Community

New Community Worker - Athy Municipal District

Laura Whelan has joined the Community & Cultural Section as the Community Worker for Athy Municipal District. 

Laura will work with the residents of designated local authority estates* to identify local needs and develop appropriate responses. She will also provide community support in the wider electoral area.

Laura says, ‘I worked with County Kildare Leader Partnership for three and a half years in a number of community development roles.

I was a Youth Employment Worker in Athy before going on to co-ordinate the Ability Programme, a targeted intervention for young people with a disability, illness or injury who are not in training, education, or employment.

Before that, I worked with Barretstown, a charity for children and families affected by serious illness. I travelled to Haiti and Tanzania, training local teams, and supporting them in the delivery of camps for children with HIV and AIDS. The whole ethos was to ensure that children could be children and leave their illness at the door, while having fun in a safe environment.

Starting a new job in a global pandemic is not ideal, but I’m lucky in lots of ways. I have local networks from previous roles and can rely on those to get me started. I’m looking forward to settling in, building relationships, and delivering good outcomes for Athy Municipal District, in collaboration with everyone who wants to get involved.

This is an area with huge potential. I’ve met phenomenal individuals, families, and community groups here. I have lots of ideas and am certain that they do too. I can’t wait to get the conversation started and would love to hear from anyone who would like to link in.

Feel free to get in touch. I want to engage with as many people as possible and am always happy to talk’.

Laura can be contacted at lwhelan@kildarecoco.ie.

* Flinters Place/Close, Canal Walk and Clonmullion in Athy and Kilmead.