows;

• The Cresco Trust
• The North West Volunteering Centre
• The Citizens Advice Bureau
• Women Into Politics
• The Cook it Project (Western HAZ)
• New Horizons

The following individuals provided taster sessions;

• Anne Lindsey
• Bernie Hunter
• Milton Porter

The open day was also used as a medium to determine what services and programmes the women wanted delivered at the centre. The analysis provides us with sufficient information to begin a delivery of courses both recreational and educational that would meet the imminent need of women at that time.

A total of 22 courses were delivered at that time with 260 participants. It is interesting to note that 78% of women had never used the centre before. The women also identified a need for a structured personal development process whereby clear progression routes would be provided.

The open day provided a launch pad and spring board for the centre to begin to cater for the real needs of women in the community but it also brought with it a realization and recognition that there are a lot of women in the community that remain isolated and marginalised from services and it is imperative and vital that groups like the SLWC must determine ways of targeting the women.

With this in mind I approached a number of health visitors, family visitors and health professionals and other community based organisations with a view to developing an informal referral system. This has been effective however we are aware that there is much more work to be done in this area.

During open day the Strabane District Council community Safety Partnership provided us with bogus caller packs and personal alarms for distribution to the women as a direct response to a number of attacks that had happened over the previous year.

To celebrate International Women’s Day the centre organised a Pamper Day for the women of the community. A total of 39 women availed of a number of holistic treatments and beauty sessions. These were thoroughly enjoyed by the women and our thanks must go all the therapists who delivered treatments on the day.