LCDP

The LCDP aims to tackle poverty and social exclusion through partnership and constructive engagement between Government and its agencies and people in disadvantaged communities. LCDP is a key tool of Government in providing employment supports, training, personal development/capacity building and other supports for the harder to reach in the most disadvantaged areas in society. It is a locally accessible, frontline intervention, supporting disadvantaged communities.

The LCDP is the outcome of the integration of the former Local Development Social Inclusion Programme (LDSIP) and the Community Development Programme. Westmeath Community Development is the Local Development Company for Westmeath, and has been delivering the programme, and the previous programmers under this strand since the mid 1990’s. We have a countywide remit, and our work also encompasses the work previously carried out by Athlone Community Taskforce and Harmony CDP in Athlone.

The LCDP is underpinned by four goals:

• To promote awareness, knowledge and uptake of a wide range of statutory, voluntary and community services;
• To increase access to formal and informal educational, recreational and cultural development activities and resources;
• To increase peoples’ work readiness and employment prospects; and
• To promote engagement with policy, practice and decision making processes on matters affecting local communities.

The objectives of the LCDP include the following:

• Develop and sustain a range of services to support, prepare and assist people to enter the Labour Market;
• Develop and sustain strategies with local enterprises to increase local employment prospects;
• Develop and sustain strategies to increase local self employment prospects

The LCDP is managed by POBAL on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

For further information on the LCDP please contact Frank Murtagh at Ph: 090 64 16121, or email fmurtagh@westcd.ie