Cork’s Sexual Health Centre named National Lottery Good Causes Awards National Finalist

“Access to services and sanitary products gives people dignity and peace of mind.”

 

The Sexual Health Centre on the South Mall in Cork has been nominated as a National Finalist for the 2024 National Lottery Good Causes Awards.

The centre has been embedded in the city since 1987, providing information to the public on sexual health and wellbeing, sexuality, and healthy relationships. It offers a range of services, including rapid HIV testing, HIV support and counselling, pregnancy support, education and training, and an advice line.

The Sexual Health Centre is one of 35 National Finalists selected across seven categories in this year's National Lottery Good Causes Awards. The awards aim to honour, showcase and celebrate the inspiring work being carried out nationwide by thousands of projects, clubs and individuals who have received support from Good Causes funding. 

Each of the National Finalists will receive a cheque of €1,000 and will attend the Good Causes Awards Gala event later this year in Killashee House Hotel where the overall winner of each category will be named.

Head of Operations Muire O’Farrell explains that National Lottery Good Causes funding helped the centre expand its Sexual Health Hubs project. Launched in 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic prevented staff from performing its in-person outreach work, the initiative saw the centre install sexual health information stands in various public places around the city.

“The hubs offer free sexual health resources and information on topics such as contraception and STIs, and access to free condoms. They’re designed to be LGBT friendly and gender neutral to reinforce the principle that sexual health support and education should be universally accessible and free from stigma,” says Muire, the Head of Operations at the centre, which has been nominated in the Youth category of the National Lottery Good Causes Awards.

“The funding from the National Lottery allowed us to bring the hubs outside the city to the rest of the county. It also helped us to extend the range of products we provided for free at the stands. We’ve added menstrual products to the stands, along with a QR code which brings people to a video that demonstrates how to use the product. The response was excellent. We regularly have to re-stock the dispensers.”

Muire believes the free access to sanitary and contraceptive products gives people dignity and peace of mind. “That’s the most important thing. We don’t want young people walking around with toilet paper in their underwear. Providing the menstrual products for free means they can take as much as they need, as often as they need, for either themselves or a family member. Overall, the effect has been that young people feel more empowered to seek assistance and information without feeling any shame,” she adds.

The Sexual Health Centre continues to take applications from vendors around the county for new hubs, but limited funding is inhibiting their spread. Muire hopes its nomination as a National Finalist for the National Lottery Good Causes Awards will help the centre extend its reach to marginalised groups who continue to struggle to access reliable sexual health information, contraceptives, and sanitary products, especially those living in rural areas.

She explains: “We would love to keep expanding with more hubs. We partner with youth outreach and family resource centres, and they are interested in setting up a hub in their facilities. It’s just getting the funds together to resource them, especially as we would love to provide more disability and autism-friendly supports. There are lots of mainstream resources, especially in the city, but we are determined to do more for those with additional needs in rural areas.”

Photo Caption: Joe Curtin, coordinator with the Hut Youth Project in Gurranbraher, Cork, at its Sexual Health Hub provided by the Sexual Health Centre.

The facility moved to a new headquarters on the South Mall earlier this year, a switch which Muire says formed part of the centre’s strategic plan. “Being centrally located is key for us. We need to be visible, front and centre for anyone who wants to use our services – whether it’s counselling, testing, or support through our youth outreach programmes. They need to be able to see us so that sexual health is always top of their minds.”

Nearly 30 cent in every €1 spent on all National Lottery games goes back to Good Causes in the areas of sport, youth, health, welfare, education, arts, heritage, and the Irish Language. In total more than €6 Billion has been raised for Good Causes since the National Lottery was established 36 years ago. In 2022 alone, €259.5 Million was raised for local Good Causes in communities across Ireland.               

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