My Town My Plan

Community Training Programme

During 2019 and 2020, SECAD invited residents from 8 towns in South and West Cork to participate in the innovative My Town, My Plan Community Training Programme.  The purpose of the programme was to build the capacity of the participants, to enable them to plan for the future of their own town.

Starting in September 2019, community members, volunteers and business owners came together from:

South Cork                          West Cork
Carrigaline                            Clonakilty
Cobh                                      Kinsale
Midleton                                Rosscarbery
Youghal                                 Skibbereen

The training workshops provided information, stimulated discussion, linked resources and developed an action plan for each area, enabling communities to look at opportunities with fresh eyes and to build links for future collaboration.

The Workshops

The training was delivered through the Hincks Centre for Entrepreneurship Excellence, part of the School of Business at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT).

Approximately 12 training and discussion sessions were held in each of the 8 towns, covering a wide range of topics  which included:

– Governance
– Positive Mental Health
– Funding
– Organisational Structures for Groups
– Social Inclusion
– Developing a Healthy Town Programme
– Climate Change
– Developing & Managing Community Assets
– Collaborative Working
– Incubating & Supporting the Development of Local Business & Trade

Town Plans

Each Town developed a plan  and a summary of their ideas can be seen here:

South Cork Town Ideas
West Cork Town Ideas

Funding

My Town, My Plan was funded through the LEADER Prpogramme. SECAD now looks forward to supporting these and many other communities in the South and West Cork area through LEADER programme in the coming months.