news and views and - rehab group
TRANSCRIPT
News and ViewsRehabCare NewsletterAutumn 2006 What’s in this issue?
RehabCare Latest News Pg 1
RehabCare UK Pg 2
East/South East Pgs 3-6
North East/Midlands Pgs 7-13
West/North West Pgs 14-18
South/Midwest Pgs 19-20
Creative Writing Pg 21
NRAC Pgs 22
Information Bulletin Pgs 23
On Thursday 14th September, thePresident of Ireland Mary McAleese wasjoined by Ireland soccer manager SteveStaunton, top TV presenter CarolineMorahan, GAA hurling great DJ Carey andstar Gaelic footballer Steven McDonnell asshe launched RehabCare’s new nationalvolunteer programme in Dublin.
RehabCare has been celebrating its 10thbirthday this year and the VolunteerProgramme has been developed as partof these 10-year anniversary celebrations.The Programme will give the people fromyour communities the chance to volunteerin a RehabCare service in a way that suitstheir skills and talents - involvinganything from cooking lessons andliteracy skills training, to sports coaching,drama workshops and music lessons.Anyone aged over 18 will be eligible tovolunteer and they can commit tospending time from an hour a weekproviding support to RehabCare.
Speaking at the launch, PresidentMcAleese said: “I hope, and believe, thatmany people from all walks of life, willjoin RehabCare’s activities, and will findthrough their involvement with this greatwork, a level of deep personal fulfilmentthat few other things in life can match.Where the culture of volunteerism isstrong our society is strong and volunteerswith Rehab play a unique role in assistingthose with disability to grow inconfidence, in skill and in love of life.”
Editor’s NoteOur editor Kathleen Morris iscurrently away on maternityleave. We’d like to send our
congratulations and best wishes toKathleen who had a beautiful baby girlcalled Katie on 17th August.
While Kathleen is away I’ve been lookingafter News and Views and thoroughlyenjoyed reading all your articles. This
issue shows just what you have beengetting up to over the summer includinggoing on holidays and fun activities.
A special thank you to everyone whoentered the creative writing competition– we had an amazing response and itwasn’t easy to choose the winner(s)! Take a look at who won on page 21.
Best wishes,Deirdre Carroll
President McAleese Launches RehabCare Volunteer Programme
If you would like further information on any RehabCare services in
your area, please contact us at:
RehabCare, Roslyn Park, Beach Road, Sandymount, Dublin 4
Tel: +353 1 205 7200 / 205 7206
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.rehabcare.ie
“People First”“Person Centred”
“Innovation”
“Can Do”“Partnership”
RehabCare winsExcellence Award
On Thursday 12th OctoberRehabCare was crowned theNational Title Winner at the36th National Quality andExcellence Awards hosted bythe EIQA (Excellence IrelandQuality Association).
RehabCare topped the list ofmore than 2,500 othercompanies to win thisprestigious award, which is agreat achievement for allinvolved.
We'll have more about thisaward win in the next edition.
East/South East
3
I felt excited about getting up on theRehabCare 10 day. I also felt a bitnervous about showing the peoplearound the centre and explaining tothem about RehabCare. I had to explainto them about the different activitiesand programmes that we do, andexplain what RehabCare is all about andhow RehabCare was founded.
Mary Power, Glenn Walsh and the restof the lads were proud of themselvesbecause of the great job they did ontheir speeches. They spoke about what
we do in RehabCare and about howthey like it. Also about how they enjoythe programmes and the work they do.They also spoke about going out anddoing different activities and also abouthow they enjoy setting different goalsand how they achieve them.
People began to arrive at 12.35 pm forthe open day. Everyone was impressedby the different photographs, picturesand displays we had made about thework and activities we do in RehabCare.Before the speeches we had a buffetmeal for everyone. It was very tasty.When Chris Doran arrived everyone gotto meet him. He was made to feel verywelcome. We found him to be verycheerful and helpful and we thankedhim for coming.
I hope that RehabCare will be here inten more years time. I hope that I willbe in my own house and on thesupported employment scheme andthat the staff will stay the same. Butwho knows what the future will bring.
By Maria Allen, RehabCare Waterford
RehabCare UK
2
Jeremy Hunt MPvisits London Brain Injury CentreOn the 16th May, Behjat Hurrenand her team in London were verypleased to welcome Jeremy HuntMP to the LBIC. He spoke about hisinitial impressions of the Centreand the “astounding” service thatit provided to local people withacquired brain injury.
As well as being guided around theCentre and seeing first hand thework that goes on, he sat andchatted casually with some clientsto find out about their experiences.Within the group there were sixclients; made up of two who hadsuffered brain injury from a stroke,three who had suffered from vehicleaccidents and one who had sufferedfrom a seizure and brain swelling(encephalitis). Both the age and sexof the clients reflected the variety ofpeople that make-up our clients. Thereasons behind their injuries and thefollow-on consequences of theirrecovery often share closesimilarities.
It was good to hear from each client
that they were completely satisfied,and in a couple of cases evensurprised, with how their ownprogramme of rehabilitation wasprogressing. It was described asbeing “effective” and “responsiveto individual needs”. At the sametime it clearly recognises theadapting to new circumstances thatis required by all, to ensure therealistic and positive developmentof their new aspirations. Beingclearly impressed by what he hadseen and heard during his visit,Jeremy talked about the“determination of people here”being “astounding” and heexpressed the belief that “otherpeople have no conception ofwhat it’s all about”.
So what might the political futurehold for the necessary continuationof services like ours? In his words“the benefit system doesn’t reallyhelp at the moment”, anduniversal agreement was reachedfollowing his comment that “we(the Conservative Party) want toextend the help currentlyavailable to a much broadergroup of people.”
So, as ever, we live in hope and youcan be sure that we will continue tofight our corner!
Golf Fundraiserfor UK ServicesThe Rehab UK Annual Golf Classic tookplace recently at the Moor Park Golf Clubin London. 36 teams took part, somehaving travelled from Ireland to supportthe Classic.Pat Ruddy, Chairman of the London Classic,who came from Belmullet, Co. Mayo, can beseen along with his golf committee, handingover the cheque for £55,000 to Kevin Purvis –the Director of UK Services, RehabCare.
Our Visit to Arasan UachtaránOn the 4th of July Elizabeth McHugh andI went up to Dublin to attend a gardenparty hosted by President McAleese inAras an Uachtarán. We arrived there for2.30 pm. We were very nervous aboutmeeting the President and her husbandbut they were both lovely people. Wehad a very enjoyable time while wewere there.
By Adrian Dermody,RehabCare Carlow
Marie Fennelly, Elizabeth McHugh andBridget Dunne attending Riverdance inthe Gaiety Theatre with a group fromRehabCare Carlow.
My JobI started a new job at the end ofJanuary in Fleetwood Health Care inBray. First I did three days everyweek – Monday and Wednesdayand Thursday from 10:00 to 12:00pm. Now I do a five-day week,10:30 am to 1:00 pm every day.This is a part time job. I come intoRehabCare in the afternoons. I amlucky – RehabCare is only across theroad. It’s a very cool job and I havemade new friends.
My job involves packaging HealthCare products. I am good at readingnumbers, which helps me with thisjob as I also have to sort codes oninvoices. I also do work on thecomputer now, I like this a lot. I amstarting a computer course in collegein September, this will help me withmy job. I am a very busy woman!
By Marian O’Rourke, The Phoenix Service RehabCare Bray.
Celebrating RehabCare 10 with Chris Doran in Waterford
Art Exhibition forNorth East BrainInjury Centre“Image In Mind” – An art exhibitionwas held at the Baltic Centre forContemporary Art in Newcastlepromoting our North East BrainInjury Centre as a location for“rehabilitation specialists”, on Wed12th & Thursday 13th July earlierthis year. The event broughttogether service users and our manyregional associates to reflect on theprocess of community and vocationalrehabilitation services as well aslook forward to improvements anddevelopments in such provision.Funded by the Arts Council England,service users in Newcastle who havesustained acquired brain injurieshave been working to produceoriginal, thought provoking andpowerfully emotive artworksmotivated by their experienceswhich include accidents, assaults,strokes, heart attacks and viralinfections. The project explores thetherapeutic contribution of the visualarts, including painting, sculpture,photography and video, to theindividual’s psychological adjustmentand rehabilitation after injury.
