Waterford City Needs You!

Waterford City Council has issued a request to the people of the city to help make its online service better, more apt and more efficient.

For a number of years Waterford City Council has been offering online services and information to the residents of the city. It has become active in social media and its Twitter account is by far the most popular method by which people communicate with the City Council.

Waterford City Council currently offers several payment facilities online – including rents, water rates for businesses, traffic fines and downloadable forms. There are also facilities to join the library, check out a book or even receive a text alert for burst water mains. However Waterford City Council is endeavouring to improve these services.

In order to ascertain what the public wants, the City Council is asking the public to tell them exactly what they would like to see available online.

Conan Power, Waterford City Council, explains “Our primary aim is to establish a focus group with members from the public, across as broad a range of City Council service users as possible. What we hope to gain from this exercise is an in-depth picture of how our online services are regarded, in order to enhance them, offer new services and concentrate on new areas.”

“We know that the best people to ask are the users themselves. Even those who do not use our online services are welcome, so we can find out how to help them connect with us. There are no limits to the focus group, however the conversation will pertain to online services.”

They are many areas the City Council wants to invigorate, for example, WaterfordLife is a portal for small businesses and clubs which is in design at the moment and will enable these enterprises to have their own free presence online, at the same time being part of a larger community portal with information across the board for people living in Waterford city.

Waterford City Council is also seeking opinions on its current documentation and online forms. Does the public want to submit forms online rather than on paper? Are there additional services the Council could provide? Can the Council relay information in a better way? Can it complement a service that’s there at the moment with something more interactive or useful?

Mr. Power added “Other Councils offer a broad range of services but we want to really make our information a service in itself. The ultimate goal is that the focus group will help us to look at providing any service people want that is appropriate online. It all might not be possible immediately but it will help us formulate an informed plan that can be implemented over time.”

Waterford City Council doesn’t have specifics in terms of what is needed to change– that’s for the public to decide via this focus group.

If you want to get involved and participate in this focus group simply email website@waterfordcity.ie or phone Conan Power at the Waterford City Council offices on 051-849746.

Norwegian students enjoy an enterprising visit to Waterford City

From March 12^th to March 15^th 19 Norwegian students a Norwegian teacher and 2 Swedish teachers visited Waterford City on the invitation of Ciaran Cullen CEO (Acting) of Waterford City Enterprise board. The students (18-19 years olds) are studying a 3-year entrepreneurship program, this is the student’s 3^rd and last year and the Irish visit is the highlight of their year.

A full itinerary was planned for the group including visits to Waterford City enterprises, WIT, historical venues such as Reginald’s Tower and on Tuesday March 13^th they attended a private morning seminar. Held at the Southern and Eastern Regional Assembly the seminar included speakers such as Jim Power, economist with Friend’s First and the Norwegian Ambassador to Ireland, H.E. Mr. Roald Næss on topics such as Irish/Norwegian trade relations and how Ireland has dealt with the European financial crisis.

This is not the first time Waterford City Enterprise Board has hosted a Norwegian student group. Ciaran Cullen CEO (Acting) emphasises the importance of the visit, “We have spent a number of year’s developing friendships with Norway and hosting student groups. Our approach to enterprise development is a good example to the students and their enterprise teachers. We hope to make a return visit to Norway in 2013 with Waterford City students and local enterprises in order to strengthen our relationship and hopefully resulting in some productive trade relations between Waterford City and Norway.”

The Norwegian teacher, Mariann Janson described their long term vision for the relationship as…

“We would very much like to make this study visit permanent for our 3^rd grade entrepreneurship class. Ireland is in many ways similar to Norway, it is a small country with about 5 million inhabitants. Yet there are many differences, Ireland is close to Great Britain and a member of EU, and have different challenges to Norway. Our students need to learn that Norway is a small country on the edge of Europe, and we depend heavily of the rest of Europe and the world. Many Norwegians seem to think that we will get along fine on our own because of the oil, this is definitely not the case. We also think that this is a great opportunity to show our students the beautiful Irish nature and the possibilities to go to university here. Not many have been to Ireland before, so this will open their eyes to what Ireland has to offer.”

JA-YE Europe (www.ja-ye.org ) is Europe’s largest organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy, reaching 3.1 million students in 37 countries in 2011. Funded by businesses, institutions, foundations and individuals, JA-YE brings the public and private sectors together to provide young people in primary and secondary schools and early university with high-quality education programmes to teach them about enterprise, entrepreneurship, business and economics in a practical way. The JA-YE Company Programme is recognised by the European Commission Enterprise Directorate General as a ‘Best Practice in Entrepreneurship Education’. JA-YE Europe is the European headquarters for JA Worldwide®.)

HCS Business Solutions and Kilkenny Chamber – clearing up the Cloud!

