Parenting NI Celebrate 40th Anniversary in Strabane

John Crowe, Co-ordinator of the Professional Chef Diploma and Hospitality Lecturer at North West Regional College presents the 40th birthday cake created by students of the college to Cahir Murray and Muriel Bailey of Parenting NI.

Local parenting support charity celebrate special anniversary marking 40 years of supporting parents in Northern Ireland.

Forty years ago Parenting NI (formerly Parents Advice Centre) was established by a group of dedicated volunteers to support parents in Northern Ireland. The charity has continued to grow over the years, delivering a range of high quality services which have been specifically developed and tailored to meet the needs of parents.

Parenting NI continue to advocate for parents and the need for more support for families in order to ensure the best outcomes for children. The charity say that given the number of challenges many families are facing throughout Northern Ireland there is a continued demand for support services for parents.

Muriel Bailey, Director for Family Support Services, said

Research Parenting NI carried out last year found that 82% of survey participants said they do not feel parents get enough support. Parents’ answers indicated that they felt that society was not very supportive of those in a parenting role; so during our 40th year celebrations, and upcoming Parenting Week, we want to highlight the important role parents play in their children’s lives and celebrating the wonderful job parents do on a daily basis. Parenting isn’t always easy, and all too often we can focus on the times when things ‘go wrong’ so we want to focus on the positives and celebrate parenting.

We were delighted to hold a celebration event in The Parlor with Strabane Community Project on Friday 11th October with parents in the area. We are incredibly grateful to North West Regional College, who got their students involved in baking a birthday cake for us to enjoy with parents at the event.”

John Crowe, Co-ordinator of the Professional Chef’s Diploma at North West Regional College, said:

“Our Level 3 Hospitality students were honoured to be given the opportunity to create this cake and I have been extremely impressed with the hard work they have put in, to not only design the cake but also in creating it to such a high standard.

“The college is delighted to support Parenting NI as they mark this major milestone in their history.”

Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council Cllr Michaela Boyle praised the work of Parenting NI in providing support and advice to parents. “As a parent myself I know how challenging it can be. I’m glad that this event offered parents the opportunity to not only find out about support services that are available, but also provided a chance to meet up with other parents, share experiences and celebrate all that is good about being a parent,” she said.

You can find out more information about Parenting NI and the services they offer at www.parentingni.org or call the Support Line for free on 0808 8010 722.