East/South East
54
Myself & my family sat down at homeone evening & started to plan our twoweeks summer holidays. First, wedecided where we wanted to go. Westarted our holiday on a day trip toDublin City where we went to lookaround & did some shopping in GraftonStreet, Moore Street & in St. Stephen’sGreen Shopping Centre. Before wewent back home, we went to DublinCity’s famous Anglican, Episcopal,Gothic, Holy, Diocesan Cathedral calledChrist Church and we took somephotos there too. The following days ofour holiday brought us to look aroundand also do some shopping in WexfordTown, Clonmel in Co. Tipperary, Mallowin Co. Cork. For our two last holidayday trips we went to Killarney Town in
Co. Kerry, where we took some photosoutside an Irish Country House Hotelcalled Darby O’Gills – there was a filmnamed after it staring the Scottish,James Bond star, Seán Connery. Fromthere we went along the Inch coastlinein the southwest of Kerry, overlookingthe Atlantic Ocean. There we had alittle rest before we went to Dingle,the seaside fishing town. We tookphotos of ourselves & the famousbronze-like copper sculpture of thedolphin Fungi & an anchor sculpturecalled Undertow made from fishingropes. Later we went home. Overallwe had a good time.
By Mary Nora Curran,RehabCare Kilkenny
East/South East
FriendshipFriendship is a giftI have a friendship in the post!Friendship is important because youneed someone to talk toFriendships are great becausefriends are good to me when I goout with them.Friendship is me and someone else,It means someone else cares for me.
LoveI love my sisterLove is... my familyI love shopping in DublinI love people that love meTo love even one person in thewhole world is a good feeling I love my football clubI love my niece and my nephewbecause they really love meI love living aloneWe love RehabCare because the staffmix with us and bring us out. They talk to us.
Both Poems written together by Joe Kearney, Jane Donnelly,Catherine O’Rourke, MarionO’Sullivan and Bridget Kavanagh(RehabCare Bray)
TreesTrees are very important.Trees get broken when we havestorms because they fall down. Trees are bushy and cool to sit under.Trees are nice at Christmas time.Trees are nice on a windy day. I like to watch them move.Trees have large trunks and big roots.
By Liz Doyle, Amanda Finnegan,Deirdre McCormack, John McMahon &Denis Taylor, RehabCare Ballyfermot
We took part in this year’s women’smini marathon on 5th June 2006. Westarted our training in March, tenweeks before the marathon. We eachhad a training programme that wecould use at home. The trainingprogramme was a timetable for whento go on walks and for how along. Italso consisted of stretching exercisesto do after the warm up and cooldown. We trained every Wednesdayafternoon with Lesley, Francine andBernadette. Our training walks took usalong the pier, the seafront towardsSandycove and around the outskirts ofDun Laoghaire.
We met at Pearse Street Station on theday of the marathon. We then went tothe Ginger Man for some refreshments.
Then we went to the starting area. Itwas a lovely day. The walk started atthree o’clock. The start was very slowas there were a lot of women doingthe walk. It took a while for us to crossthe starting line. There were waterstops and music stands at variousstages along the way. There werepeople from all over the country. Theywere raising money for differentcharities e.g. Cystic Fibrosis, Irish CancerSociety etc. Everyone was in great formand was friendly. There were severalmen dressed as women. There was oneman dressed as Princess Leah from StarWars!
Towards the end of the walk webegan to feel tired and had someaches and pains, but nothing to stop
us from crossing the finish line. Wefelt good when we saw the finish line.We were all in great form when wecrossed it. We each got a medal andwe were all delighted with this andvery proud of our achievement.Afterwards we took photos at St.Stephen’s Green. A week or so laterwe all went for coffee and cake tocelebrate. We raised a lot of moneyfor Childline. We are looking forwardto doing it all again in 2007.
By Ciara Garvey, Rita Dunne, Marian O’ Flanagan, Rachel Treanor,Karina Stephenson andSally Lovegrove,RehabCare Dun Laoghaire
Women’s Mini Marathon
The Summer Holidays with my Family
Day tripOn Wednesday 26th July RehabCare inWaterford had their annual day trip. 31clients and 7 staff travelled to Bray, Co.Wicklow to the National Sea Life Centre.On the way up we sang songs andDonal played the guitar. We stopped formorning tea and scones in Joanne’scoffee shop in Gorey. It was very nice.
We continued on to Bray. We had aguided tour around the Sea Life Centre.Pat, the guide, let us touch a big craband a star fish. We kept our distancefrom the sharks! We enjoyed it verymuch. After the tour we had a picniclunch on the Prom in Bray. There was alovely band playing music while we ate.
After lunch we travelled home toWaterford and had our evening meal inthe Bridge Hotel. A lovely day was hadby all.
By Pat Cassin and Mary Power,RehabCare Waterford
Service users from RehabCare Carlow supporting Kathryn Thomas in theHelix for the Special Olympics. Left to Right: Michael McGough, CarolLangton, Kathryn Thomas, Irene Daly
South East/EastSouth East/East
7
North East/Midlands
On the 15th June all fun broke loose asevery Centre in the North East andMidlands Region put on their runners,broke out the tracksuits, packed thedeodorants and warmed up the welliesfor the annual Sports Day which washeld in Navan. Tensions were high onthe day as everyone geared themselvesup for the big medal wins!!! But whilecompetition was high it was a greatopportunity to meet both old and newfriends from around the region and thecompetition was friendly….mostly!!
For the indoor sport fans there was atable quiz, snooker and draughts andfor the more outdoorsy among us therewere basketball shots, penalty shootouts, bowls, skittles, welly throwingand a range of running and athletics
events that would challenge theOlympics! For those who enjoy a bit ofpampering there was the opportunityto get a hand massage and nail paint.
Dinner was a wonderful feast whichwas made all the better by watchingthe staff run about like headlesschickens trying to feed the hungryhordes! It was indeed delicious though!The weather was fantastic and all wenthome tanned, tired and tanked up withtons of phone numbers from new andold friends.
Big big big thanks go to all whoorganized the day. Bernadette andJudith did a fantastic job along withtheir band of merry helpers. Thanks aswell to all the staff from all the centres
who made sure that not only did theircentre bring home the medals but hada fantastic day in the process. Lastlythanks to all those who took part in theday, without you it would not happenat all!! Looking forward to next yearalready!By Emer McCarthy, CSM Portlaoise
Our long awaited fun week kicked offon the 17th of July with a lovelyguided tour of Lockes Distillery inKilbeggan. Our guide, Mary, providedus with a very interesting andinformative tour of the now disusedWhisky plant, however the highlight ofthe tour was the Whisky tasting, butwe were very careful not to get toodrunk! On Tuesday we were very luckyto have gorgeous weather that was
badly needed, as we went on a veryrelaxing canal cruise fromMonasterevan to Rathangan. Thescenery was beautiful and we sawplenty of wildlife too.
RehabCare from Tullamore treated us toa brilliant performance of their play onWednesday morning. All of Portlaoisecentre were very impressed with theeffort they put into their performance,
so well done guys! Wednesdayafternoon was “fun and games time”so we headed up to the Roll ‘n’ Bowlfor a spot of bowling and pool, whichwas great fun.
Thursday was one of the mostenjoyable days of the week as we allgot the train to Dublin for a visit to theZoo and do some shopping. We lovedthe Zoo and saw so many animals,lions, flamingos, seals, wolves and soon. We took loads of pictures, had ourlunch out and then spent the rest ofour money in the souvenir shop on sillythings that cost a fortune! We arrivedback at the train station at three o’clockand couldn’t miss the shoppers whowere loaded down with bags – theyobviously enjoyed themselves!
Friday came unfortunately as thissignalled the end of our week of “fun”.We had a beautiful lunch in the SquareBar and the crack was mighty, we allreally enjoyed ourselves. In all theweek was a great success witheveryone really enjoying themselvesand having lots and lots of FUN.
Portlaoise Fun Week
Northeast and Midlands Sports Day
East/South East
GUINNESSBREWERY TRIPOn Tuesday 1st of August some of usfrom RehabCare Kilkenny went up tothe Guinness Hop Store in Dublin. Weall went up on the 8.20 am train.When we got to Dublin we walked upto the Brewery because it was nottoo far from the station. We got ourtickets and went for a cup of tea.When we were finished with our teasome of us went to look around thebig gift shop.
At 11am our tour began and a manspoke to us about the history of theBrewery and he gave us a map and asouvenir with a ring on it. On the tourwe were told how Guinness wasmade. The main ingredients are hops,barley, yeast and water. They are allcombined together to make a perfectpint. As we continued on the tour wesaw the Atrium and the Store House,which were originally built in 1904.
When we had finished our tour ofthe Brewery we all had to give thering from the souvenir in at the barto receive a free drink of Guinness ora mineral of our choice. We had agreat day.