HCS Business Solutions, in association with Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce, will host a free lunchtime seminar on Wednesday, March 21^st.

The seminar entitled “The practical applications of the Cloud - is your business ready?” is aimed at business owners and managers.

The seminar will address questions such as “The Cloud and your business – are you ready?” and deal with the issue of how cloud computing can make business better. There will also be a demonstration of Microsoft Cloud Services.

This free event will take place in the Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce Board Room, The Maltings, Tilbury Place, Kilkenny on Wednesday, March 21^st.

Places are limited so early booking is essential. Contact Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce on 056 7752767 or email billy.oneill@kilkennychamber.ie

For further information about HCS Business Solutions or for a free cloud computing assessment survey visit www.hcs.ie or call 051 595200.

Home Instead Senior Care launches Pensioner’s Handbook

The launch of a Handbook for older people was welcomed by Kathleen Lynch, T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, Older People, Equality and Mental Health. The Irish Pensioners Handbook 2012 features advice and information on a wide range of issues including allowances and entitlements, medical, health and nutrition matters, the various options for elder care, home safety information, legal and financial information and much more. It was produced by Home Instead Senior Care with the support of Age Action and the HSE.

Minister Lynch commented, “I would like to congratulate all those associated with this publication which provides a wealth of useful information not only for pensioners and their families, but also for carers and service providers. The priority for the Department and the Health Service Executive over 2012 is to improve the care for older people as they access a range of services.“

According to Danette Connolly, Director of Care with Home Instead Senior Care, the handbook is an invaluable information source for seniors and their families.

“Many seniors have difficulty accessing details about public services and entitlements available to them. The purpose of the handbook is to provide information on the areas that affect seniors including allowances and entitlements, medical advice, advice around the home, health and nutrition and dementia and Alzheimer’s care.”

Care Choices feature prominently in the handbook and serves to dispel the confusion surrounding care options for seniors. The Pensioner’s Handbook provides practical advice on choosing home care and also provides guidelines for employing a carer.

Ms. Connolly added, “Many seniors and their families are confronted with having to choose some form of care as they get older. Depending on an individual’s health, wellbeing and outlook, there are many different care options to choose from.”

“The Pensioners Handbook will give seniors and families the information to make an informed decision about the best care options available to them individually.”

“Whether it is being cared for in a nursing home or in their own home we want seniors to know that they should expect the very best professional care and should also know their entitlements and where to turn if in any doubt about best practise.”

Eamon Timmins of Age Action said, “Information is power. As a national charity for older people, Age Action passionately believes in empowering older people. The existence of entitlements and services is one thing – making people aware of them is a completely different challenge – which is why we are very pleased to partner with Home Instead Senior Care and the HSE in producing the ‘2012 Irish Pensioners Handbook’. It really is a valuable tool for older people.”

The Irish Pensioners Handbook 2012 features information on:

· Allowances and Entitlements for older people and carers

· Medical Advice

· Home Care

· Advice Around the Home

· Nursing Home Care

· Dementia and Alzheimer’s care

· Tips on Health & Fitness, Nutrition & Diet, Holidays & Travel

· Financial and Legal advice

· How to deal with Bereavement

It also has a directory of older person's organisations and other useful contacts.

Call Home Instead Senior Care in Waterford on 051 333966 to order a FREE copy of the Irish Pensioners Handbook.

Log on to www.homeinstead.ie to download a pdf of the guide.

Tidy Tails clean up at the Waterford City Student Enterprise Awards

On Wednesday February 29^th Deputy Mayor Cllr Gary Wyse presented the Waterford City Enterprise Board perpetual student enterprise trophy along with the winners cheque to a group called ‘Tidy Tails’.

The winning group, from Newtown School in Waterford City founded a business where they designed and created a new bandage wrapping product. Both members of the group, Gillian Bond and Shane Fitzgerald are horse enthusiasts and found a niche in that market for a machine which wraps horses’ tail bandages. They made their own prototype first but then engaged some mechanical engineers to help make improvements on the product. They have made some sales to date and have a number of interested potential buyers both in Ireland and abroad. They will now represent Waterford City at the National Finals in Croke Park on April 18^th.

Other winners include;

2nd place: - Clean Machine from Abbey Community College

Gary Dooley

3rd place: - Makes Sense from the Mercy secondary school

Jenny Walsh, Sarah Phelan, Lisa Mulhall &Chelsea O Keeffe

Best Display: - K8’s glass design from St. Paul’s Community College

Kate Swift.

