BROTHERS OF CHARITY SERVICES GALWAY...BROTHERS OF CHARITY SERVICES GALWAY // ANNUAL REPORT 2014 5...

BROTHERS OF CHARITY SERVICES GALWAY // ANNUAL REPORT 2014

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BROTHERS OF CHARITY

SERVICES GALWAY

ANNUAL REPORT2014


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We support people to be valued citizens in their local

community, to have ordinary life experiences and to

be closely connected to family and friends. We are

committed to supporting people to make choices

about their lives and to the provision of quality

services that meet people’s needs.

Vision Statement


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It gives me great pleasure to present the Annual Report for the Brothers of Charity Services

Galway for 2014. I would like to congratulate the people who use our Services and the staff

who support them for all the wonderful achievements that are described in the Report.

The cumulative cuts in funding over the last six years have resulted in significant pressure

on the Services and it became increasingly difficult to respond to emergency situations and

people’s changing needs. However throughout the year staff worked very hard to ensure

that we continue to deliver quality services, and despite the continuing financial challenges,

there were very positive developments and outcomes for people using the Services.

Following our successful accreditation from the Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL) in 2013, CQL carried out an interim review

of the Services in November 2014 and validated the accreditation in Person Centred Excellence and Basic Assurances. The Health

Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) commenced inspections of residential and respite services for adults and children with

disability during the year. The Board welcomes this important development and is committed to continuing to provide quality

services that meet regulations.

On behalf of the Board I would like to express our appreciation to the Director of Services, Anne Geraghty and the Management

Team who continually strive to deliver person-centred responsive services in a very challenging climate. The Board would like

to acknowledge and thank the officials of the Health Services Executive (HSE), the many government and local government

departments and other statutory and non-statutory bodies, our colleagues in other voluntary service providers, the local public

representatives, our volunteers and the people of Galway for their continuing support.

Patrick McGinley, Chairperson of Board of Directors.

Letter from Chairperson of Board of Directors

The Brothers of Charity Services Galway provide a wide range of services to people with an intellectual disability and to their families in Galway City and County. The services range from early intervention services for young children through to school age services and a variety of programmes for adults devised according to the level of support that individuals require and priorities that they identify. Services include educational, day, residential, respite, family support, a range of multidisciplinary supports and supports to people who live independently.


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The Services experienced yet another very challenging year in 2014. The effects of cumulative budgetary cuts over the last six years were felt right across the Services. The focus of the Board and the management team has been to endeavour to protect the frontline services as much as possible. But this resulted in considerable pressure on reduced administrative supports and back office functions at a time when the levels of external accountabilities are increasing exponentially. Financial constraints did not allow us to fill vacancies in the multidisciplinary departments due to maternity leave or sick leave, resulting in reduced supports in children’s and adult services. The strain on families who require respite or residential services increased significantly. Lack of capital funding has made it extremely difficult to replace motor vehicles or upgrade accommodation to meet people’s changing needs. Despite the challenges, staff continue their commitment to the provision of person-centred services to the people we support. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff for their dedication and excellent practice.

QUALITY SERVICES

Following our successful accreditation from the Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL) in 2013, CQL carried out an interim review of the Services and validated the accreditation in Person Centred Excellence and Basic Assurances.

HIQA Inspectors visited some of the adult services and the children’s respite houses during the year, and as the year came to an end all staff teams in the designated centres were preparing for the formal registration of our residential and respite houses in 2015.

The Self Advocacy Groups and the Service Users’ Council did a lot of work this year in helping us to ensure that people know about HIQA and why inspectors would be coming to the Services. They carried out a survey of service users who were living in the houses that inspectors had visited this year, and got a picture of the impressions of the residents. They collated these impressions and presented them to a meeting of the Service Users Council. The impressions were very positive with comments like “She smiled a lot”, “She liked tea and we had a chat”, “She was sound”. When asked what they talked about they reported; “She asked me was I happy, I told her I was”, “She did not ask me any tricky questions”, “One of the guys did not want to talk and she said maybe another day we will”. They were asked what they would say to other service users about the HIQA inspection and some of their advice

Report from Director of Services


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was; “She just wants to know if you’re happy”, “All they want to do is talk to people”, “Ask for ID to make sure it’s not a stranger”. This survey and report by the Service Users’ Council was a very positive contribution in supporting people to understand the regulation process. The Council also worked on the development of easy read versions of some of the documentation required by HIQA. A sincere thank you to all involved for their work during the year.

