2008 | Leinster | Level 2
Mary Nally
Fáilte Isteach
In the autumn of 2006, Mary Nally became conscious of the day-to-day problems experienced by non-Irish nationals in her village of Summerhill Co. Meath due to their inability to speak English. Her response to the problem was to set up Fáilte Isteach, where older volunteers provide conversational English classes to new migrants in response to the language barriers that they are experiencing in both their working and social lives.
The resources and materials used by Fáilte Isteach deal with real life, everyday situations which we take for granted, such as visiting the doctor, shopping and work related scenarios. Today Fáilte Isteach has 40 students on its roll, from 14 different countries, and 15 volunteer tutors.
Based on this success, Mary has been approached by a number of individuals and communities from different parts of the country expressing interest in starting a similar initiative in their own area. Her challenge now is to help others to replicate her successful Summerhill model.
Fáilte Isteach is part of the Third Age Foundation, which Mary founded in 1988 in response to a lack of facilities and opportunities available to older people.
“My belief is that if there is a very real need for this service in a small rural village then there must be a need for this project in other towns and villages throughout Ireland.”
www thirdage-ireland.com
