'One Special Day'- Teach Oscail Christmas run-up

More than 100 families helped in 2022.

In 2022 106 local families received fuel and food and 346 children received toys from staff at Teach Oscail Family Resource Centre, who have been working hard over the past month or so to ensure every child and family can enjoy 'One Special Day' this Christmas.

“We asked local people to give what they can, whether it’s a toy, a gift or simply a fiver,” explained Tara Lynagh, manager of Teach Oscail based on Church Street.

“We’re under a lot of pressure, there’s lots of people ringing in looking for support. It started off at the end of November, and we’re hoping to finish up soon to get stuff out to people,” she continued.

Ms Lynagh says, in a lot of cases, there is a good reason why people need support.

“We meet with the family and discuss what’s happening. A lot of the time it can be attributed to things like suddenly being made unemployed or an illness. People could be referred to us from many different areas, such as social workers, doctors, nurses or a school,” outlined Ms Lynagh.

Counselling services at the local facility are also under pressure at the moment.

“We also have a counselling service that’s under a lot of pressure and we’re linked in with Sligo Rape Crisis Centre and get a lot of referrals stemming from sexual violence. Christmas also brings up a lot of issues for families for people who have lost people or are living alone,” continued Ms Lynagh.

She says that there has been a noticeable increase in people struggling to pay bills recently.

“We can see the increase in poverty in the community. But Social Welfare isn’t enough, people are struggling to pay for light, heat and even food. The cost of living has gone so high, that they can’t keep up. There are lot of people who are ‘new poor’ - they’re working 40 hours a week on low-paid jobs.

“It’s worrying that people are doing all they can and they can’t make ends meet. Some households have two people working low-paying jobs, but rent has tripled in price and electricity and heat have risen significantly. There’s also a crisis in childcare and a lack of places in the community, leading to some having to go to private providers who can charge high prices, but it’s a necessity so they can go to work,” states Ms Lynagh.

While they do their best to help people, the manager says that the charity is stretched to capacity.

“Teach Oscail itself is underfunded and struggles with the cost of rent, heat and light like so many other not-for-profit services. We our very best to stretch the funding available to provide as much support as possible to the community,” she concluded.

Should you like to donate to the appeal, or your family are in need of support please contact Teach Oscail Family Resource Centre on 049-4372730.