last night the community of Baldoyle presented its self colated needs analysis to Fingal County Council. I was at the very first meeting about the needs survey, and was one of the 577 respondents but i was not involved in any other way. well done to all concerned. The number one need seems to be INFORMATION. Baldoyle need newsletters txt etc. while we are at it, lets get Radio (broadcast) TV (Cable/IPTV/FTA) Webcasts vidcasts podcasts blogs boards and mailing lists. Yes everyone in Baldoyle are not wired (yet) and news and info from digital can trickle down to print for mass dissemination, but mobile and txt is at 100% and the community needs to take ownership of the network delivery platform. To this end I offer my time / services to the community i live in FOC.
Baldoyle Needs in (PDF format) opens with…
Information: There is no obvious community communication strategy in lace in Baldoyle. Besides the monthly newsletter distributed by the Good Shepherd Pastoral Centre there appears to be little else of significance in terms of communication activity. While a number of community facilities Save information leaflets available on the premises there is little promotion of the availability of this information and no coordinated strategy to ensure that community information points, with information about all available services, are developed or promoted. Dissemination of information is therefore achieved on an ad-hoc basis with no coherent strategy being implemented. It is unclear from the research how much money is being spent annually on providing information into the community; however, what is clear is that the current dissemination model is not reaching the intended targets and needs to be reassessed. The lack of information is consistently highlighted
throughout the research as a barrier to greater community participation and active citizenship. This issue should be addressed as an urgent priority for Baldoyle but also for Baldoyle Family Resource Service.
It is recommended that a working group be established to assess options for the development of a “Communication Strategy for Baldoyle”. This working group should comprise representatives of all the principal local service providers and facility managers. Both statutory agencies and community groups should be invited to discuss and agree a future plan. Baldoyle Family Resource Service should consider taking the lead role in establishing this working group. The working group could be supported in their task by the local senior citizens who undoubtedly possess many of the skills necessary to develop appropriate communication tools. Given the high level of awareness of corporate support for community activity evidenced in the research it may be possible to engage some local businesses in this working group. If an agreement could be reached between statutory providers and community groups with regard to their ongoing publicity and communication
activities additional resources could possibly be secured from local businesses to fund the development and production of a fortnightly or monthly publication.
Key targets for the Communications Working Group should be to:
Develop a communication strategy for Baldoyle
Agree pivotal community information sites
Examine possible mass communication tools
Newsletter
Community Notice Boards
Text Message
Secure funding for a 12 month pilot communication plan