Best innovation: - Easy A from De la Salle

Robert McCarthy, Mark Hayes, Bill Carton, Jack Hennessy & Dylan Kennedy

Students’ Choice: - Easy Revision from De la Salle

Evan Croke, Gary Drohan, Jamie Slattery & Makzim Lizura

Bertie Rogers (Chair of Waterford City Enterprise Board) praised the teachers, judges and students for all their effort. “It takes much effort and many hours from many people to organise an event like this, and everyone should be very proud”.

The Waterford City Student Enterprise Awards involved over 300 Waterford transition year students every year. It is part of a national competition. Each year almost 15,000 students from all over Ireland get to find out what it’s really like to be their own boss and run their own business by taking part in the Student Enterprise Awards Programme.

The objectives of the programme are;

• To give students practical, real life experience of setting up and running their own business
• To encourage students to think about entrepreneurship and self-employment as a viable career choice
• To enhance the teaching of business and entrepreneurship in schools by combining class room learning with real life experience

Ciaran Cullen Waterford City Enterprise Board CEO (Acting) praised the winning group itself. “Whether it is student enterprise or SMEs, good ideas always shine. Organisation and determination are very important but a good idea will always stand out and this group had the idea, the organisation and the determination. We are delighted with this year’s city winner and are optimistic for the National Finals next month.”

As well as finding out what life is like as your own boss, the National Finals students are also in with a chance of winning some great prizes including:

• A 1,500 euro cash prize for your school
• An all-expenses paid Italian trip worth over 10,000 euro.
• All4One vouchers

Mercy Secondary School Excels!

Eleanor Hutchinson certainly was a big hit when she won €250 worth of school sports equipment from Excel Promotions for Our Lady of Mercy Secondary School.

The promotion, “Are you smarter than a 10 – year old?” ran on WLR fm’s “Big Breakfast Blaa” with Timmy and Karen. Eleanor was the overall winner, picking up a €50 voucher for herself and sports equipment for her daughter Alice’s school. Alice is a first year student in the school.

According to Paul Kelly, it was a fun, interactive promotion that ultimately rewarded the school. “At Excel Promotions we work with schools every day of the week in providing uniforms and sports equipment. So, we wanted to reward a school and ultimately ensure that the students benefit directly.”

Mr. Eugene Broderick, Principal of Our Lady of Mercy Secondary School said that he was delighted to accept the sports equipment on behalf of the school as it provides a varied range of sports for all students.

He added “Our Lady of Mercy Secondary School has a proud tradition of sport and is renowned as the home of the Wildcats Basketball team. However we also have a wide curriculum of sports including aerobics, badminton, soccer, touch rugby and volleyball. The sports equipment will certainly find a good home here!”

Although established in 1999, Excel Promotions has been supplying schools equipment including quality Irish made uniforms to local schools since 2008. Some of the schools include St. Saviours NS, Gael Scoil na Deise, St. Pauls Community College and St. John of Gods NS.

For further information about the Excel range check out www.excelpromotions.ie or visit their showrooms at Six Cross Roads Business Park.

Solas Centre celebrates first anniversary with Kid’s Big Day Out!

The Solas Centre, the South East’s cancer support service, recently celebrated its first year at its state of the art facility in Ardkeen.

This year the celebrations focused on the children with the Solas Centre’s Kids Big Day taking place in Pirates Adventure Centre in Tramore.

It was a great family day out where over 50 kids where treated to hours of high energy games, bouncy slides, crazy golf, mini bowling, party food and the Beat Fleet were on hand, providing face-painting and balloons.

According to Iain Munro, SECF Chairman, the day was a great success. “At the Solas Centre we meet people of all ages every day. Cancer affects not just the person diagnosed but also has a big impact on the whole family. At the Solas Centre we provide counselling and art physiotherapy for children and their families affected by cancer”.

“The purpose of the Solas Centre Kid’s Big Day Out was to simply bring the children together, to have fun and to express themselves in that unique way that only children know how.”

Mr. Munro added, “We are indebted to John and Christine Murray in Pirates Adventure in Tramore, who provided the venue and also to the Beat Fleet who were a big hit with the children.”

Each year 2,000 people are diagnosed with cancer across Waterford, Wexford, Tipperary, Carlow and Kilkenny. Since opening its doors on February 28^th 2011, the Solas Centre has provided support services, such as counselling, relaxation therapies and group support services to over 500 people affected by cancer and anticipates that the numbers visiting the Centre in 2012 will continue to increase.

The philosophy of the Solas Centre is manifold; to provide cancer patients and their families with a safe place to talk things over and to help them cope with living with cancer. It also will work closely with the hospitals of the region in promoting and supporting patient-focused, cutting-edge cancer research and continues not only to educate people about cancer prevention, but also to change our mindset around cancer.

For more information about the cancer support services at the Solas Centre call 051 304604, visit www.solascentre.ie or check out the Facebook page Solas Centre – South Eastern Cancer Foundation.