Childcare: A multilingual information pack has been launched in Galway by a local childcare committee to demystify childcare issues for asylum seeking and refugee families who are new to the area.
The pack is just one of a number of initiatives developed by the Intercultural Focus Group of the Galway City & County Childcare Committee to improve access to childcare services for people from minority groups living in the city and county.
These include diversity training for childcare services, summer schemes for children from different countries, and the provision of training for parents to run a creche in Eglinton Hotel hostel.
The multilingual packs contain information in nine languages about the different types of childcare available in Galway, how to register a child in a service and a bilingual sample registration form for each language. Also included is a list of relevant contact numbers, as well as details of where to get an up-to-date list of childcare services.
To facilitate those whose first language is not English, the pack has been translated into Arabic, Romanian, Russian, French, Spanish and Irish, as well as the African languages, Yoruba, Lingala and Igbo.
Development worker with Galway City and County Childcare Committee, Fionnuala Foley explained: "We have links with different organisations, in particular with the Galway Refugee Support Group, and they helped us work out the most common languages being used in Galway."
Copies of the pack are available from Galway City Library, community welfare offices, community childcare services or through Galway City & County Childcare Committee on tel: 091- 752039.
