Cara-Phort FRC staff, Sharon Heduvan, Geraldine Lambert, Audrey Moughty, Catherine Conroy, Mary Finnegan, Eleanor Murtagh, Michelle Carballo, Amanda Burke, Dolores Wilson, Anne Finneran and Kim McDonnell.

GALLERY: Cara-Phort FRC celebrate 20 years with community

Cara-Phort Family Resource Centre celebrated their 20-year anniversary on Sunday afternoon last, September 8, with a barbecue party.

The centre serves the Ballynacargy, Sonna, Milltown, Emper and Moyvore areas and are extending out towards Mullingar and Rathowen meeting needs in the community, and the event on Sunday allowed them the opportunity to invite their communities along to see the renovations that have taken place over the last two years. More work will follow, if funding applications are successful. Manager Anne Finneran said: “We have recently won Project of the Year and have been working on our back garden space, recently named Gairdin Le Cheile by our own Art group. This was kindly sponsored by Mullingar Rotary Club, Westmeath County Council and North Midlands Credit Union.

“We have a bigger room, completed through 2023 project of the year, where we can host bigger classes and have more community space. “Our vision is to constantly enhance our service and continue to bring more activities and programmes to our area.

“Our service would not be the service it is without our voluntary board of management, who give their time selflessly in order to ensure that our service is in place in the locality.

“Sunday was our opportunity to thank our board members and celebrate our longest serving volunteer.

“Cara-Phort FRC would like to thank our active community, volunteers, and staff and everyone who helped us organise the event and continue to support us. There is a huge amount of kindness shown towards us and Sunday was a way for us to repay that kindness in a small way.”

Among the attractions at the BBQ were DJ Michael Rooney on music, Joanne Killian on BBQ, Sigita facepainting and cake and cuppas.

The Cara-Phort FRC programme vision (alongside other 120 FRCs in Ireland), is that all children, families, individuals and communities will actively participate and be included in a society that is equal, equitable, inclusive, and non-discriminatory and which will enable their optimal wellbeing.