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Waterford Contact Project to continue, thanks to HSE funding

Waterford Contact Project to continue, thanks to HSE funding

Funding has been secured to ensure the continued operation of the Waterford Contact Project.

The service, which is run from St Brigids Family Resource Centre, involves trained and vetted volunteers regularly visiting the elderly in their homes.

The project has been running for the past seven years and costs €15,500 annually, but up to now has only received part funding from the HSE of €6,741, leaving a shortfall of €8,759.

Mags Drohan, Waterford Contact Project coordinator said that constant shortfall in funding was proving difficult to plug:

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"There was always a shortfall that St Brigid's and the project steering group tried to meet. This year we had come to a stage where we had run out of other funding options, so there was a real concern we wouldn't be able to continue into 2018, but thankfully we've just received a commitment from the HSE to fully fund the project

Mags says the additional funding, secured with the help of local political representatives, will offer security into the future and will allow the project to recruit a coordinator to run the befriending service.

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