LET’S GET TO WORK

The Let’s Get to Work project which commenced in 2013 supported by a grant from Pobal under the Disability Activation Project, went from strength to strength in 2014. The goal was to establish a model of service that would explore and support individuals with intellectual disability who do not meet the criteria set out by the current network of Supported Employment Services due to additional support needs, to access the labour market in Galway through securing and maintaining employment. The project is supported by locally based committees in target areas comprising staff of the Brothers of Charity Services and the local business community. The target number of people to support was 40 individuals. During the year the four community outreach workers supported 53 participants resulting in 15 in paid employment. Of the total group of participants, 30 were involved in work or volunteering experience. An initiative that has developed from the project is an accredited FETAC training programme supported by the Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board. Twenty eight people benefitted from this course and there are plans for further courses. The Pobal funding comes to an end in April 2015 and the management team is endeavouring to mainstream the project and sustain it into the future.


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ARTS AND COMMUNITY

The Services have built strong connections in the artistic life of the city and county, and 2014 provided many opportunities for people using the Services to participate in community and cultural events. Many of the service areas were active in the Bealtaine Festival events in May, for example, the Iris Centre in Clarinbridge organised a morning of song and dance and invited members of the local community to bring along their musical instruments and join in the fun.

Harvest Studios in Gort were successful in their application to have a Fáilte Ireland Visitor Information Point located in their studio, a very welcome addition to their enterprise. Harvest Studios, in a very short time, has become an integral part of the business community in the town. In September, they hosted a “Street Fest” and collaborated with other community organisations in creating an all-inclusive atmosphere with market stalls, music, puppets, and arts and crafts. There are plans to make this an annual event. Harvest Studios were very proud to be nominated for the Mayor’s Award.

That’s Life Programme continued to provide opportunities for people using the Services to express themselves through the arts. In collaboration with the UK based theatre company, Mind the Gap and the Town Hall Theatre in Galway, That’s Life participants staged “Trickster”, a large scale performance with Jez Colborne at the Black Box to full houses and huge acclaim in October. “Fairyland Forest”, the third of the animation films produced by That’s Life, and based on a short story by Mary Kinsella, was screened in the IMC Cinema in Galway in July as part of the Galway Film Fleadh. It was also screened by invitation at the Dublin Animation Film Festival where it was runner up in the Community Recognition Category. Over 40 people worked on the film over a 15 month period.

February saw the launch of the film “A Spotlight on Independent Living” in the Nun’s Island Theatre. The film was produced by That’s Life with the support of Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board and featured individuals from Clarenmore Supported Independent Living Programme and Horizon Services. The participants told their story of moving from congregated settings or community houses to living independently, and spoke very movingly about what


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a difference this has made in their lives. At a Question and Answer session after the screening one of the participants told the audience that she loved living on her own but living independently requires support and that it must be planned and “done right”.

In January we were very proud when three parts of our Services were nominated and shortlisted for the Connacht Aontas Awards. They were Blue Teapot, That’s Life and Harvest Studios. The award went to Blue Teapot.

The award winning documentary “Somebody to Love” was screened on RTE. The documentary explored the challenges faced by people with disability in intimate relationships and how the perceptions of others and the law affect their lives. The documentary followed the rehearsals and the performance of Blue Teapot as they prepared to bring their ground breaking play, “Sanctuary”, to the Dublin Fringe Festival. The interviews with Blue Teapot actors poignantly illustrated the reality of the current legal framework.


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In July Blue Teapot premiered their new play iD – “Who Do You Think I Am”? at the Galway Arts Festival. iD, a provocative and entertaining new work conceived by the company in collaboration with Scott Williams and Gavin Kostick, gave the audience the opportunity to experience the world through the eyes of people with intellectual disability and questioned all our perceptions of identity along the way.

We are very proud of Petal Pilley, Director of Blue Teapot Theatre Company, who was awarded the Jim McNaughton/Tile Style Artist’s Bursary of €10,000 at the Allianz Business Awards for the creative vision in the work she has been doing with Blue Teapot. The Allianz Business to Arts Awards recognise businesses, artists and arts organisations that develop creative partnerships, bringing the arts and artists into mutually beneficial relationships across society. The awards were presented by President Higgins in the National Concert Hall and the Jim McNaughton/Tile Style award is presented to one individual every year. This award and national recognition is richly deserved.

