Community Wellbeing Fair
A free Community Wellbeing Fair took place in Newbridge Town Hall on Wednesday 28th September 2022.
The event was hosted by Kildare County Council and the South Western Regional Drug & Alcohol Tas Force as part of County Kildare Social Inclusion Week.
27 community agencies and services were present on the day providing useful information on addiction, recovery, homeless services, community education and family supports, among many other targeted topics.
MC for the occasion was Aubrey McCarthy, Chairman of Tiglin, an organisation that strives to provide effective and comprehensive solutions to life-controlling addiction issues.
The heart of the occasion was the compelling testimony of guest speakers Gary Lawlor and Zak Moran from the Druids and Maynooth University student Rob Whitely. Gary said, ‘Recovery has given me my family back. We need to come together and use days like this to spread awareness that addiction should not be stigmatised. Now is the time to act’.
Event coordinator and Kildare County Council Community Worker Carmel Cashin said, ‘We’d like to thank Newbridge Town Hall for accommodating us. We were very happy to see so many agencies and attendees in the venue and equally happy to see local Transition Year students paying close attention to our guest speakers. Massive thanks to Gary, Zak and Rob, who shared their experiences and personified the purpose of this event: to smash the stigma around addiction and inspire real hope for recovery’.
