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YWCA Ireland News
Silver Threads – Monaghan YWCA Launch a Lunch Club for Over 65's!What better way to spend a few hours on a Friday than enjoying good company and delicious homemade food in cosy surroundings? If you agree why not come along to Monaghan's newest lunch club for over 65's! Monaghan YWCA officially launched the Silver Threads Pensioners Club on Friday, 30th September in celebration of the National Day of Volunteering! The club meets every Friday from 11am to 1:30 p.m. in the Monaghan YWCA Centre and provides a safe, warm, friendly and welcoming environment to elderly people from Monaghan Town and surrounding areas. Iris Wilson (Silver Threads Volunteer and YWCA Management Committee Member) comments, 'We are thrilled to finally launch Silver Threads. Monaghan YWCA have been discussing the possibility of lunch club for many months and we are looking forward to welcoming pensioners from the Monaghan Town area and beyond into our centre. We really do hope that club becomes an oasis for the elderly!'
Report from the World YWCA Council, July 10-16 2011
'Women creating a safe world' was the theme of the World YWCA Council and International Women's Summit in Zurich this past July. Five delegates from the YWCA of Ireland joined almost one thousand participants from across the globe in a demanding and inspiring week, packed with discussion of challenging issues, long work meetings, and many opportunities for social contact with other national associations and the World YWCA. Two of our delegates share some of their key thoughts and experiences arising from our visit to the World Council.
Audrey Wilson, National Board & Executive member, from YWCA Monaghan, highlights two key themes of the week: 'strengthening the movement', and 'intergenerational transformative leadership' (don't worry, no more jargon!):
Strengthening the movement
The YWCA is more than an 'organisation'; it is a 'movement'. I like this terminology because it suggests that things are not static, they are continually evolving and developing. Throughout the World Council it became apparent that our movement in Ireland needs to be strengthened, in the global, regional, national and local contexts. Strengthening equates to: defining our vision, building the capacity of the board and local committees, strategically planning our future, building principles on the positives of the past and learning from mistakes. Most importantly, Christ must become core of the movement and we must maintain a focus on being 'women of God'. Only then will our impact be truly meaningful.
Intergenerational Transformative Leadership
I love this concept! True solutions and innovations cannot be attributed to one leader or one viewpoint, but in the bigger picture of our collective intelligence. Let's develop our collective capacities to carve out a truly representative and inclusive organisation. Younger members need to welcome the valuable mentoring of those who have been committed to the YWCA for many years. More senior members need to be receptive of the enthusiasm and innovation of younger members. Then we can achieve 'Intergenerational Transformative Leadership'. We already have the people!
Sarah Caughey, Vice-President of YWCA Ireland shares her experiences of the Young Women's Leadership Dialogue, and the International Women's Summit:
At the beginning of the week, I took part in the Young Women's Leadership Dialogue. This was a wonderful opportunity to meet with young women from YWCA's around the world, to discuss issues facing them, to highlight the importance of young women in leadership and to encourage young women to take on leadership roles in the local community and within the associations. We also had the opportunity to hear from and talk to young women on the World YWCA Board and some of those standing for election in 2011. At the end of the day, young women gathered together to produce a strategy document that was presented to the 2011 World Council meetings.
The International Women's Summit was a unique opportunity to hear about issues affecting women and girls around the world. It was a humbling reminder of the origins of the YWCA and what the symbol stands for. For many women, the YWCA represents a place of safety, a place where all women are welcome. I was reminded of the origins of the YWCA of Ireland – providing safe spaces for young women coming to Dublin to work in the factories. The association should continue to provide safe spaces for women, to promote the rights and dignity of women, provide opportunities for women to develop leadership skills and to be a light to others. As Mary Robinson(SEE NOTE BELOW) shared during her speech at the IWS, the YWCA should be about "making a difference in small places close to home".
In closing, it is hard to pinpoint a single highlight in a very eventful, inspirational week – but one lasting impression was simply the sheer diversity of the YWCA as an international movement. The feat of bringing together such a varied yet like-minded body of women from across the globe to work, teach and learn alongside each other on such crucial issues, was immensely exhilarating. To discover how much we have in common, despite our perceived differences, was a huge encouragement for our delegation! We are deeply grateful for your prayers and support. Despite the busyness of the week, we enjoyed fellowship, prayer and Bible study together; we sought God's guidance in our decision-making, and corporately heard and saw answers to our prayers as we voted on key issues. We look forward to seeing another Irish delegation participate in the next World Council in four years' time – in Thailand! If you would like to hear more about any aspect of the World YWCA Council, please do not hesitate to contact our delegation, via Head Office. You may also wish to consult the World Council website, www.worldywcacouncil.org
(NOTE) Former Irish President Mary Robinson attended the World YWCA Council in order to present the first Mary Robinson Award for Young Women's Leadership in Human Rights. Awards were made to Jacinta Nyachae, founder of an AIDS Law Project in Kenya, and Nancy Kapembwa, a social worker from Zambia who uses a preventative approach in schools and communities to empower women and girls. Two national YWCA associations also received awards: the YWCA of Belize, for innovative use of barbershops and beauty salons as resource centres for HIV and AIDS education/dissemination, and YWCA Canada for its groundbreaking programmes in supporting the human rights of women and girls. Irish delegates were honoured to meet briefly with Mary Robinson, and to present her with a gift on behalf of our national association.
Message from our new President
It was a great honour for me to be elected President of the YWCA at our recent AGM, and I'm very grateful to the National Board for their nomination and support. The Association owes a great debt to our outgoing President, Winnie Wilmot, and Vice-President, Adrienne Galligan, who both spent the last few years wrestling with how to modernise some aspects of the YWCA whilst remaining faithful to our mission, to share our Christian faith with women and young people, and to serve our local communities by encouraging spiritual, physical and social development.
Our most recent endeavour focused on physical development (!), in the guise of the Dublin Women's Mini-Marathon. Eleven participants donned pink YWCA T-shirts, and joined some 40,000 women to run, jog or walk 10km on June 6th in aid of our overseas outreach funds, and local women's shelters. We hope to repeat this initiative next year, and look forward to an even larger group of women joining with us.
The next event on the horizon is the YWCA World Council in Zurich, Switzerland, from 10-16th July. Five delegates from Ireland, north and south, will travel to represent our national association, to join over 1,000 international participants, to share best practice, to develop policies and leadership skills. We look forward to sharing news and photos from the World Council on our return.
Wishing all our members a peaceful summer, and until our next meeting, "let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works" (Heb. 10:24).
Lorna Carson
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