No. We acknowledge and affirm the work of volunteer boards over the years. Those who wish to continue to volunteer on behalf of their communities will be encouraged under the new programme without the bureaucratic burden of ensuring compliance with company law.
- Reply issued on behalf of Minister of State for Community Affairs, John Curran.
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Of course it is an attack on volunteering, you cant take away autonomy and decision-making for groups in local areas and say it is not an attack on volunteering. This decision to subsume CDPs into Partnerships will result in the direct disempowerment of local communities. What the Minister wants is volunteer to give their time and resources to directly deliver local "services" but to have no say or input into what should be happening in their community. This is part of a broader agenda to silence dissenting voices.
ReplyDeleteThe CDP management committees will still be left to comply with company law. As members of a Board of Directors of Companays Limited by Garuntee (most CDPs use this legal company set up) they are personally responsible for this - the Ministers decison will mean not only that directors will still have this responsibility, he is removing the resources that allow and help them to do this effectively.
ReplyDeleteCDP managements are not 'burdened' by company law. It empowers them to take on the responsibility to manage and direct a project in their community.
ReplyDeleteThe fact is this is an attempt to silence and disempower real volunteers.
But don't worry you'll always have flagship volunteers such as Mary Davis who won't challenge your policies that discriminate against working class people.
Given that these questions - as well as the answers - were given by the Minister, I think her 'doth protest too much': of COURSE this is an attack on volunteers, specifically those volunteers who are empowered to act on behalf of their local communities and who have taken on this responsibility for years. To remove all say from them is an act of disempowerment of which any government with any remote concern for the wellbeing of its people would be ashamed.
ReplyDelete(the answer is also really patronising in its tone - shame, Minister)
This is terrible patronising. The minister is in effect making them redundant without even as much as discussing it with them by removing the funding. But nevertheless they will still be members of a Ltd Company which they set up when the began the Community Development Project.
ReplyDeleteMinister as a volunteer on a Board I find your answer very upsetting. There will be no room for the voluntary committee to continue in the new set up. CDP Boards were accessible to all, meetings were held locally and the suits had no place at them. LDSIP Boards are TOTALLY different and you need to be a strong, confident community rep to even entertain seeking election to it
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know no CDP has been informed directly as yet of any dicissions eventhough the Minister is making these statements - This highlights the disrspect the Minister has for the people losing the CDP Programme at the worst time in their lives, the Volunteer who has worked for years for nothing, the dedicated staff who have worked tirlessly over the years to carrie out the work of the individual CDP Projects. I agree with Anon,The LDSIP programme is totally diferent so the Minister can say what he wants the fact is the Minister is getting rid of the Community Development Programme- Shame on everyone in Goverment both in power and out them in power are the ones doing this and thoses not in power are letting it happen.
ReplyDelete