CURA Annual Conference Saturday 27 March 2010
This year CURA’s Annual Conference will be a training event for 180 of its volunteer counsellors.You or a representative are invited to attend on Saturday, 27 March, between 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm.
| Date and time: | 1:00pm on Saturday 27 March |
| Venue: | Sheraton Hotel, Athlone, Co Westmeath |
| Theme | 1. Adoption as an option in crisis pregnancy counselling 2. Role of the father in crisis pregnancy counselling |
| Keynote Speakers: | Ms Berit Andersen and Mr Fergus Hogan |
| Conference Training Facilitator: | Ms Anne McCarthy |
In Attendance:
Ms Berit Andersen has a background in Sociology. She is a senior social worker with the organisation Pact. Berit has an input on the topic of adoption for the Crisis Pregnancy Counselling Skills course delivered by NUI Maynooth and funded by the HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme (HSE CPP).
Mr Fergus Hogan is coordinator of the Centre for Social and Family Research at Waterford Institute of Technology. He is a qualified social worker and family therapist. He also has an input on the topic of the role of the father in crisis pregnancy for the Crisis Pregnancy Counselling Skills course funded by HSE CPP.
Ms Anne McCarthy is a training and development consultant. She is the lead tutor for the Crisis Pregnancy Counselling Skills course delivered by NUI, Maynooth, and funded by the HSE CPP.
Ms Louise Graham, CURA National Coordinator, notes “ It has been a busy and exciting 12 months in CURA which has seen the development of a new support service for mums of new babies, in three of our centres: Cork, Kerry and Galway, and the opening of a new outreach service in Drogheda. At this year’s Annual Conference we are taking the opportunity to explore, in-depth, two key themes in crisis pregnancy counselling which present in our work on a day-to-day basis: adoption as an option in crisis pregnancy counselling; and the role of the father in crisis pregnancy counselling. We are delighted to have Berit Andersen, Fergus Hogan and Anne McCarthy working with us on exploring these themes. This year a team of CURA counsellors has worked directly in the design and planning of the training elements and will be delivering aspects of the training input. All counsellors on the team have completed the Crisis Pregnancy Counselling Certificate Programme at the National University of Ireland, funded by the HSE CPP.
Notes to Editors:
CURA, established by the Irish Bishops’ Conference in 1977, is a crisis pregnancy counselling service offering help and support to those affected by a crisis pregnancy. CURA is funded by the HSE CPP. There are 16 CURA Centres and three outreach services throughout the country. For details see www.cura.ie
CURA services include:
- Free pregnancy testing
- Pregnancy counselling and support at any time during pregnancy (telephone helpline and face to face)
- Information on social welfare and other rights and entitlements
- Making links with agencies providing accommodation and other support services, as required
- Support to mums after the birth of a baby.
- Counselling after an abortion
- Crisis pregnancy counselling for the baby’s father and other family members
- Schools awareness programme
- See also feature on www.catholicbishops.ie for more details of the conference, a copy of the full conference programme, and a short information video about CURA’s services.
Further information:
Charlotte Keery, CURA PRO, 087 6486360 or 042 9322571
Noreen Keane, CURA PRO, 087 7781777
Martin Long, Director of the Catholic Communications Office, 086 1727678
