My Experience with CWELL
Intro
CWELL (Community, Wellness, Empowerment, Leadership, and Lifeskills) is a two-year, part-time Level 7 diploma created at the University of Limerick between UL and the communities around Limerick City. It was part of the University's initiative to become more socially conscious in the City and surrounding areas. With help from Limerick City and County Council, the course aims to create community leaders who can impact their local areas and beyond.
I ended up on this course by accident because I returned to Limerick after 20 years and I was lost on what to do. I came from a music and business background and worked for a decade managing bands, running events, and doing PR. I returned to Limerick to do a masters in UL on International Entrepreneurship Management (a mouthful) and had to drop out for health reasons. During this time I was disappointed in myself for not completing the course, in a city I wasn't familiar with, and trying to find something more impactful on people's lives. I found this job that I am in now, it involved community work and education and seemed like a good fit. I started with zero knowledge of anything community-related and am now fully ingrained in the system that I love. CWELL has helped to avoid the imposter syndrome by allowing me to get a recognised diploma from UL in this area.
Course overview/subjects
The course gives people skills that are transferable across all sectors. In my class alone, people work in youth services, drug prevention/harm reduction, mental health services, community education, psychology, health initiatives, and with people with additional needs.
Some of the most inspiring individuals who enrol have been away from the workforce for an extended period, particularly mothers who have dedicated two decades to raising their children and now seek to engage more actively within their communities. Simply showing up on the first day is a significant step forward.
The course covers a wide range of topics, including:
- Personal Development
- Well-Being Across the Lifespan
- Active Living
- Managing Health in the Home and Community
- Empowerment and Life Skills
- Politics and Active Citizenship
- Social Science
- And involves a project
Due to the type of person who wants to work in communities, there are also no bad apples!
Everyone gets along and the classes seem to fly by due to this. Help and support are provided at every step of the way by the tutors, coordinators, and a past student who sits in with our class to give us the best advice to help with our assignments and clarify anything we have trouble with.
Success stories
The impact on Limerick is already phenomenal, it's not just through the projects that come from it (of which there are many fantastic ones), it is through working with people from all sectors, including Community Centres, the City & County Council, PAUL Partnership, Southill Family Resource Centre, Limerick Youth Service, and the Women's Collective, among many others, and just bringing up in conversation that I am on the CWELL Course and they reply "I did that too!". The ambition and reach of this course are unparalleled in community work in Limerick.
Notable projects done through the course are the campaign to get a playground/recreational area in King's Island, the setting up of Southill Women's Shed, and the mentorship program in Moyross, which are all still thriving after many years. This is just a small snapshot as dozens of projects help people around the city and county.
Enrollment/Conclusion
If this seems like a course for you, you can check out their website at https://www.cwell.ie/ and get more information including contact details on the UL website: https://www.ul.ie/gps/community-wellness-empowerment-leadership-and-life-skills-cwell-diploma
I would truly recommend this one-night-a-week course to anyone who wishes to get into community work, help a cause, make strong connections in the field, or those who are already in the community to get the piece of paper needed to get rid of their imposter system!
Dave Duffy