By Mandy Simpson, RehabCare Kilkenny
Nighttime
News flashes across the TV screenA roundabout of crisis and changeEyes flickering trying to keep paceWith the constant developmentsAnd so it goes onA bomb explosion in BeirutA property boom in ScibbereenThe eyelids begin to droopThe glossy time falls to the floorIts time to put the lights outSlowly I mount the stairsAnother day is done.
By Jim Mc Loughlin, RehabCare HOPS
Life can be heavy going at times so alittle light relief can relieve the tedium.A small flutter on the horses or thedogs can be exciting and maybe evenprofitable. There is of course theNational Lotto, which the wholecountry subscribes to, and manypeople become millionaires over night.Winning Streak on RTE creates its ownbrand of madness and mostparticipants go quietly round the twist.
Racing is another popular sport. I don’tback horses or go racing as a rule but Imake an exception for the GrandNational. Last week I backed fivehorses – two euros each way. Four ofthem were in with a chance and theother was an outsider. One of my betswas leading the field when obstructed
by loose horses and was no longer incontention. My remaining favourite,ridden by top jockey Ruby Walsh, tookup the running and won the race. Hegot my money back.
Last year a number of us fromRehabCare went to the dogs atShelbourne Park. The deal included ameal and an opportunity to betwithout leaving the table. My first twoeach way bets came in first and Ithought I was on a roll for the rest ofthe evening. Alas it didn’t work outthat way. Nevertheless it was a greatevening’s entertainment.
By Jim Mc Loughlin, RehabCare HOPS
6
A Day at the Races – A Night at the Dogs
Our Art exhibition was due to takeplace on July 3rd of this year. Weneeded money to pay for the framingof the pictures, and for otherexpenses. So we decided to raise themoney by having a table quiz. Thequiz took place in the Royal St.George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaireon June 9th. Rachel Treanor is one ofservice users and her mum verykindly arranged that we could havethe room in the Yacht Club. The ninthwas a Friday and we held the quizthat evening. The attendance wasvery good. Lots of people came andpaid 10 euro each to participate inthe quiz.
The quizmaster got the ball rollingand we all got down to answering
the questions. We held a raffle at theend and there were a large numberof prizes for the lucky winners. Theprizes were very generously donatedby local businesses in Dun Laoghaire.Everybody seemed to enjoythemselves, family members, friendsand service users alike. The eveningwas a great success. At the end of theevening the quizmaster thankedeveryone who was responsible fororganising the quiz and making itpossible. It was a lovely evening anda lovely way to prepare for the ArtExhibition itself.
By John Talbot, Anne Fitzpatrick,John Cooney and Gerard O’Sullivan,RehabCare Dun Laoghaire
Table Quiz
South East/EastSouth East/East
98
North East/Midlands
The Football LeagueRehabCare Northeast along with theFAI have started a new footballleague. Staff in Cavan came up withthe idea. After two coaching days inCootehill and Dundalk we were putinto two divisions. Our team DundalkResource Centre were in Division Onealong with Coes Road, Dundalk, Cavanand Navan A team. Our first game wasagainst Coes Rd and we lost thatgame. Our next game was away toCavan and we won that game. We hada new secret weapon of bananas andjaffa cakes because that’s what ManUtd. and Armagh use. Our last gamewas away to Navan and after a greatgame we lost out in the end. Wereally enjoyed travelling and playingall the games and we hope that theleague keeps going in the future aswe make so many friends in othercentres. Our team was Oliver, Martin O,Chris, Barry, Jason and me. Paddy wasthe first aid man.
By Domhnall Flynn,Dundalk Resource Centre
Longford MiniMarathonPictured here are Mary Farrell andDavid Ward who both live in HighfieldHouse and recently completed theLongford Mini Marathon.
This was a great achievement for bothand was made possible by theenthusiasm and support from all thestaff team at Highfield House.Congratulations and well done to all!
OUR DAY ATTHE VIRGINIA SHOW
On Wednesday 25th August, a group ofus from our centre went to the VirginiaShow. Our bus driver John drove us up.We left our centre at half past ten. Theweather was good and we arrived inVirginia in good time. A staff membercalled Kathleen showed us all around theshow. When we arrived the crowds werebeginning to come so we went straightinto the big hall. There were a lot ofcompetitions. We looked around at allthe entries for the different categories.We saw the arts and crafts entries fromRehabCare Cavan. They all looked verywell. Mary won first prize with her cards.Marguerite won first prize in crocheting.There were a lot of entries, like bread,jam, flower arrangements, craftwork andphotographs. When we were finished inthere, we went to look at some of theanimals – hens, geese, sheep, cows,bulls and goats. We enjoyed looking atthe animals. We saw two big tractorsand Kathleen took photographs of someof the girls standing beside them. Whenwe were finished there we got a fewbags of chips and bottles of coke. Thesun was shining down on us so we satdown and enjoyed our food. Some of usbought bags of honeycomb and othersbought homemade cakes. We spent twohours at the show. Then we headed backto our bus. We got back to our centre at2 pm.We had a great day.
By Evelyn Masterson, MargueriteKirwan and Mary Tackney,RehabCare Cavan
AbbeyshruleVintage Show
Last Sunday the 3rd September,my father and I went toAbbeyshrule Vintage show. We arrived there at 12.30 pm.We got there early to avoid thetraffic and when we got therethey were just setting up so wetimed it perfectly. The cost ofentry was 8 euro. The show wasvery exciting with over 100tractors, Massey Ferguson20s/35s and so on and 140 cars,for example the Ford Zephyr,Hillman Imps, Morris Minor/1100and so on.
There were side shows for thekids, a dog show and cateringtents, trashing and so on. Thedecades of vehicles ranged fromthe fifties up to the eighties.When your legs got tired ofwalking there was a big screento watch the match. When theyfinished off the day, they went tothe rustic inn for the prize giving.The best car was a 1929Chevrolet and the best tractorwas a 1949 David Brown 990. I hope they do it again next year.
By Gerard Mc Loughlin,RehabCare Athlone
Tullamore Job Club
What service users said about theJob Club in Tullamore?
“One day during the Job Club, a womancalled Caroline Lynch from FAS came totalk to us, she spoke about getting jobsand how to look up information. The JobClub helped me to present myself forinterviews. We talked about health andsafety, equal opportunities, bullying inthe workplace and what to do about it.”By Greg Callaghan, RehabCare Tullamore
“Learned a lot about how to cope withstress. This means getting regularexercise and asking for help if I amstressed. I learned to talk to family andfriends when I am stressed out. I needto take time out for breaks when I amat work, go for a cycle. I like to do mygarden as well . I also looked at myweaknesses and how I can help withthis.” By Jack Farrell,RehabCare Tullamore
“I work in the job club on Thursdays. Itreally helped me. I’m more confident inmyself. I have got work experience in a
leisure centre now and I really like it. Iwork there 11 hours a week.”By Fiona Geoghegan, RehabCare Tullamore
“Today Jack, myself and Kieran wentdown to the FAS office, where the girlshowed us how to look for jobs on thecomputer. It was easy to do and thegirl was very helpful.”By Joseph Mullvin, RehabCare Tullamore
“Since I came to the job club, I havecovered quite a few things. I now knowhow to do my C.V. and what I need to
put in it. What is most important,where to send it, and also how to fill inan application form for a job.”By Ursula O’Brien,RehabCare Tullamore
“Today we covered Health & Safety inthe workplace. We pointed out a fewfire hazards that might happen in MoorHall and how to go about fixing theproblems and who to report them to.Then we went downtown to the bridgecentre looking for fire exits andassembly points.”By Kieran Shields, RehabCare Tullamore
North East/Midlands
On the 16th March, we had an awardsceremony to mark our hard work onthe Atlas Programme, Fetac modulesand industrial work in RehabCare forthe previous year. The Atlas grouporganised the ceremony and we hadthe certificates presented by a localCouncillor, Tommy McKeigue. Some ofthe certificates included Preparationfor Work (Fetac), Food & Cookery(Fetac), Word Processing (City &Guilds) and also beautiful clocks madeby the Woodcraft group. Afterwardswe had a big party with food and aD.J. We danced for hours. It was reallygood fun, we all really enjoyed it andare looking forward to the next party.P.J. Fox sang a lovely song for us all.
By Jenny Monaghan & JonathanFitzpatrick, RehabCare Tullamore
Jenny Monaghan being presented with her FETAC certificate byCllr Tommy McKeigue.
