At this year’s Donegal Volunteer Centre ME4U awards, iCARE (Inishowen Children’s Autism Related Education) were delighted that Deirdra Deery and Matthew Cutliffe were honoured with certificates for their volunteering contributions to the local charity on Thursday last in the Mount Errigal Hotel, Letterkenny.
Matthew has been volunteering with Sonas Youth Club, since shortly after its inception in 2012. Matthew has helped with fundraising, working with young people, and providing equipment and resources for the club. Matthew has a can-do attitude and is always enthusiastic and forward thinking. iCARE really appreciate his dedication and commitment to Sonas Youth Club and this award is well deserved.
Deirdra Deery volunteers with iCARE helping with childcare, fundraising, cleaning, youth work and supporting families.
According to Liam Gill who nominated her; “Deirdra provides the exact same attention to all the young people who attend our centre. Her passion for iCARE is endless and timeless. Deirdra always goes the extra mile, she is an enigma, an unsung hero with a heart of gold, her energy and enthusiasm rubs off on all she works with, and she always puts the children first.
“Deirdra has been a great help and inspiration to all the families and young people, she is so worthy of this recognition, with over ten years with iCARE, we would be lost without her commitment to our group. She recently organised girly nights for young girls with autism with great success, this is just a small example of Deirdra’s voluntary work.”
Five young people from Sonas Youth Club; Olivia Farren, Sinead Barber, Sorcha McLaughlin, Conor Deeney, and Dylan Clarke were awarded by Donegal Volunteer Centre for their project, Leadership for Life Level 3, for helping the community.
Dylan organised a charity wax through the National Learning Network, Sorcha helped organize a 5K, Sinead worked in a local crèche, while Conor and Olivia helped run a local charity shop.
All five of these young people are inspirational and deserve the recognition. They have demonstrated that having ASD does not effect their ability to have an impact in their local community.
The development of young people as leaders is core to the work of Foróige and Sonas Youth Club. Foróige’s Leadership for Life is an exciting programme that enables young people to develop the skills and qualities necessary to be effective leaders, as well as challenging them to use these skills for the betterment of society.
iCARE and Sonas Youth Club would like to say well done and congratulations to Olivia, Conor, Dylan, Sorcha and Sinead. They received a certificate, trophy and €400 voucher for Arena 7 for their club. The five young people graduated down NUI Galway university in October past. Big congratulations, all your hard work and the effort has paid off.
iCARE would like to thank the Donegal Volunteer Centre for all their help and assistance over the years, helping them establish a strong team of staff and volunteers.
More cause for celebration was the eight young people successfully who completed their Level 1 Leadership for Life. Congratulations to Chloe Morrison, Caoimhe Grant, Ryan Gill, Orla Treacy, Jack Barlow, Darragh Fullerton, Aoife Doherty and Samantha McLucas. iCare give a special big thanks to Eamon McGee who agreed to present the eight young people with their certificates at Arena 7, and thanks to Lynda Denman for helping facilitate level 1 for their young people.
A spokesperson for iCare says; “Special thanks to the great service and hospitilaty from Arena 7 staff. Arena 7 have always been very good to our group – highly recommended to youth groups. Congratulations to all our young people.
“iCARE and Sonas Youth Club prides itself on its person-centred approaches. Throughout our organisation we consider it vital that we get to know the person with ASD, and also understand how their ASD impacts on their life. We feel that every person with ASD is unique, and that their autism impacts on them uniquely.
“Our aim is to promote the rights, wellbeing and opportunities of children and young people with autism and intellectual disabilities, their parents and carers.
“We aim to provide support, training and information to parents and carers of children and young people with ASD and to provide respite, play and leisure opportunities to children and young people and to provide a safe, secure environment in which children and young people with ASD can build their confidence and develop their social skills. The children and young people who attend our centre cannot attend mainstream youth clubs or similar organisations due to their disability.
“iCARE has grown since its inception in the year 2000 and developed over the years as a result of the hard work from its committee and from the support it has received from the families who use our centre, the community and the other organisations which support us.
“Initially we provided 6 places weekly, today we provide in excess of 100 places weekly on a wide range of sessions.
“iCARE has a part time manager and has 2 childcare workers, a caretaker and a youth worker through the FAS and Tus schemes. We employ 12 casual part time special needs assistants and we also have a pool of 15 volunteers for the Sonas Youth Club Project. We offer support mornings to parents.
“iCARE and Sonas Youth Club offer school holiday excursions as our young people need structure and routine. We offer excursions for up to 150 children and young people including siblings. Giving the children and young people an opportunity to learn new skills and develop, with activities such as zip lines, kayaking, abseiling, swimming, mountain climbing, sports, arts and culture to name but a few.
“Respite sessions for the families, 7 days per week, and we provide transport on a Saturday for families outside the Buncrana area, covering a 100 mile rural radius.
“We have a very successful youth club for young people with ASD and Intellectual disabilities, 2 nights per week with programmes including fitness, cookery skills, life skills, art, music, drama, leadership, drug and alcohol programmes. Promoting participation, fun and informal learning.
“Saturday Kids inclusion Club with sports, fitness, cookery, art and music from 12:30 – 2:30pm, any child can attend aged between 4-10 years old, cost is €5.”
If you would like more information on iCARE, please contact Centre Manager Liam Gill on 074 9362226 or email centre manager@icare.ie
