Councillor for the Ulster Spring Division in Trelawny, Dr Pauline Foster, has announced that the Ulster Spring Resource Centre will be officially opened on Monday, October 2.

The facility will be housed inside the renovated Trelawny Parish Council building in Ulster Spring and will be the home for the Refuge Counselling and Mediation Centre, which will offer services to not only residents of the community, but the wider parish.

Dr Foster noted that although the operations are not officially off the ground, services are already being offered to people who are “dropping in” during the upgrading of the facility.

Dr Foster, who holds a doctorate degree in Counselling Psychology, a masters degree in Education, with a minor in sociology, and a bachelor’s degree in social Science and English, will be one of the mediators on call at the centre, which will operate from Monday to Friday.

Meanwhile, her husband Dr John Foster, who has a masters degree in family life and education and his doctorate degree in counselling psychology, will also be present on a day-to-day basis.

“We have seen the need to open this facility because, although we don’t have a lot of killings up here (south Trelawny) when we do have any, they are as a result of domestic violence. And, over the years the area has been rocked by a number of suicides,” the People’s National Party councillor stated.

She said that the resource centre will also accommodate the Refuge Women’s Crisis Intervention Centre and the Refuge Learning Centre, which is presently equipped with 13 computers.

Students will have the opportunity to do homework and study at the learning centre from Monday to Saturday.

Services at the facility will be offered at a minimal cost-however, people who cannot afford the fees will not be denied access, the councillor emphasised.