Atlas Programme Awards Ceremony
1110
North East/Midlands
John Feeney was formerly a ServiceUser of RehabCare in Monaghan andfor the past year has been a serviceuser of RehabCare in Dunboyne. He haswon a place in the hearts of ServiceUsers and Staff in Dunboyne as, I amsure, he has in the Monaghan Centretoo. Despite his disability, Johnretained his quick wit and had a wordfor everybody. Sadly, he lost his much-loved Mother only ten weeks beforehis own untimely death. We extend ourdeepest sympathy to John’s father,Michael and family.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a ainm.
John and I have been friends for13 years. His death has been agreat shock to all of us inRehabCare. We were very closeand we had a lot in common, wehad the same interests in sportand travel. We kept in touch byphone, no matter where we wereand we always met at Lourdes.John lost his mother only 6 weeksago, he was heartbroken and hishealth deteriorated after that.May he rest in peace.
Eamonn Brummitt,RehabCare Monaghan
The following piece of writing is anexample of John’s ability with wordsand the subject was the one closestto his heart.
Croke Park – a Monaghan man’sview of the NFL Final
Everyone is decked out for thematch, waving the blue and white ofMonaghan and talking about theteam that SHOULD have been picked.On the way to the pitch by thegreasy smell of the hamburgerstands, I get some cheesesandwiches for the match and, withmy friends, discuss the prospect ofMonaghan winning the game. Theatmosphere makes me feel good. It’selectric with the noise of the crowdand the “Patriot Game” is played bythe Artane Boys Band.
The Monaghan team comes out to a
huge roar because everyone loves anunderdog. If we lose, who’s toblame! The Ref., of course! Again!This time there was no need toblame the referee becauseMonaghan snatched victory from thejaws of defeat when they got a last-second goal to give them a one pointwin. It was great and compensatedfor Meath’s two point victory overMonaghan in the Centenary Cup finalin 1984. In the victory over Meath,Monaghan won the Division 1 Final.Armagh beat Wexford.
The Armagh v Wexford game was theDivision 1 Final of the NationalFootball League and Monaghan havewon promotion to Division 1 nextyear. The Armagh v Wexford gamewas due to be played immediatelyafter Monaghan’s victory over Meath,but the start was delayed because ofthe Monaghan supporters celebratingbeating Meath to win Division 2 ofthe National Football League.
Sam Maguire must be next!
BereavementSadly we lost two of our serviceusers in Monaghan Centre within10 weeks of each other, MartinaMcMeel and Jim Kelly. Bothdeaths were unexpected. Martinawill be missed for her gentleways, good sense of humour andspelling ability.
Jim was a gentle giant and willbe remembered for histhoughtfulness and always beingready to lend a helping hand toany heavy work that had to bedone. Also he will beremembered for the manyscarves he knitted. They will bemissed by all.
May they rest in peace.
RehabCare Dunboyne
North East/Midlands
“Take the devilalright…”
The Drama Group in Tullamore wrotethe plot for our play called “Take thedevil alright…” It was about a strangerarriving into the Bridge CentreTullamore. Nobody knew where shecame from, or what she was doingthere and things began to change inheaven and hell. We rehearsed once aweek for 3 months. Then we had acouple of performances. One was onthe launch night of the Art Exhibitionand our main performance was in amarquee in O’Connor Square, Tullamoreon Sunday 16th July. We really enjoyedacting in the play and performing forlots of people in our town.
By The Drama Group, RehabCare Tullamore
Art Exhibition PhoenixFestival, TullamoreWe are doing a Fetac Art module andour tutor is Fin O’Hara. We got toexperience lots of different art styles,pottery, portraits and landscapes. Forthe Phoenix Festival, we got largecanvas boards and using acrylic paintswe could decide how to design ourboards, using our fingers, paintscrapers and paint brushes. ThePhoenix Festival Art Exhibition waslaunched on 10th July in the BridgeCentre for a couple of weeks. Weinvited our parents, family and friendsto see our art on display.
By Jenny Monahan, Damien O’Connor,Joe Mulvin (all artists),RehabCare Tullamore
Joe Mulvin, Christine Delaney, EugeneConroy, Fiona Geoghegan
Some of the actors of the Drama Play: Greg Callaghan, Kieran Shields + Joe Mulvin
ENCORE PRODUCTIONS IN BONNY SCOTLAND
Our Drama Group have been workingvery hard over the last couple ofmonths on our new show The Judgeand the Jury. It is a tale of love, greed,romance and murder. We were allexcited when we heard we weregoing to the Edinburgh Festival toperform. My character is called BusyLizzy. She is a witness to a murder.She is also very nosy and clever.
The Hall, which we were performingin was big. Flyers were stuck on thewalls and the hall held over 100. I hadbutterflies in my tummy. The Hall wasfull. The lights were dimmed and ourshow began.
The show went really well. Theaudience were laughing, applaudingand whistling. We got a standingovation. We had lots of photos takenafter the show. Everyone was reallytired after the show. That night we alldecided to go out for a celebrationdinner. We all chose to go toMcDonalds. It was good grub.
The rest of our trip was great. Wewent shopping, sightseeing, went on
a tour bus and to a show. I reallyenjoyed my trip to Bonny Scotland.
By Karen Long, Dundalk Resource Centre
Drama WorkshopsJason and myself were asked by ourdrama coordinator if we would beinterested in doing drama workshops inour old school one morning a week.We jumped at the chance as we lovedour old school and to be able to goback and do workshops with thechildren would be wonderful.
We worked with the brothers, sisters,mums and dads of the children in St.Bridget’s School who are autistic. We played drama games. We played a clapping game, counting games andname games. The children and theirfamilies enjoyed themselves. One ofthe little girls was crying when theworkshops ended.
We met our old teachers and pupils andmade new friends. Drama can reallyhelp people in lots of different ways.
By Bronagh Boothman, Dundalk Resource Centre
John Feeney1964 – 2006
The Late John Feeney
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North East/Midlands
“The item we submitted is a groupcollage that includes two themes –landscape and people. The collageis in the shape of a bottle, which isthe same shape as our nativecounty Cavan. The collage is madeup of hundreds of peoples faces asthe population of Cavan is madeup of individuals from a variety ofdifferent cultures andbackgrounds”
Collage developed by: The Artsand Crafts Class in RehabCareCavan – John Brady, Rose Brady,Maura McKiernan, AnthonyMcPartland, Mary Tackney,Bridgie Carolin, Wendy Clarke,Damien McManus, EvelynMasterson, William Reilly, GaryCaffrey and Kevin Shannon.
The Sheltered WorkshopDundalk Newsletter.
Nine service users from the ShelteredWorkshop in Dundalk took on theresponsibility of publishing a monthlynewsletter for the centre. All thearticles are decided upon and writtenby the group. The group receive verylittle help from staff when working onthe newsletter. There is greatexcitement around the centre whenthe newsletter is published, aseveryone is interested to see whatarticles are in it. We hope theycontinue their good work. Their namesare Michael Smith, Joe Smith, OliviaCoburn, Una McNamee, Joe Dorian,John Megan, Jimmy Hanlon, ColetteMartin and Niall Coleman.
Horticulture
Following a lot of hard workingand learning as we went along,five service users in Navansuccessfully completed theirFETAC foundation level course inHorticulture. We spent 2 yearsworking on it, firstly doing ourvegetable garden and secondlydoing our flower garden. Wereally enjoyed it and are stillworking on keeping ourflowerbed weed free, a neverending task! I wish tocongratulate Eddie, Nicky, Aisling,Josie and Mary. You all deserve it.
By Louise Tinne,RehabCare Navan
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North East/Midlands
Friday 28th of August was a happyday but also a sad one. It was theday we got our holidays but alsothe day a dear friend retired. PeterCollins has been here for as longas I can remember and was afriend to all. Peter kept the placespotless and could always be foundworking hard somewhere. OnPeter’s final day we had a party.We all clubbed together andbought him equipment for hisfavourite hobby, gardening. Allstaff and service users made surePeter had a brilliant and great sendoff. Peter was a friend to everyoneand had a great sense of humour.We hope he has a very happy
retirement. He will be greatlymissed by everyone in Navan.
By Eddie Gilligan,RehabCare Navan
Larchill Gardens
We all went off to Larchill Gardens ingroups throughout the summer. It wasfabulous and we were really lucky tohave fabulous weather. There was abeautiful walled garden that wasfilled with the most gorgeous flowers,which had a lovely sweet smell. Therewas also a shell house, and when youwalked in, the whole inside wall wascovered with shells. The gardens alsohave a collection of animals such asemus, which come from Australia,long-haired cattle, rare breeds of pigsand ducks and a family of donkeys.Ailish wanted to adopt the baby tokeep her donkey company!
