“Let’s play ‘going
to the refuge’,” says a little girl, aged three,
to the boy in the pre-school. She hands him a bright, plastic
play telephone and tells him to say “I beg you, come back.
I won’t hit you again. I promise.” She snaps into
her phone “Well, I’m not coming back. I’m
getting a barring order.” Then she’s quiet for a
while and says “Ok, I’ll come back this time.”
This scene is played out in one of Barnardos’
pre-school groups in a disadvantaged community in Dublin. When
children play in our safe and nurturing environment, Barnardos
highly trained staff can pick up on issues that are happening
in the home, or at school. They work with the child to get them
to understand and manage their feelings, and grow strong and
resilient despite a tough start in life. The staff will also
work with the family to resolve the underlying problems.
This reflects Barnardos philosophy –
that you can’t work with a child in isolation. A vulnerable
child needs to be supported, but so does their family, their
community and those around them.
In 21st century Ireland we hear about the cost of things that
didn’t come with a price tag in the past. Time is a commodity
as never before and conversation is a text message – usually
to say you’re running late. The new burdens of society
are house prices, childcare and community.
It’s hard to figure out where children
fit into this mix. For many children Ireland is a great place
to grow up. But not for all. One in ten children in Ireland
still suffer the effects of poverty. Over 1,000 children fail
to make the move to secondary school every year. Children wait
for years for essential services such as speech and language
therapy.
Click
here to read the rest of this article and
learn more about the work of Barnardos in Ireland.
At the heart of Barnardos’ work is a
simple proposition– that Ireland can, and should be, the
best place in the world to be a child. There are so many different
ways that you can make a difference to the lives of children
in Ireland. You can decide to support us on a monthly basis
or participate in an event to raise funds for us. You could
ask your employer to consider supporting Barnardos through our
Corporate Guardians programme or donate and shop in our network
of charity shops. For more information visit www.barnardos.ie
