News

Culture Connect launches new Cultural Ambassador training programme

Culture Connect, an intercultural non-profit organisation based in the Barbican Centre in William Street, Drogheda, has launched a new Cultural Ambassador Programme to train individuals from diverse ethnic groups to serve as Ambassadors of their communities living in this country.

Culture Connect provide a platform for cultural diversity, friendship thus promoting interculturalism, community cohesion, racial equality in education and the workplace.

Their vision is to promote the sharing of cultures between Irish citizens and immigrants, educate people to recognize the strength in cultural diversity and encourage communities to accept differences while celebrating similarities to make the community a more inclusive and friendlier place.

The goal of Culture Connect is to work towards removing barriers that hinder social inclusion by building social alliance between immigrants and Irish citizens.

Are you an immigrant/ethnic minority attuned with the practises, traditions, the language of your culture and living in County Louth or its surroundings?
Do your community experience language and cultural barriers trying to access health, education, social services and access to employment?
Would you be interested in acting as an advocate for your community?
Would you like to facilitate communication between your community and Service providers?
Do you have a good knowledge of your language; would like to become a community interpreter to serve your community or the people you represent?
Are you a freelancer looking for cultural appropriate training to help you support your community in understanding how the Irish system works?

If any of the above applies to you, please grab the opportunity to attend our new Cultural Ambassadors training programme running on Saturdays 3 to 6pm over 10 weeks.

Training Objectives:

To train individuals from diverse communities who will guide and support their communities to become more familiar with the Irish system and the diverse cultures within the local community.
To enhance the capacity of community members to work together to address issues of racism, sectarianism, and cultural conflicts.
To provide services that support dialogue, cultural links, a culture of mutual respect, with a primary focus on equality and building positive relations between peace target groups and the wider community.
To provide good working relationships with mainstream community groups, service providers, members of the new communities, faith groups, and Traveller groups through trained cultural ambassadors.

Eligibility criteria:

You must be an Immigrant/ Ethnic minority
A native speaker of your language
An Excellent knowledge of your culture and traditions
A relative knowledge of Irish culture and traditions
Available for the training and the programme

What Cultural Ambassadors do:

Help service providers, employers, employment support agencies to understand the norms and values of the cultures of services users/ workers from a particular minority ethnic or faith background
Help ethnic minorities to understand the cultural, linguistic and other barriers that may hinder equality and access to services.
Bridge communication gaps between service providers and minority ethnic users of services
Support and encourage minority ethnic clients to voice their needs and interest when using services
Mediate in conflicts where misunderstandings lead to serious communication breakdown