Cork Bereavement Resource Network (CBRN) - Proposed

1. Lead Applicant Details

Name of Lead Applicant: Neal Dunnigan

Organisation Name: Cork Community Chaplaincy Services

Organisation Type: Ltd

Bereavement Service Provided: pastoral care for bereaved and training for helpers and caregivers who accompany bereaved individuals

Service’s Target Population: Bereaved individuals and caregivers / helpers who accompany bereavers

Lead Applicant’s Job Title: Lead Chaplain 

Work Address: 7 Cois Coillte, Ballinure Road, Cork, Cork CO, T12 K4DW

Phone Number: 087 704 4536

E-Mail: N.Dunnigan@Cork Community Chaplains.IE

2. Co-Applicant Details

Organisation Name: Cork Methodist Churches 

Organisation Type: NGO-Church

Bereavement Service Provided: Funerals, memorial services, pastoral counselling

Service’s Target Population: The Cork Methodist Churches webpage covers the work of the Methodist Church in Cork, Kinsale, and Youghal

Name of Applicant: Rev. Andrew Robinson

Job Title: Circuit Minister

Organisation Name: Skibbereen Community and Family Resource Centre

Organisation Type: NGO

Bereavement Service Provided:  Bereavement service are available at, but not offered directly by centre. Counsellors, play therapists and art therapists utilise the centre’s space for client sessions, including for clients who have suffered bereavement.

Service’s Target Population: The Resource Centre provides space for all groups; young people, parents, carers, older people, LGBTQI etc. 

Name of Applicant: Gráinne Carr

Job Title: Older Person and Carers Development Worker

Organisation Name: Bon Secours Hospital

Organisation Type: NGO

Bereavement Service Provided: pastoral care, memorial services 

Service’s Target Population: Cork residents who are patients and their families

Name of Applicant: Rev. Dwayne Gavin

Job Title: Mission Leader

Organisation Name: Cork Unitarian Church

Organisation Type: NGO-Church

Bereavement Service Provided: Funerals, memorial services, pastoral counselling

Service’s Target Population: Residents of Cork City and surrounding areas.

Name of Applicant: Virginia Giglio 

Job Title: Director

Organisation Name: Beara West Family Resource Centre

Organisation Type: NGO / Charity

Bereavement Service Provided: No specific service at present – we provide in-house support as required and also refer clients through our low cost counselling service to specifically trained therapists.

Service’s Target Population: While the Centre is situated in Castletownbere, its
catchment area takes in much of the Beara Peninsula. It supports community needs in
townlands throughout Beara including Rossmacowen, Castletownbere, Kilmacowen,
Kilcatherine, Eyeries, Urhan, Allihies, Garnish, Cahermore and Bere Island. The town of
Castletownbere attracts a large fishing community and is home to a wide range of multi-
national families.

Name of Applicant: Claire Dickinson 

Job Title: Project Co-ordinator

Organisation Name: Esoteric Buddhists of Ireland

Organisation Type: NGO -Church

Bereavement Service Provided: Funeral & memorial services, ancestor rituals

Service’s Target Population: Esoteric Buddhists in Cork and Ireland

Name of Applicant: Mary O’Connor 

Job Title: Vajra Acharya Zhiyue

3. Details of the Collaborating Group

The Cork Bereavement Resource Network Team is an ad hoc organisation created for the purpose of this project. Four of our member organisations (i.e. Cork Community Chaplaincy Services, Bon Secours Hospital, Cork Methodist Churches, Cork Unitarian Church, and Esoteric Buddhists of Ireland) have previous history of collaboration on bereavement projects. The two new organisations (i.e. Beara West Family Resource Center and Skibbereen Community and Family Resource Centre) are new additions to our collaboration and expend the collaboration to include the western portion of Cork County.

4. Eligibility Criteria

Does your application meet all of the eligibility criteria outlined below?

