St Catherine Custos launches counselling programme

Residents of St. Catherine are set to benefit from a counselling and mentorship programme instituted by Custos of the parish, Hon. Inylin Golding, and facilitated by Justices of the Peace (JPs).

The community support programme will be held every Thursday for four hours, at the 15 East Street offices of the Custos, in Old Harbour. The Custos said it is geared at ensuring that community persons, especially students, can get needed support.

“We have mentorship, and we have quick access for signing documents, because sometimes persons are at the banks, and they need a document to be signed,” she said in an interview with JIS News. She added that her office is open every day to the public, except Sundays. Interested persons can call the office at (876) 777-2641.

“We are reaching out; we look at the needs of the community and you work with it. You check out how the students are connecting, especially at this time,” she said. The Custos further added that in a recent walk with the police in the Old Harbour Bay community, it was discovered that students, although having computer devices, were not attending online classes.

“So, we encouraged, and we continued and visited, and made sure that they [students] are connected and got them off the street corners,” the Custos pointed out, adding that the outreach programme will be expanded, because “we have a lot of retired teachers, retired persons who are young, and want to do more.”

She said, also, that JPs have been sponsoring care packages for selected communities, and an audit is being carried out to ascertain where the greatest needs are. The audit is being supported by 11 zone leaders with input from political representatives.

The Custos, who is Chairman of the Old Harbour High School, said she wants to see more involvement of community persons in the running of schools, as the educational institutions are imparting more than what comes from textbooks.

“Most teachers have to be mothers and fathers, the schools are doing much more than academics,” she said, while urging parents to ensure that their children

are vaccinated against the Coronavirus (COVID-19) so that face-to-face classes can resume and children can realise their dreams.