Bandon Family Centre

08/06/2026

🎒 Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance 2026

Did you know?
The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is now open, and for the first time, eligible children aged 2 and 3 are now included.

This year the payment is:

👟 €160 for eligible children aged 2 to 11

📚 €285 for eligible children aged 12 to 22

The scheme opened on 3 June 2026 and applications close on 30 September 2026. Many families will receive the payment automatically, but if you do not receive a notification and think you may qualify, you can apply through MyWelfare.

Find out more on gov.ie:
https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-social-protection/services/back-to-school-clothing-and-footwear-allowance/

Apply through MyWelfare:
https://services.mywelfare.ie/en/topics/parents-children-family/back-to-school-clothing-footwear-allowance/

Please share this with other parents who might not realise that younger children can now be included too.

08/06/2026

𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 & 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴

💻 **𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 | 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝟴𝘁𝗵 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲**

Supporting a child’s mental health and wellbeing can feel challenging at times, especially when children are dealing with the day-to-day stresses of school, friendships and growing up.

This **𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲** from **𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹** in conjunction with **𝗦𝘁. 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸’𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀** is designed to support parents of primary school children to encourage and promote positive mental health and wellbeing.

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹:
• Explore the factors that influence their child’s mental health and wellbeing
• Learn how to build and nurture resilience
• Gain practical ways to support positive mental health and wellbeing

🗓 **𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 | 𝟴𝘁𝗵 – 𝟭𝟮𝘁𝗵 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲**
⏰ **𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲**
(All sessions cover the same information — choose what suits you best)

👉 **𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲:**
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/hytcVxkEhQ

You’re not on your own. **𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.**
📞 **𝗡𝗣𝗖 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝟬𝟭 𝟴𝟴𝟳 𝟰𝟰𝟳𝟳**

If you know another parent who might find this helpful, feel free to share 💙

07/06/2026

🌟 Help Us Continue Supporting Our Community 🌟
Please help by nominating Bandon Family Resource Centre for the AIB Community €1 Million Fund? With your help, we could receive vital funding to support local families, children, and individuals across our community.
💜 We need your nomination! 💜
The process takes less than a minute, but the impact could last for years.
👉 Nominate us here: https://aib.ie/personal-forms/community-fund
When completing the form, please use:
✅ Charity Number: 20206438
✅ Region: Munster
✅ Social Theme: Other
You can also add a few words about why you believe Bandon Family Resource Centre deserves support.
Every nomination helps strengthen the services, programmes, and supports we provide to those who need them most.
Thank you for standing with us. Please share this post and encourage friends, family, and colleagues to nominate too! 💙


This is Bandon Bandon Primary School Bandon Opinion/The Opinion

02/06/2026

Wishing best of luck to all students sitting State Exams - believe in yourself!

02/06/2026

Starting September 2026. Apply online at www.fetchcourses.ie Search for the following course codes under COURSE FINDER - 509394 and 509388 (the first 2 modules). The course is online on Mondays and Thursdays from 09.30 to 12.30. No classes when schools are off. Free to most applicants. Open to those on a DSP payment. For more information, call 086-8239094 or email [email protected]

01/06/2026

29/05/2026

We were delighted to recently welcome Noel O Donovan to Bandon Family Resource Centre for a very positive and engaging visit.

We had a wide-ranging discussion on the evolving needs of our local community, the vital role Family Resource Centres play across Ireland, and the importance of accessible, community-based supports for individuals and families.

We also spoke about our ongoing search for a new home for Bandon Family Resource Centre — a space that will allow us to continue growing, expanding our services, and responding to the increasing needs within our community.

It was an encouraging opportunity to highlight both the challenges and the huge potential that exists when communities are supported to thrive. We appreciate Senator O'Donovan taking the time to listen, engage, and support the work being done in communities like Bandon.

28/05/2026

At the end of April, our board members and staff were delighted to attend the inspiring Bandon – Building Collaborative Leadership for a Changing Town event.

A sincere thank you to West Cork Development Partnership for organising such a valuable experience, and to Rob Worrall for his engaging and insightful facilitation.

Since then, we’ve been busy behind the scenes building connections, developing ideas, and working towards a more collaborative and connected Bandon.

At Bandon Family Resource Centre, we’re excited to continue building on this momentum and look forward to working together on positive projects that will benefit the wider Bandon community.

28/05/2026

We wholeheartedly agree. Delighted to see the strength of collaboration across the Bandon community. 👏
Bandon Community Network is such a valuable forum for connection, support and shared learning, and we’re very pleased to continue building links with other groups and organisations working to make a positive difference locally.

Thank you to Darren and all those who make up Bandon Community Network. The image shows some of the members. It's a great resource for all of us working in the community.

28/05/2026

We are now on Instagram - follow us and spread the word!