Co-Design In Action

7/3/2024: Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation (Glencree) last week joined the Trustees of Mount Street Club Trust and fellow practitioners and CEO’s participating in the Hope & Ambition project to kick-start the new 4-year phase of the project.

Facilitated by Dr Liz Hayes who guides the Hope and Ambition Project on behalf of the Trust, representatives from the four participating organisations took part in a discussion on the work that will be undertaken in phase 2 and celebrated the learnings and achievements of the first 4 years of the project. Among those who attended the exchange were Glencree CEO Naoimh McNamee, Intercultural and Refugee Programme Manager Nadette Foley and Hope and Ambition Project Lead Louise Keating, together with Hope and Ambition practitioners and CEOs from ILS-Dublin Intercultural Language Service, the Irish Refugee Council and Rua Red.

The Hope and Ambition project was created in 2019 by the Mount Street Club Trust with the aim of putting the principles of trust-based philanthropy into practice. The project is structured around two key elements: a grant to recipient organisations working on inclusion and empowerment of communities experiencing poverty and marginalisation; and the commitment of these organisations to participate in the Trust’s CEOs and Practitioners Clubs in a spirit of critical inquiry, collaboration and shared learning.

Glencree’s Hope and Ambition project focuses primarily on our work with women asylum seekers living in Clondalkin Towers Direct Provision Centre. Mindful of the traumatic experiences the women have been through 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. Monthly meetings of the Glencree Women’s Group which was set up under the project and is now in its 6th year, wellness and trauma healing sessions, and nature outings are among the vital supports facilitated for the women.

Commenting on the impact of the project to date, CEO Naoimh McNamee said: "Through our Hope and Ambition work, a strong bond of solidarity has been established between practitioners, CEOs and projects, enabling open and honest sharing. The Mount Street Club Trust trusts us to identify the needs of those who are marginalised, do our work well, and share our learning in a cross-sectoral context. As we move into the second phase of Hope and Ambition, we look forward to further building on our work with the women asylum seekers in Clondalkin as they take more ownership, and to developing a new strand of well-being work with refugees in other areas as part of the project."