This week on ‘Where the road takes me’, John Greene visits the National Learning Network in Donemark in Bantry – regarded by many as one of Ireland’s best kept secrets.
The NLN is Ireland’s largest non-Government training organisation. Their motto is ‘Investing in people and changing perspectives. They are striving hard to eliminate the misconception that they only cater for a specific group in the community. The NLN is for everybody from late teens to sixty five years of age, training is free and they even provide their own bus service to and from the centre. In fact, if you can’t come to them, they will come to you in your own home.
This is for anybody who finds themselves in difficult circumstances – There’s a range of support services and courses available to – jobseekers, the unemployed, people with low esteem, an illness or a disability, anybody in fact who has a desire to return to the workplace. In the past eight weeks for instance, five people have left the centre and returned to full-time employment.
This week on the programme, John Greene meets the people who provide the services and we speak to those who benefit from them. We meet Marie whose confidence had hit rock bottom – she is now working fulltime as an office administrator. And we meet Denis who was diagnosed with Bi-Polar disorder. He has since started his own help group for people with mental health problems and is ready to leave the NLN, and resume work as a qualified electrician.
- Where the road takes me – from the National Learning Network in Bantry – this Sunday evening at 7pm on C103.