Yes

A minimum of six organisations in the group – Yes

All organisations provide some level of bereavement support to adults and/or families – Yes

All organisations operate within the geographical are this is the focus of this application – Yes

At least 50% of the organisations in the group are NGOs – Yes

All organisations demonstrate transparent governance and NGOs are registered with the Charities Regulator – Yes

 

5a. Project Details

Project title:

Cork Bereavement Resource Network (CBRN)

Start date of project:

January 2025

Projected finish date:

April 2025

Geographical region theproject/activity is located in?
(e.g. county or CHO area):

County Cork

Identified need:

  1. Bereavement support events organisers are often unaware of each other’s activities and therefor can easily miss opportunities to support or participate in each others events
  2. While many bereavement support resources exist and some resource lists exist, there is not a comprehensive platform for bereavement support collaboration and coordination.
  3. The wide range and diversity of  avaiable bereavement resources makes it difficult for bereavement support helpers to readily access resources that they are not already familiar with.

Project aim (i.e. how will the project activity meet the identified need):

The identified needs are common to many groups and web-based platforms are available to create collaborative networks. There are now several mature cloud-bases computer services for what is called: Online Community Management Software. These systems are predesigned to manage: a common searchable directory of members and their profiles, a shared calendar of events, and topic based discussion/messaging boards.

Planned activity / plan:

  • Design the data and business models for the network. A high-level UML diagram of the proposed scope is shown here: 
Bereavement Resource Network UML Model
Bereavement Resource Network UML Model
  • Select and test the Online Community Management Software service. Possible candidates for the collaboration platform include:
      • Mighty Networks
      • Gainsight Customer Communities
      • ToucanTech
      • Cafe
      • Bevy
      • Commune
      • Higher Logic
      • Thrive
      • GlueUp
      • Bettermode
      • Discourse
      • Heartbeat
      • Hivebrite

Phase 1

  1. Complete Requirements and design
  2. Review with stakeholders
  3. Select platform and prototype

Phase 2

  1. Configure the system and develop onboarding materials
  2. Rollout to a pilot group for initial evaluation
  3. Review with stakeholders

Phase 3

  1. Promote use of the network
  2. Rollout

How will you assess the success or impact of the activity (include how you will assess and report the specific outcomes you hope to achieve through the activity)?

  • The platform will contain an area for subscribers to identify features they like, don’t like, or which were there (i.e. “wish list”).
  • E-Mail surveys of subscriber satisfaction will also be conducted.

Have you identified any risks in the activity? If yes, please specify and how they will be addressed?

  • Proper platform selection is a risk. The mitigation is to mack certain to model all of the data elements and relationships to ensure that the selected platform can support them.
  • Requirements gathering is a risk. The mitigation is to meet with various potential constituencies (in addition to the core team) to present the concept and solicit early feedback. 
  • On-going operational funding. Although minimal, consideration has to be made for annnual licensing fees for the online community management collaboration platform. Also a small amount of part-time administration is likely needed to provide on-boarding assistance and address any issues with the platform provider. Potentially, a self-funding solution can be found where commercial service providers (e.g. funeral homes,  funeral celebrants, memorial supply merchants, etc.) pay a nominal amount for “sponsor” entries in the directory.

5b. What Target Group Will Benefit From This Activity?

The direct beneficiaries are the Cork individuals who are providing support to bereaved people, as they would be better able to locate and access bereavement resources which they could use for signposting or self-development.

All bereaved people in Cork would benefit indirectly.

5c. Please Indicate the Activity That Best Describes the Subject of this Applicaiton

This project will create a collaborative networking platform to allow bereavement support staff and volunteers to locate bereavement resources, share information, exchange ideas, and coordinate events.

6. Budget

  • Online Community Management collaboration platform license – €1000
  • Graphic Design – €500
  • Technical consulting – €500

Total – €2000

How has your group committed to meeting the shortfall (if applicable)?

As we look closer, we believe that we will be able to obtain the additional specific skilled resources from our group members. Also, our choice of Online Community Management collaboration platform will potentially lessen those other costs.

What resources do you need other than money?

We will be needing project management, technical design, technical writing, design review, and pilot testing. We believe these assets are available across our participating organisations.