Donegal County Council has launched this year’s One Donegal Social Inclusion week.
The Social Inclusion Week aims to create awareness and understanding of inclusiveness in Donegal, with a series of events being held around the county.
The events also highlight the extraordinary work done by voluntary and community groups in the county to help reduce social isolation, social exclusion and poverty.
At the launch of Social Inclusion Week, one of the projects highlighted was the One Million Stars Donegal project, which is an inclusive community arts project, which aims to connect communities in the county against domestic abuse and all kinds of violence.
As part of Social Inclusion Week, an eight-point star has been woven, with each point representing light, hope and solidarity against violence and promoting eight points of healthy love within relationships. This is a multi-cultural exhibition with star making workshops taking place throughout Social Inclusion Week.
This year’s Social Inclusion Week will take place from the 16th March to 24th March 2024 with cyber-crime awareness highlighted at events during the week with a focus on the 4 P’s: Password, Permissions, Payment, Participants.
Speaking at the launch of Social Inclusion Week on Tuesday morning in the Regional Culture Centre, Chief Executive of Donegal County Council John McLaughlin said, “Social inclusion helps build a united community and ensures the marginalised have greater participation in their communities and society while having a positive impact on their standard of living and overall well-being. Social Inclusion Week gives us the opportunity to promote and highlight the positive work that the public and community sectors are involved in to address social exclusion”.
Leas Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council, Cllr Gerry McMonagle said “the One Donegal Social Inclusion Week programme has a great variety of events happening for all abilities and ages, it also highlights the significant and valuable level of work that is on-going at a local level in Donegal.”