By Anne Marie Murray, Fiona Bradyand Mary Clair, RehabCare Navan
Doreen McGrath, Susan Morrissey andMichael McGuire are from RehabCareNavan, and these riders were chosenby the Kells R.D.A.I.(Riders DisabledAssociation Of Ireland) to representMeath in the S.J.A.I.(Show JumpingAssociation Of Ireland) Annual HunterTrails in Tattersalls, co. Dublin. Doreenwas the first person to mount herhorse Tonto, Susan’s horse was calledQuest, and Michael’s horse wasnamed Apache.
The Meath Team were announcedand called on to Arena 2, wherethey demonstrated their horse skills.Each rider name was announcedover the loud speaker along with asummary of the rider’s ability and alittle bit about them, for examplehow long they had been riding.When the demonstration was overthe team lined up in front of thecommentary box and werepresented with Gold Rosettes fromthe President of the R.D.A.I. Whenthe team were leaving the arenaeveryone watching the display gavethem a tremendous applause. Theirsmiles and the pride with which our
riders held themselves was amoment to cherish always.
Our Navan RehabCare EquestrianTeam started riding in October 2005.From that time, their ability in theirhorse-riding skills has shown through,and we were all honoured when theywere asked by the R.D.A.I. to
represent Meath at the Annual HunterTrials. All family and friends were soproud of their riders. This event willalways be remembered. The weatherwas good to us on the day and wethoroughly enjoyed the experience.
By Catherine Coull,RehabCare Navan
Peter’s Farewell
Tattersalls
Landscape of Cultures Collage
RehabCare/Simon CommunityHorticulture Project
A very exciting new project has begunbetween Dundalk Sheltered Workshopand the Simon Community, Dundalk.Six individuals from both organisationsare working together on a Horticultureproject which entails transforming aonce derelict piece of ground into arecreational area and an organic herband vegetable garden. The project hasbeen successful on a number of levelsby enhancing peoples’ gardeningskills, building new friendships,community integration, enhancing selfconfidence and each individual gaininga sense of achievement.
Sligo visits Cavan centre
“I would like to take this opportunityto say when we recently had a visitfrom Sligo RehabCare, that we allhad a great day. We had a table quiz,which was great fun. Cavan won byone point. The Sligo people werelovely and we hope they enjoyedthe visit.”
Marguerite Kirwin, Service User, RehabCare Cavan
South East/East
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West/North West
The Special Olympics
RehabCare Castlerea welcomes homeits Gold medallists
I was at the Special Olympics in Belfastfrom 21st to the 25th June. I wasplaying soccer in it. We played Leinster,Munster and Ulster. We won all of ourmatches and we won gold medals. Wefelt very proud of ourselves. We stayedin Strandmillis College. We had ourown bedrooms and we had ourbreakfast in the canteen. We had to beready for the bus at 8am. The busbrought us to the football pitch and wewent back to the college at around5pm for dinner. We went to the discoevery night, where we were givensmall tubs of ice-cream, popcorn andcrisps. We all went back to the collegeat around 10 pm.
The presentation of the medals was onSunday morning after we played our
last game. Afterwards we got on thebus and headed home, it was a longway from Belfast to Roscommon. Ourfamilies were waiting for us when wearrived and we drove aroundRoscommon town. There was a cardriving behind the bus and the driverwas beeping the horn. We had ourphotograph taken in Belfast andRoscommon. Our picture was in theRoscommon Herald on 27th June. Theteam stayed home on Monday andwhen we arrived at RehabCare onTuesday morning there was a banneroutside saying ‘Congratulations andWelcome Home’. We had a party inthe centre in the afternoon.
By TG, RehabCare Castlerea
A WinningStreakSome of the memories of theRehabCare Sligo athletes who took onthe nation at the recent SpecialOlympics Games in Belfast:
Ruth Cleary – gold medal in golf. “Iloved the five days we were there. Westayed at the University College inStranmillis and a lot of coaches werethere with us. The evening we arrivedwe all went to the Odyssey Arena forthe Opening Ceremony. Brian Kennedysang on stage and Gerry Kelly, KathrynThomas and Ian Dempsey were thereas well. My family came to see me atthe golf tournament and they weredelighted when I won my medal.”
Gerard McCormack – three gold medalsin table tennis. “My fondest memory iswhen I received my three golds on thepodium. I enjoyed competing againstother players, being in Belfast andparticipating in the Games. I likedwearing the gear and seeing differentplaces. Now I would love to be pickedand win a gold at the World Games inChina next year.”
Thomas Connolly – one gold and onebronze medal in table tennis. “On thefirst day I felt a bit nervous playing agame of singles. After that I knewwhat to do. I met different people andwe talked about our favourite sports.The food was excellent and the staffwere very nice. One of the coachestold me “I hope you win the gold intable tennis” and then I won thedouble with Gerry. I hope to be pickedfor China.
Mary Kate Dolan – one gold and onesilver medal in table tennis. “Iremember when I was playing againsta girl from Belfast in the singles and itwas good fun. I also played in the
mixed doubles with Gerry. I enjoyedthe meals we had and the trip toBelfast with the rest of the TeamConnaught. We saw the Olympic torchbeing carried at the OpeningCeremony. That was very exciting.
Kenny Fleming – ribbon in golf. “Myfavourite thing about being in Belfastwas meeting different people andmixing with my Connaught team-mates. I think the golf tournament wasso fun and I did my best. Rory Callaghyis my coach and we had practiced veryhard before the event. At the end Ifinished in seventh place and I got aribbon but I look forward to doing evenbetter at the next Games”.
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West/North West
Taking the Test!!One of my goals as part ofDiscovery is to learn to drive. Thecentre staff and my mother metand agreed to let me try.
The first step is to pass the test toget a driving licence. Lorraine spoketo the Adult Education Centre aboutme getting lessons. Liz a tutor wasallocated to me and I have beengoing to the Education centre for 1hour every Tuesday to practise.
I took a test in April but failed by acouple of points. So I am now backpractising. So watch this space forwhen I complete this step andmove on to step 2!
By John Higgins, RehabCare Castlebar
My BIGDiscoveryIn 2001 when I started working withthe new RehabCare Centre Staff andwe started the Discovery process Itold the Supervisor (then Finola) that Iwanted to find my mother.
After being born in Tuam, Galway Iwas brought up by the nuns inChapelizod in Dublin from when I wasvery young (1947). When I was oldenough I worked in the laundry andthe nursery helping with the babies.
In 1965 I moved back to the Westcoast and worked in the Sacred Heart Hospital in the laundry. I stayed therefor nine years before going to work inthe McBride Home where I didgeneral work (in other wordsanything they asked me to do!).
I left the McBride Home to go to workin the Railway Hotel in Westport in1979. Whilst I was there I was toldthat a woman had come looking forme but I had missed her. Whoever itwas, she never returned. It was thisevent that made me think that it mayhave been my mother and I decidedto try to find her.
In 1983 I left the Railway Hotel andhad no job but did go to Lourdes andprayed that I would find my mother.During all this time I was living inWestport and trying to find mymother, going to places in Galway andDublin.
In 1986 I started in Rehab, working inthe kitchen. In 2001 when RehabCarestarted to work with the ‘long term’Service Users, I came out of thekitchen which I didn’t really enjoy andstarted to work in the workshop.
It was at this time that the Supervisormade the first contact with first,Barnardos and then, the Western
Health Board. The Health Board havesomeone who deals with findingparents or children who have lostcontact when the child is young orwas adopted. Josephine, the firstSocial Worker and her located mymother’s home place but thenchanged job. This was when Catherinetook over her work with me. Finolahad also left RehabCare at this stageand Lorraine our manager took overher work on helping me. Early thisyear Catherine brought me the sadnews that my Mother had moved toScotland and had died a number ofyears ago. I was very sad and went toKnock to pray for her. A month later Iheard that I had a brother and wouldI like to meet him. Did I!
I met my brother for the first time onMarch 13th this year. He is two yearsyounger than me and had hurt hisfoot many years ago in a farmaccident. An aunt and uncle hadraised him as my mother had left togo and live in Scotland when he wasabout ten or eleven. He told meabout a lot of other cousins andsecond cousins we had as well.Catherine was in contact with themand on April 28th I went out toBelmullet to meet first, my brother(who I get on really well with) andthen my cousins. The cousins also toldme that there was another relativewho lived in Scotland and knew mymother well and that she might knowwhere my mother was buried.
