The country's leading housing charity, Respond! this week launched a programme of events to celebrate its 30th anniversary at its Head Office in Airmount in Waterford City.Respond! was founded in Waterford in 1982 from Franciscan roots and membership, with the aim of creating a positive future for people, by alleviating poverty and creating vibrant, socially integrated communities.
The first Respond! estate was opened in Francis Court, Lachville in Waterford city in 1983.
To celebrate its 30th anniversary Respond! has put together an exciting series of events over the next six months, which includes major conferences, the launch of significant policy documents particularly on education, opening of new housing developments and family fun days.
Speaking this week to CiNews, Respond! founder and CEO Fr Patrick Cogan said, “This is a huge milestone for the organisation, and our programme of events to celebrate this will showcase our work in building communities. Respond! is a fairytale come true in itself, we never envisaged that an organisation starting from small roots in Waterford in 1982 would have developed to such an extent. We provide over 5,500 houses across 160 estates nationally to people most in need of housing, and we plan to grow and develop even further in the future.”
The Respond! National fairytale Writing Competition will be run in partnership with the Garter Lane Arts Centre in Waterford and is open to all children under twelve living in Respond! estates across Ireland.
Children are asked to write a fairytale with a modern twist in no more than 1,000 words with prizes including laptops and iPads.
Speaking about the competition event co-ordinator at Respond! Philip O'Reilly said, “There are enormous benefits of organising a fairytale writing competition for our young residents. It will help to enhance their literacy, vocabulary and social skills. Respond! Housing has a strong record in developing high quality actions and initiatives for young people on our estates in partnership with innovative groups like the Garter Lane Arts Centre, and it's terrific to have them working with us on this initiative in our Jubilee anniversary.”