ADVOCACY

In June, Senator Catherine Zappone launched the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2014 in the Seanad. The Bill aims to eliminate discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities in Irish sexual offences legislation. Two members of the Galway Service Users Council, Christina Burke and Martin Dooher were invited by Senator Zappone to attend the Seanad debate on the Bill, and Blue Teapot’s Director Petal Pilley, together with “Sanctuary” cast members Charlene Kelly and Kieran Coppinger, participated in the press conference in Dublin to officially launch the Bill.

Members of the Service Users’ Council continue to be involved in self-advocacy promotion and development at a national level through participation in the National Advocacy Council, the Advocacy Forum, and projects co-ordinated by the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies. The members of the Service Users’ Council play a significant role in the Central Induction Programme for new staff and in their quarterly meetings with the Director of Services and Sector Managers bring forward issues for discussion and offer important feedback on how the Services are meeting the needs of individuals.

A LEARNING ORGANISATION

In our multidisciplinary services, the Psychology Department in conjunction with the Psychology Department in the HSE, were successful in their joint application for inclusion in training in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), a treatment programme aimed at helping people with ongoing difficulties managing intense emotions. The department has secured two training places for BOCG psychologists which will facilitate the development of a DBT programme within the Galway Services.


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The Physiotherapy Department initiated what they called FIT for 14 – a healthy living project designed to support service users to become more physically active, to learn new long term lifestyle skills, get into regular eating patterns, achieve a balanced diet, achieve a sustainable weight loss where appropriate, and limit further weight gain.

THE CHILDREN’S SERVICES

In September, Fairlands Child Development Centre (CDC) moved from their previous location to The Gables in Woodlands Centre. This recently renovated building provides greater space for the children attending the CDC and they have all settled in very well to their new environment.The Community School Age Team moved into the other half of the building which has provided the team with greater therapy space.

Throughout the year, work has been ongoing as part of the National Progressing Children’s Disability Services Framework in preparation for the re-alignment of school age multidisciplinary supports. The plan is that the multidisciplinary services to children of school age will be delivered through four teams in an inter-agency model comprising staff from the Brothers of Charity Services, Ability West, Enable Ireland and the HSE.

RESPITE AND FAMILY SUPPORT

The Family Support Services continued to respond to the very significant needs of families for short breaks through the home sharing, contract families and shared living projects. In 2014 the effects of the cumulative cuts to budgets were very apparent in the increase in requests by families for respite, and despite the best efforts of the Family Support Services, the budget available was not able to meet needs. Respite breaks are a lifeline for many families and although the Services prioritised the protection of funding for this service through the years of budget cuts, we are unable to adequately meet the needs of all the families and individuals who require it. This is a critical area and is likely to be a pressure point for families and the Services in the coming year.


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Families throughout County Galway continue to generously open their homes to provide breaks for children and adults and this is hugely positive, however there is an obvious need to develop and sustain this through appropriate selection, training, support and monitoring. There is a need to invest in this vital service over the next number of years to support families to care for their child or adult at home. Lack of recognition by the funders of the need and cost of this service is a concern. However despite the financial challenges, the Home Sharing Team now support 74 host families who offer significant support to both children and adults across the county.

A “Gift of Time” is the initiative of the Family Support Service where hotels and B&Bs within Galway City and County offer short breaks for families. A big Thank You to all the hotels and B&Bs who have given generously, this is much appreciated.

THE PADRAIG McDONAGH BROWN BREAD COMPETITION

Padraig McDonagh from the Bruach na Mara Services who passed away very suddenly in 2013 played a very active role in the Service Users’ Council over a long number of years. His friends and colleagues in the advocacy groups across the Services wanted to do something in his memory. Padraig was famous for his brown bread and scones and was known to make the “best brown bread west of the Shannon”. The Service Users’ Council decided that the best possible event in memory of Padraig would be a brown bread and scone competition. Strict rules were agreed, the Foods of Athenry

kindly agreed to be the judges, prizes were sourced and each service area was permitted to enter one cake of brown bread and six scones. The friendly rivalry between the bakers led to lots of trial recipes, baking practice and tasting. Tensions ran high on the day of the competition as the judges cut, prodded, smelled and tasted the entries. The prizes went to Cairigin in Cregoran Services for the best brown bread, and Skylark Centre for the best scones. The competition was a huge success and the Council has decided that it will be an annual event. Padraig would be delighted!


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COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENTS

The work on supporting people to move from Kilcornan to live in the community continued through the year. This was supported by a grant from the Department of the Environment and ongoing partnership with Galway County Council to purchase a house which will accommodate the last group of people moving from Kilcornan Centre. We were supported by GENIO in a project which will facilitate six people to move to their own apartments in Athenry and foster their links in the local Community. These moves will be completed in the first half of 2015. The Congregation of the Brothers of Charity set up an initiative called Kilcornan Foundation which, in consultation with a wide group of stakeholders, will explore future uses of Kilcornan as a community amenity.

