Our Services & Programmes

Following research into “Safe Place to Play in Finglas North A” (McDonald and Kinlen, 2019), Healthy Ireland funding was awarded to Finglas West FRC to help with the development of a play zone for children in Avila to promote physical play and development. Working alongside the community in Avila play markings were laid in Avila for the children to enjoy.

Baby Massage provides numerous physical, psychological and emotional benefits for babies and the families who care for them. This course aims to promote nurturing touch, enhance the early bonding relationship between parents/caregivers and their babies and promote the use of gentle, tactile stimulation along with loving verbal communication.

The Sensory Play group provides a safe space for parents/carers and their babies. The group aims to reduce social isolation, provide sensory play for babies, a space for parents/carers to be with their babies and an opportunity for parents to receive peer support and advice. Each session provides opportunities for the babies to explore their environment through various forms of play e.g. sensory, music, stories, art/craft and toys.

Circle of Security is an 8-week attachment based parenting programme. Circle of Security Parenting implements decades of attachment research in an accessible step-by-step process for use in group settings, home visitation or individual counselling.

Currently run with local primary schools, this group promotes children’s well-being and development through creative play whilst offering a safe place to play in Finglas West, encouraging and promoting social development through creative activities such as art, music, baking and sports.

Working with artists from Creative Connections, we transformed the railings and walls at St Joseph’s GNS/St Kevin’s BNS on Barry Avenue Finglas into colourful art installations. Working collaboratively with the 2 local primary schools we consulted and engaged with approx. 300 children in terms of design/themes and the children physically took part in spray painting the railings and walls.

Drumming workshops have the potential to enhance the emotional and social functioning of children. Music activities can enhance awareness and self-expression and promote positive forms of interaction such as collaboration and mutual exchange, aiding social interaction and social regulation through facilitating inclusion and appropriate boundaries.

The Enhance the Space programme is a collaborative piece of work between the Finglas West FRC, Dublin City Council (DCC) and the Finglas West community. The project, completed in 2019, developed and transformed an empty space into a safe and beautiful garden.

Our second Enhance the Space Project in collaboration DCC, Finglas Cabra Drugs and Alcohol Taskforce and local community members was completed in October 2021. The project created a sensory garden with plants and flowers of various colours, smells, textures and sounds in rainbow coloured planter boxes at Plunkett Green.

An annual community event that brings together various strands of the Finglas district’s agencies and service providers under the auspices of Dublin City Council in order to provide activities, games and fun for families in the Finglas West area. Finglas West FRC plays a key role in the Family Fun Day. In 2019, we facilitated sessions of the Imagination Playground. We were also heavily involved in planning and supporting the 2020 and 2021 Finglas Family Fun Day which had to move online due to COVID-19.

This group follows the PEEP’s programme which supports parents and children to learn together. PEEP’s supports parents to understand more about how babies and children learn, and how they as parents can help develop secure attachment/relationships with their babies and children. Each themed session provides stories, songs and an activity to promote social skills, sensory play and the bond between children and caregiver.

Funded through CYPSC/Healthy Ireland, this programme offers young girls (aged 7 to 9) better opportunities to engage in physical activity as part of their weekly routine in their local community. The aim of the programme is to help young girls enjoy moving more often and in a greater variety of ways encouraging healthy lifestyles including healthy eating.

The Imagination Playground is an innovative playground equipment system that transforms any space; schools, children’s museums, parks, preschool centres, camps, hospitals, community centres into a play space that encourages learning, social development, movement and above all fun!

Delivered through the local schools, our intergenerational gardening projects aim to bring together children and their carers to learn together and to provide a space for children and their parents/grandparents to build relationships while planting and gardening together. Our Intergenerational Gardening project, delivered with St Kevin’s Boy NS, St Fergal’s Boys NS and St Joseph’s Girls NS, in collaboration with DCC, in June 2019 won the Dublin City Council City Neighbourhood Garden Award 2019. The children and family members who took part in the project were presented with an award at the Mansion House in December 2019. Please see video about this project here – https://vimeo.com/342703536/d2baeae034

Currently taught with classes in the local primary schools, this programme teaches children strategies to use mindfulness of the breath, understand and express thoughts and feelings, how all feelings are okay and not permanent and how to be a good friend to themselves and others.

This course focuses on bringing mindfulness to parenting, mindful listening, building presence and connection, cultivating mindful presence and reflective listening, practicing self-compassion and compassion for children. Each session includes meditations, reflection and looking at how being present and using mindfulness supports the parent/child relationship.

Peeps Learning Together Programme has 5 strands to promote learning these are Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language, Early Literacy, Early Maths and Health and Physical Development. This programme aims to reduce isolation for parents and toddlers living in Finglas West. Each themed session provides stories, songs and an activity to promote social skills, sensory play and the bond between children and caregiver.

Colourful play markings have been installed on the paths outside St Joseph’s Girls NS and St Kevin’s BNS, Barry Avenue. Following research conducted into “Safe Place to Play in Finglas North A” (McDonald and Kinlen 2019) these markings were laid to provide local children daily opportunities to engage in free physical activity on their way to and from school.

These workshops are delivered to primary school aged children during the summer break. The focus of these workshops are to improve children’s physical, social & emotional wellbeing through delivery of physical activity, creative arts: e.g. gloop, painting etc. and Mindfulness.

Triple P, Fear-less is a positive parenting programme for parents/carers. It aims to promote positive caring relationships between parents/carers and their children to help parents develop effective management strategies for dealing with a variety of childhood behaviour problems and common developmental issues.

In response to COVID-19 weekly wellbeing packs were delivered to families previously engaged in FRC services while face-to-face contact was postponed at the FRC. The packs included school, colouring and fun activities for children; word searches; books; and some recipes with materials that families can make together e.g. playdough, mindfulness packs, baking, creative, outdoor and sensory play.