Local Development Companies (LDCs) promote area-based, integrated community-led projects to address long-term unemployment, economic marginalisation and social exclusion. One such project is The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) programme which provides funding for projects to tackle poverty and social exclusion and help address high and persistent levels of deprivation through targeted and innovative, locally-led approaches. It supports disadvantaged communities and individuals including unemployed people, people living in deprived areas, people with disabilities, single-parent families, people on a low income, members of the Traveller and Roma community and other disadvantaged groups.

SICAP is funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development and the European Social Fund under the Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning. The programme is managed at a local level by 33 Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs), with support from local authorities, They do this by helping people to find work or to upskill, providing CV training or a personal development course and helping some avail of work
placement programmes such as Community Employment or Tύs.

People can find themselves in Social Inclusion for a number of reasons and it is important to understand the type of exclusion you are dealing with in order to effectively intervene. Local Development Companies (LDCs) have always done good working within the community, be that with individuals or community groups. However, as an Enterprise Development Officer who engages with Individuals within host communities, I have noticed that literacy is a major
barrier to inclusion and opportunity and if the main form of communication utilized by South Dublin County Partnership is the written work then as an organization, we are failing a larger segment of those we are mandated to help.

As a result of this reality, I proposed to develop and deliver the first South Dublin County Partnership Podcast that would be tailored to those who wish to avail of our services but could not engage due to literacy issues. By providing a Digital Recording (Podcast) with key experts in the different supports that are provided by South Dublin County Partnership, which could be texted out to interested parties, we could bypass some barriers that are linked to literacy and communicate directly with the parties in question.