So although this is the end of mynews article it is nowhere near theend of my story. I hope to visit mymothers’ grave with Lorraine in thefuture and also my cousins inBelmullet have asked me to spendtime up there (which I may once I getto know them better).
Just think, this time last year I had nofamily that I knew about, and thisyear I have loads!
By Judy Lynskey,RehabCare Castlebar
WestlifeI am a big Westlife fan and havebeen to nearly all of their Irishconcerts. The last concert I went towas on 12th April in Dublin. MyMother brought me there. Mark ismy favourite member of the band.I have collected all their CDs andam a member of the Westlife fanclub. I really enjoyed their lastconcert and am looking forward totheir next Irish concert.
By Rachel Gielty, RehabCare Castlebar
West/North West
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West/North West
16
Roundstone
My mum took me to Roundstone forthree days and two nights. We stayedin a lovely B&B just outside the town,which was within walking distance.We ate out at night in restaurantsand the food was lovely. The sceneryof the mountains in Roundstone wasvery nice. It was so quiet inRoundstone. The beaches were niceand we swam in the beach inRoundstone. We really enjoyed thetime in Roundstone – it was a goodfew days.By Aine O’Grady, Galway Resource Centre
A Cat in the House
Black and white she was,We loved her just because,She was a nice pretty cat,Who sat upon the mat.
I remember her as a puss,All around her we did fuss.She purred like a real cat.There was nothing strange in that.
When all of us were out,Without a nod or a shout.Up on the table she’d go.I wonder was it for show.
She never left the house,Not even to catch a mouse. Her eyes were a blackish green,In the garden she was seen.
Pussy was her nameIt was not one of fame.For an ordinary cat was she,Who had Kitty Kat for her tea.
She liked a saucer of milkIt was for her a drink.When the sun came out too strongFor the milk she would long.By Ailish Higgins, Galway Resource Centre
We had a community dance inMcBrides Castlefinn for RehabCare onthe 21st April. A great local band “GaryGamble” was the entertainment. Heplayed great dancing music.Bernadette another service user got upand sang a song. She was very good!We also had an auction of an Irish
football shirt that was signed by allthe Irish team. Eddie our bus driver didthe auction. He was a great man forthe job. We had a few drinks andeveryone had a brilliant night.
By Michael McElhinney,RehabCare Lifford
I find Outreach very enjoyable. Thecompany is great. Simon is myOutreach Facilitator and he is veryfriendly. We went to the ISPCA openday on 23rd July. We saw variousanimals and we ate out afterwards. Onanother occasion we went to the picnicday in Cuisle. It was raining and I gotsoaked, but there was live music andplenty of fun. On 6th August, Simonbrought me to the Rosfest inRoscommon and we did a treasurehunt through Roscommon town withFrancis and Anne. Before Outreachstarted I was sitting at home in theevenings and weekends doing nothing.We go swimming on Tuesdays, Tommyand Oliver come too. The bowling onThursdays is very good – Ann Brennan
and myself are very good at it.
I was in Strandhill in Sligo withThomas and Eileen last Tuesday. I waslast in Strandhill with my father R.I.P.and brother Padraig and sister Finolaon 22nd August 1984. Last Tuesday’strip brought back lots of fondmemories. Thomas, Eileen and I gotsomething nice to eat in Sligo. It wasan enjoyable day.
Without Outreach I would be bored as Iwould have nothing to look forward toand probably be going to bed early inthe evenings
By M. O’C, RehabCare Castlerea
This year we had our big day out onthe 3rd August. First we went to ananimal farm outside of Athlone calledGlendeer. At the animal farm we sawlots of different animals like goats,ponies, Jersey cows, pups, kittens,and lots of different kinds of birds.On the way out we saw reindeer. Wehad a picnic there were lots ofsandwiches, biscuits, drinks, fruit andcrisps.
Next we drove to the ClonmacnoiseWest Offaly Bog Train Tour. We all goton the train and it headed out to thebog. A woman gave us a talk aboutthe bog. Halfway round the bog thetrain stopped and we were given ademonstration of traditional turf
cutting with a ‘Slain’ – a few of ustried it and it was good fun. The trainbrought us back to the start wherethere was a craft shop and a placewhere you could get tea or coffee.Some of us bought souvenirs.
After that we headed to DerrygladFolk Museum where we saw loads ofold tools, items for the kitchen, oldmoney, gramophones and otherthings from the past. It was veryinteresting. It was now about 6o’clock and we had a meal booked inCox’s of Dromod. It was fabulous – agreat end to a perfect day.
By Thomas, John and Patrick,RehabCare Ballinamore
This year in the Resource Centre andSheltered Workshop we got togetherand collected money which we wantedto give to a charity. We looked at howdifferent charities worked and decidedto pick Bóthar. Why Bóthar?
It is a third world development agency,which provides poor families with themeans to help themselves. It does thisby giving the family a farm animal likea cow, or a dairy goat, or rabbitsinstead of money. They are taught tolook after the animals properly andhave the support of vets to help themif the animals are sick. This allows thefamily to provide for themselves byproducing milk, meat or eggs. Theycan then sell food that they do notuse, giving the family their ownmoney and also make them feel goodabout themselves.
Bóthar’s National Fundraising ProjectOffice is based in Tubbercurry, Sligoand we contacted them to say we
wished to donate some money. TheirFundraising Projects Director PatMcCarrick offered to come and acceptthe cheque on behalf of Bóthar andspeak to us about Bóthar.
We all gathered to present our chequeand listen to Pat speak. He spoke tous about how Bóthar had started withan idea of sending over an in-calfheifer to provide a family with milkand gift another family with anoffspring similar to their own. Theorganisation has grown in size andnow sends out rabbits, dairy goats,hens, pigs, hives of honey bees toname but a few, to help people tohelp themselves. We got to see avideo of how a family’s life haschanged since they received theirdairy cow, building their own houseand having money to educate andcare for the health of their family. Wewere delighted to be able to see howour money will be spent to helpbenefit others in need.
We presented Pat with a cheque forBóthar worth €541.40. With thismoney we were able to send 1 dairy goatThree rabbitsAnd a flock of 50 baby chicks, to helpfamilies to help themselves
As told by Claire McLoughlin and JohnO’Kelly, RehabCare Sligo
Our Presentation to BótharLifford Community Dance
Our big day outWhat outreach means to me
My Dream Come True
It has always been my goal to seeWestlife in concert and when theopportunity came up I grabbed it!! Weleft at 3.00pm to go and see Westlife inBelfast. Ann, Josephine and Adrian myfriends came with me. Dawn and Annecame too. When we got there I thoughtthat the Odyssey Arena was big. We gotpictures taken outside the Odyssey.
When we arrived inside the Odyssey Iwas getting excited. We then gotsomething to eat. During our meal welaughed a lot. I couldn’t wait untilWestlife come on.
There were other artists on beforeWestlife but I just wanted to hearWestlife. I was getting very excited. Iwent to the Westlife shop with Dawnand bought a t-shirt, a cup, posters, anda scarf! When Westlife came on stageeverybody screamed. I was so excited.They played for about two hours. Theywere very good. The show was verycolourful. There was a very goodatmosphere. There was a huge crowdwhen we were leaving. It wasunbelievable.
The next morning in the centre, myfriends were asking how it went - I saidthat it was a Dream Come True.By Gertie Brown, RehabCare Lifford
South East/EastWest/North West
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We had our Presentation Day onthe 16th June. We had a lot ofwork to do before the day gettingthe centre ready. We received acertificate for the programmes wehad taken part in throughout theyear. Barry Sweeney and KevinClancy attended our special day.Our new manager Loretto wasintroduced to everybody. We hadentertainment by Dominic Kirwanand Shaun Cuddy and D.J Vision.We danced the day away with ourfriends and family.
By John-Joe Loftus, RehabCare Lifford
We went on holidays on Tuesday 30thMay leaving Ballinamore at 11 am. Westopped at the West Wing Restaurant inTuam and had our lunch, thencontinued on to Galway and made ourway to the Quality Hotel Oranmore. Itwas a lovely hotel with leisure centre;gym, steam room and Jacuzzi.
We checked in and went up to ourrooms on the 4th floor and weunpacked and relaxed for an hour.Five people went bowling in thecentre beside the hotel and the otherswent with Damien to check out thelocality and test the beer. When wecame back we went to the leisurecentre and had a swim, used thesteam room and relaxed in theJacuzzi. We went back to our roomsand got dressed up and had dinner at8pm in the hotel – the food was verygood. Then we had few drinks in thebar and went to bed.
