Glencree’s Hope and Ambition Project aims to highlight the grassroots challenges as well as policy implications of combating exclusion in the Irish context today.
Initially focused on our work with women asylum seekers who live in Clondalkin Towers Direct Provision Centre, in 2023 the project was expanded to include women at St. Mary’s Centre in Milltown, and Ukrainian women from City West Hotel. Mindful of the traumatic experiences the women have been through as a result of war and conflict, and the stressful, transient environment in which they live, the aim of the work is to facilitate inclusion and integration through relationship-building, emotional support and building connections.
Now in its 6th year, the Glencree Women’s Group at Clondalkin Towers provides residents with a range of psycho-social supports. Monthly Women's Group meetings provide a consistent, safe-space for residents to come together, identify their own hopes and ambitions and engage with women from different ethnic and faith backgrounds. Group members can engage in Multicultural Wellness and Trauma Healing practices developed by Capacitar International. Dialogue and creative methodologies are also harnessed to help residents find common interests, listen to different perspectives, receive emotional support, and share information and learnings. Nature outings are also among the vital supports facilitated for the women.
In a constantly transient environment, as residents move out and new residents arrive at the Centre, over the years the Clondalkin Towers Women's Group has remained a steadfast source of support for women residents, built on trust, care and respect. Its longevity has enabled the project to evolve and innovate in response to residents' needs. For example, as a result of their experiences of living in Direct Provision throughout Covid-19, the importance and need for greater physical and emotional space—time in nature, movement and fresh air to restore well-being - came strongly to the fore. As a result, wellness and nature-based activities is now a key focus of project activities.
Ongoing wellness and nature-focused initiatives range from monthly outdoor self-care and trauma healing events including Coffee and Tai Chi Morning sessions, to quarterly nature and cultural outings including picnics for the women residents and their children. Glencree also expanded the facilitation of the Capacitar Self-Care, Wellness and Trauma Healing sessions to include both monthly online and in-person events.
Work also continues to build the capacity of the Women's Group and facilitate the women residents in taking greater ownership and active participation in the project. For example, Glencree partnered with the National Women's Collective in Ronanstown in a 7-month 'Connection Through Crafts' collaboration, funded by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. Focused on crafting through crochet, this non-verbal medium removed language barriers and provided a forum for the women to build cross-cultural relationships.
With the goal of expanding the project into other Direct Provision Centres, in 2023 Glencree established a Women's Group in St. Mary's Centre in Milltown, replicating the model of refugee accompaniment and wellness practices used in Clondalkin Towers. Further outreach and relationship-building activity with Ukrainian Women based in the City West Hub is also ongoing.
The activities of the project are facilitated by Glencree Project Lead Louise Keating and volunteer Maureen O’Riordain. The team works closely with Marie William’s of Young Mother’s Network to connect the women to other supports.
#GlencreeIntercultural
Created in 2019, the Mount Street Club Trust-funded Hope and Ambition project brings together a range of organisations and their respective work with communities experiencing poverty and marginalisation. Currently, the five participating organisations include: Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, Connections Arts Centre, Intercultural Language Service, Irish Refugee Council and Rua Red. Using an innovative model of trust-based philanthropy, the participating organisations commit to a process of shared learning and deep reflection on the work, beyond predetermined measurable targets or outcomes. This cross-organisational approach harnesses the experiences of practitioners and CEOs within different sectors including intellectual disability, community arts, travelling community, and work with refugees and migrants.
The first three-year phase of Hope & Ambition completed in June 2022. Mount Street Club Trust asked the recipient organisations to describe the work during this period and reflect on the initiative’s impact and the support they received. To view these reports, please click on this link (you will be redirected to the Mount Street Club Trust website).
Hope and Ambition Phase 2 launched in 2024 with a new four-year project.
“Our relationship with the Mount Street Club Trust has been refreshing. It has changed our thinking and focus in terms of the potential funding partners that we approach and the relationships that we try to build with them.”
Naoimh McNamee, CEO, Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation
In 2023, the Trustees of Mount Street Club Trust hosted a roundtable with the CEOs of the recipient organisations of Hope & Ambition and guests with expertise and interest in the field of corporate funding partnerships. Key insights, outcomes and ideas that emerged from that event were published in a Report in November which highlighted:
“Thank you Maureen and Louise so much for this wonderful concert. I got a lot of positive emotions, a boost of energy. At this time, all the bad thoughts disappear from my head. And the next day we shared our impressions of the concert with our friends! We are also grateful for the gifts, for your attention and are very touched. You and Louise are so cheerful, always active, and after meeting with you, I am in high spirits, faith and hope for a good future!”
Ukranian project participant following project outing to Civic Theatre Tallaght – a musical tribute to Tina Turner which had universal appeal and needed no translation, Nov 2024.
“Thank you for the opportunity to visit this farm, it is wonderful to be out in nature. It is very interesting to see the way vegetables are cultivated here and share experiences of farming from our own countries.”
Member of Glencree Women's Group from Cameroon during a visit to An Tairseach Organic Farm, Wicklow.
“We did not know that such a beautiful place existed near us.” Somali woman during a picnic in Corkagh Park, Clondalkin.
Member of Glencree Women's Group from Somalia during a picnic in Corkagh Park, Clondalkin.
The Hope and Ambition project is delivered as part of Glencree’s Intercultural and Refugee Programme. This programme aims to make Ireland a more welcoming and inclusive place with respect for all ethnic, faith and cultural backgrounds, by facilitating intercultural dialogues among refugees, migrants, and members of diverse ethnic and faith communities.