Wednesday morning we got up andhad a great breakfast and headed for atour of Connemara. We visited Lenane,and saw the pub that was in the filmThe Field. We did some sightseeing andshopping. Ann bought a new jacket anddumped her old one. Then we went toKylemore Abbey and the managerIsobel allowed us admission free ofcharge. The gardens were beautiful andthe buildings around the abbey all oldstyle. Ann Keane took a nap in theBottys Bed. We viewed the abbey, andalso visited the restored chapel besidethe abbey, which was beautiful.
After we drove through Letterfrack andon too Clifden; it was a very hot day sowe went for a drink and we decided tohave our dinner in Clifden in arestaurant called Off The Square. Wehad a lovely meal. It was about 8.30pm when we left Clifden and we gotback to the hotel about 10 pm.
Although it was a long day, wedecided to go to a pub in Oranmorewhere there was Irish music anddancing – it was very good. Wewalked back to the hotel, got our keysand went to bed tired but happy.
On Thursday we got up, had breakfastand drove out to Salthill. Again it wasa lovely day and we had to wear sunprotection. We walked along thepromenade and could see the AranIslands in the distance. We went tothe National Aquarium where we sawall types of different fish, sharks, starfish, sea bass, sea horses, salmon andeels to name a few. We even got achance to hold a starfish. It was agreat experience and a place wewould visit again. Afterwards we hadtea and buns in the coffee shopbeside the aquarium.
All at Ballinamore Resource Centre
Our Holidays in Galway 2006
Presentation Fun Day at Lifford
South/Midwest
SamhlaíochtParadeThe Samhlaoícht Easter parade was heldin Tralee on Saturday the 15th April2006. The parade started at 2.00 pmfrom Siamsa Tire, went up passed theDominican Church, the Garda Barracks,around by Shaw’s, down by Dennystreet, and back to Siamsa to finish. Wethen returned to the centre inBlennerville.
RehabCare Blennerville took part in theparade along with a lot of other groups.The scouts, who use our centre, werethere. They had blue and whiteumbrellas and were dressed in blue andwhite – they went as water fountains.
As this was our first time doing theparade, we got help from Marian andJerry to build the pot for the stew andalso make costumes for the carrots,potatoes, cabbages, sunflowers, St.Patrick and lots more.
Our group was called “Clear as Crystal”and we came up with the idea of goingas a pot of Irish stew because theparade was all about “Roots”. We hadgreat fun getting ready for the parade.
Marian and Jerry went with us up to thefabric centre to buy materials for thecostumes. We all helped to cut out,paste, paint, decorate and dye thedifferent costumes. We also painted 4umbrellas, 2 green for the cabbagesand 2 orange for the carrots, and stuckon green leaves and ivy at the top. Wehad a lot of fun going to town to buydifferent things and when we wereready Jerry painted our faces.
We got a taxi from the centre andstarted from Siamsa. We gave out hug a
bug bears and the leprechaun (MaryGoodall) gave out chocolate coins.
We saw everyone and everyone saw us.It was great fun and we would love todo it all again. We would like to thankSamhlaíocht for organising it and forgiving us a great day out.
Afterwards we all came back out toBlennerville, cleaned off all the facepaint and took off the costumes andwigs, and then went to the StationHouse for a meal.
Marie Keating FoundationOn Tuesday the 28th February we hada Cancer Awareness Day and the MarieKeating Foundation van came to ourBlennerville centre.
Ann Walsh Ryan gave a talk aboutCancer to two different groups. Therewas a woman’s group and a men’sgroup and there were 22 peoplealtogether who listened to the talks.
Ann Walsh Ryan spoke about differentforms of cancer like breast cancer,bowel cancer, lung cancer, skin cancerand prostate cancer. She explained how
to check for lumps in our own body, toprotect our skin from the sun by usinga sun block and to give up smoking.She said it was important to haveregular checkups and to be aware ofour body and our health.
The talk was very interesting and welearned a lot. We got a lot ofinformation from brochures that shegave out.
We took photographs outside the MarieKeating Foundation van and some of uschecked out the inside of the van as well.
We enjoyed our day and we hope thatthey will come back to visit us againanother time.
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Photographed are: Joe Dowdall, Catherine O’Dell, Catherine Casey, PhilomenaO’Donoghue, Anne Lane, Tommy Cantillon, Mary Sugrue, Geraldine Dineen,Margaret Crowley, Mary Goodall, Isabelle Bailey, Katie Gaffey
Photographed above are: GeorginaBarrett, Joe Dowdall, Tommy Cantillon,Philomena O’Donoghue, Mary Sugrue,Anne Lane, Sharon Daly, Bernice Casey,Pauline Brown, Jim Kelly, CatherineCasey, Adrian Smith, Catherine O’Dell,Irene Kavanagh, Jane O’Donoghue, AnnWalsh Ryan
South East/EastSouth East/East
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Creative Writing
The Lost BrotherMammy died 10 years ago. I hadn’tseen my brother Paddy since then. I missed him and really wanted tosee him.
I remembered his wife had a relativein the town. I knew the street butnot the number.
Me and the girls went up one night –we knocked on every door in thestreet until we finally found Paddy’swife’s brother! At last after 10 years Ihad my brother’s phone number.
I made contact and went to visit himin Liverpool. He met me at the airportand I cried. That was 1 year ago. Nowwe talk every Wednesday night!
Last Friday I was getting ready for aparty. There was a knock at the door. Itwas Paddy, all the way from Liverpool.
I couldn’t believe it!
Family is so important. You just haveto keep in touch.
By Marie Grimes
Purple in sunlightPurple, you enter through my eyes
and from there hit the back of my head
with a dum-dum bullet-likeexplosion of micro-emotionalcharge,
like a nuclear fission chainreaction of sensation
randomly crashing into othersensation.
Such beauty first thing in themorning
to wake me out of stupor and into daze.
From darkness to this,
what is this you do to me? that no other colour can.
Kings knew this and peasantswere bamboozled
with the contrast to their drearybrown rags.
By Mark Long
Summer 2006ContestOur summer 2006 contest askedfor artwork submissions onthemes such as Animals,Landscape, or People.
The winning entry pictured hereis by Amanda Parker fromRehabCare, Monaghan.
Well done Amanda!
For our September Competition, we asked you to send us a story or poemabout a personal experience, journey or holiday. We had an overwhelmingresponse and some great entries, so we’ve decided to choose both awinning story and a winning poem.
The winning poem called “Purple in Sunlight” is by Mark Long from HOPS.
The winning story called “The Lost Brother” is by Marie Grimes fromDundalk Resource Centre.
Well done to you both!
Competition Winners
South East/EastSouth/Midwest
On the 19th July 2006 a group fromRehabCare resource centre Nenaghwent on a day trip to Dublin. We wentto Thurles by bus and caught the 8.10am train to Dublin. When we arrived atEuston station Dublin we got the no.19bus to Dáil Eireann. Michael Lowry TDmet us at the Dáil where he gave us atour of the building. He showed us theroom where the Dáil meet and picturesof the past and present Taoiseach. Ourgroup was treated to tea and snacks inthe Dáil and before returning home onthe 3.30pm train we had a meal inSupermacs in Euston station. We had agreat day out and learned a lot fromthe visit.
However, the highlight of our summerwas our summer holiday in Killarney.
Service users and staff departed fortheir annual holiday to Killarney onMonday 31st July 2006 for five days.We had a great time and an actionpacked week. We went to MuckrossHouse and visitors centre, had a ride onthe jaunting cars, went shopping toTralee and saw three great shows. Hereare some of the activities of our week.
On Tuesday 1st August, we departedfor Kenmare to catch the 1.15 pmsailing of the Seafari – Ireland’s premiereco-nature, history and seal watchingcruise. This is a friendly family-run rivercruise on board a fully equippedpassenger vessel. The friendly captainand guide gave us lots of information
throughout our tour as we cruisedaround the many islands between theBeara and Iveragh Mountain peninsula.We saw spectacular mountains, forestsand castles. We also observed fromclose up Ireland’s largest and mostspectacular sea colony where 300 ormore seals make their home in theparadise that is the Kerunare River. Wealso had tea and coffee on board witha lot of rum, if required.
At the end of the cruise the captain’sson Patrick sang a song and told a jokefor everyone on board. At 8.30 pm onthe same evening we went to theKillarney Avenue Hotel to see the LiamO’Connor show and boy was it good.Liam is a well-known accordion playerand musician and his show provided uswith a great night’s entertainment.Liam’s wife Lisa did all the singing forthe show and four talented Irishdancers provided great visual andchoreographic effects. Liam jumpedfrom the stage and personallyentertained some of our group to someof his great traditional Irish tunes, totheir great delight. The Liam O’Connorshow was one of the highlights of ourholiday in Killarney.
On Wednesday 2nd August, we went toMuckross House and gardens. It waslovely and when we got there we wenton the jaunting cars. The “Jarvey” toldus about the history of the house, thebiggest trout ever caught in the lake,and the five hundred year old tree. We
then went for a walk around theVisitor’s Centre and had a look aroundthe shop to buy some presents to takehome. After that we had lovely soupand sandwiches in the restaurant. Wethen got back on the bus and wentback to the house to have a rest beforeour night out in the Gleneagle Hotel forthe showband’s show. By: Michael Kennedy and JimmyMitchell, RehabCare Nenagh
On the 3rd August we went shoppingto Tralee shopping centre. I had a greattime walking around all the shops. Ibought a tracksuit and two tops inEvans. I went upstairs to the restaurantto have a rest and a cup of tea after allthe shopping. I am looking forwardgoing back to Killarney next year.By: Breda Ryan, RehabCare Nenagh
On Thursday 3rd August we went to ashow called Dance on the Moon in theGreat Southern Hotel in Killarney. Whenwe got there we all had a drink in thereception area while we waited for thedoors to open. The show started at8.30 pm. It was a story done throughIrish dancing – the dancers were verygood and I really enjoyed the show. Itwas one of the highlights of myholiday in Killarney.By: John Keane, RehabCare Nenagh
Service users and staff would like to congratulate Karen Flanagan, Ann O’Meara and Gerard Keown on their new employment.
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Highlights of our Summer
Christmas CompetitionWe're looking for buddingdesigners to take part in theChristmas competition for thenext edition. Send us in yourcreative Christmas ideas forornaments, wreaths, calendars,cards e-cards etc. Remember,you can send in a photo of youritem rather than the item itself.
South East/EastSouth East/East
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South East/East
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Information Bulletin
Recently, I was fortunate enough to beinvited by the South & East BelfastTrust to attend some training deliveredby Julie Allen, Helen SandersonAssociates, and Bronagh Hillen, South& East Belfast Trust, on Person CentredThinking. Here I was introduced to the“Doughnut Principle” as described bymanagement guru Charles Handy. InHandy’s Doughnut the centre, far frombeing empty, is filled in. If you draw ityou will see something like a fried egg– a small solid centre surrounded by awhite space bounded by a roughlycircled line. I have to say I havepreviously been sceptical of gurus.
In the Doughnut management theorythe solid middle represents theessential elements of the job, thingsthat have to be done no matter what.But the responsibilities don’t end there.The white space is the opportunity forinitiative and creativity, for goingbeyond, for adding extra value, forgetting more out of less. There is,however, a boundary, an official limitto discretion, and the line beyondwhich one should not go.
Person Centred Thinking, developed byMichael Smull and Helen Sanderson,developed this idea for staff that havea support role for people with adisability. Increasingly staff are asked tosimultaneously support choice, buildrelationships and assure health andsafety. Naturals in this role will easilyget the balance right. However manyothers can get caught up with eitherthe first or last message. As wasstated on the day “happy and dead” isnot an option but equally neither is“safe and miserable.” What isimportant is that this balance is definedwith each individual that we support.
The Doughnut principle as adapted byMichael Smull for supporting peoplewith disabilities suggests that there arethree areas of responsibility that canbe defined with each person we
support. The centre of the doughnut isthe core responsibilities, those thingsthat we need staff to do without fail.These core responsibilities should be amix of health and safety issues andthose things that are important to theperson. The middle circle is the areawhere we should encourage andexpect (and support) staff to use theirjudgment and creativity. These areareas where staff are expected to trynew ideas and not be held to blame ifthe ideas do not work out. Outside ofthe doughnut are those areas that arenot our responsibility, because they arepersonal or to put it another way –none of our business.
It was explained that the boundarybetween core responsibilities and areaswhere people can use their judgementshould be sharp and clear. If someonerequires a particular medicalintervention or if a particular routine isimportant to a person this is not anissue of judgement or creativity but
one in which we need to follow theperson’s instructions. On the outerboundary, the distinction between‘judgement’ and ‘none of our business’is deliberately kept blurred. Forexample; how someone dresses mightbe none of our business in the day today, but could fall into the area of ‘usejudgement and creativity’ when theywish to get into a night club.
Management gurus like Charles Handyhave never been essential readingmaterial for me. But in future I will trynot to be so blinkered and be open togaining knowledge from otherorganisational learning. Howeveranother leading thinker of the 21stcentury Homer J. Simpson had alreadyhighlighted the potential benefits ofdoughnuts when stating “Doughnuts: isthere nothing that they cannot do?”Mmmm… doughnuts.
By Kevin Barnes, ProgrammesManager RehabCare
Person Centred Thinking: The “Doughnut Principle”
UseJudgement/Creativity
Not Our “Paid” Responsibility(The Domain of friends)
CoreResponsibility
Michael W. Smull (From Charles Handy)
South East/EastNRAC
Date for your diaryThis year we are taking a newapproach to our AGM – We arecombining a Service User and Staffworkshop together based on the theme“Advocacy.” It will run over 1 1⁄2 days onthe 15th & 16th November.
Below are some more details on all ofour activities.
“Nothing about us without us”Conference in Belfast in June
This conference was the first all-Irelandself-advocacy conference for self-advocates and supporters. Guestspeakers at the conference includedDr John O’Brien from InclusionAssociates, Karen Spencer and IanDavis from People First England.
The conference had workshops aboutself-advocacy and rights in the areasof home, independence, education,work, health and relationships.
Self-Advocacy is about standing upfor your rights. NRAC decided to givea presentation in a workshop on ourAdvocacy Group. Five NRAC NationalCommittee members attended andgave a fantastic presentation to agroup of 20 people and then had aquestions and answers session.
This was the first time NRACpresented externally, so it was anew experience. Well done to allmembers including Jimmy Dooner,Martin Flanagan, Margaret Norris,Simon Buggy and Michael O’Brien!
Bullying Guidelines for ServiceUsers within RehabCare
Following on from our Bullying Seminarin February 2006 when we receivedvaluable information from you, theNRAC National Committee has beenworking on new Bullying Guidelines.The Committee allocated two hours ofeach monthly meeting researchingpolicies and building on theinformation that you all provided. TheGuidelines have been completed andwe will launch them at our AGM inNovember.
All information will be sent out to yourcentre closer to the date.
Rehab Council InnovationAwards 2006
We were very pleased to hear thegreat news that NRAC received a highlycommended award for our Guidelineson Bullying from the Rehab CouncilInnovation Awards. The awardsceremony took place in October and allmembers of the National Committeeattended this function and the Seminarthe following day.
Regional Meetings
All meetings have been very successfulwithin the regions and are completed.This is a great opportunity for ServiceUsers to meet and discuss futureprojects and link in directly with theirRegional Manager.
Trinity College Presentation
Dr Jean Lynch of Trinity Collegecontacted the National DevelopmentOfficer to ask if NRAC would present ata meeting in Trinity on Bullying. TheNational Committee agreed and twomembers attended the meeting. Welldone to Jimmy Dooner NRAC NationalChairperson and Michael O’Brien NRACNational Committee Member.
NRAC COMMITTEE LIFFORD
We had our weekly meeting just beforethe summer break. We invited MariaLynch along to that meeting. Wediscussed the financial situation and thechanges that are going to take place inthe future. We had a very successfulmeeting. We adjourned for lunch andwe had a lovely lunch in the Old CourtHouse in Lifford. After lunch we cameback to the centre. We got Maria to doa draw for us, as we had done asponsored walk and silence theprevious day. We got the prizessponsored by Boots chemist in Strabanefor which we would like to thank them.We would also like to thank themanagement and staff of the centre fortheir help in organising this event.
On the 21st of August we elected ournew NRAC Committee. Three membersof the last committee stepped downand there are now three newmembers. The election was very wellorganised. Eleven went forward forseven places. After the election we satdown and elected new officers to thecommittee. We would also like to thankthe staff of the Lifford centre for theirhelp with the election.The NRAC Committee, RehabCare Lifford
The NRAC National Committee hasbeen involved in a number of newdevelopments over the summermonths. In June we attended andpresented at a conference in Belfastcalled “Nothing about us withoutus.” We also completed our first draftof the Guidelines on Bullying for
Service Users in July and we thenreceived a highly commended awardfrom the Rehab Council InnovationAwards 2006 for the BullyingGuidelines. We also presented inTrinity College on the topic ofbullying to a group of Danish visitorsin September.