A new Outreach Service in the South Connemara area commenced so that people can access a variety of supports in their local community. Supports include facilitating people to pursue further education or employment, to build community connections and to develop independent living skills.

During 2014 there were a number of deaths in our Services and we remember each person with fondness and offer our sympathies to their families and friends. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the wonderful care that is given to people in our Services as they come to the end of their lives. Visiting the houses of people at times like this is truly inspirational and I want to say a very sincere thank you to all our staff who are so sensitive and caring at these times. We also had a number of retirements and I would like to thank each person for their contribution and commitment to the Services over a long number of years and wish them health and happiness as they move to the next part of their lives.

I would like to thank our Board of Directors and its Chairperson, Patrick McGinley for giving their time and expertise so generously. Finally I would like to sincerely thank the many people and organisations, too many to list individually, who supported the Brothers of Charity Services and the people who use our Services during 2014. I am confident that in partnership with families, our staff, funders and the local communities who are so supportive of us, we can continue to support the people using our Services to achieve their goals and dreams.

Anne Geraghty, Director of Services.


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Report from the Service Users’ Council

We had a busy year throughout 2014 engaging in a wide variety of Advocacy based activities.

Members of the Service Users’ Council presented at Central Induction, Personal Outcomes and Key Worker staff training courses and received payment for these workshops. We developed Easy-Read versions of documents such as the Individual Service Agreement, the Residents Guide, the Human Rights Booklet, and the Complaints/Compliments Form. The Advocacy Coordinator and advocates visited houses across the services giving presentations on Advocacy and introduced people to our newly developed information pack. We carried out a survey with service users who live in houses that had received a Monitoring visit from HIQA and presented the findings to the Service Users’ Council, BOC management and the HSE.

Service Users’ Council representatives participated in Regional and National meetings with senior management of the BOC and highlighted issues and concerns including: budget cuts, transport, respite services, social media, housing charges, the success and value of the Let’s Get to Work Project, a name change for BOC Services, National BOC Structures and reviews by HIQA and by CQL.

The Brothers of Charity National Advocacy Conference was hosted this year by Roscommon Service Users’ Council and was attended by 340 people. The Conference theme was “Equality for All” and involved presentations on people’s right to be treated as equals in all areas of their lives, such as in healthcare, education and employment. The Galway self advocates presented their DVD on the “Let’s Get to Work” project. The Conference called for the Ratification of the UN Convention for the Rights of People with Disabilities. Advocates also attended National Conferences with Inclusion Ireland, National Federation of Voluntary Bodies, and the National Platform of Self Advocates.


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Our Self Advocates liaised with external agencies and participated in projects including:

• Inclusive Research Network – recruiting more Galway researchers and finalising the research findings on our “Home and Independence” study.

• Working with Senator Katherine Zappone and NUIG on the ‘Right to Love’ Bill and attending the Seanad to express our views on the Bill.

• National Platform of Self Advocates.

• Next Steps Project.

• New Directions – consulting with service users on the “New Directions” standards and presenting the feedback to the HSE.

• Inclusion Ireland – participating in a consultation on disability nursing and attending the “International Day for People with Intellectual Disability” in Liberty Hall.

• The life and contributions of Padraig McDonagh were celebrated in November with a Bake off in his honour. Everyone enjoyed the day and were delighted to have the “Foods of Athenry” involved.

• We have made links with local Councillors and highlighted accessibility issues in towns and communities across the county.

The publication of our first newsletter was a welcome development and our webpage is under construction – we hope to go live in 2015.

Chairperson, Majella Jordan.

Advocacy Coordinator, Jackie Moran.

galwayadvocacy@galway.

brothersofcharity.ie


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The Brothers of Charity Services Galway Volunteer Programme is now officially called “CONNECT” to reflect the focus on supporting people with an intellectual disability to make connections with people in their local communities. Volunteers enrich the lives of people in our services bringing friendship and fun as well as increased opportunities for social outings and activities.

Volunteers do not require any specific skill set or qualification, just a willingness to spend time with the person and support them to get out and about. All volunteers are met and interviewed by the Volunteer Coordinator and are then Garda Vetted. They attend a one day mandatory training which includes client protection, health and safety and confidentiality. The volunteer is then introduced to an individual in our Services who shares similar interests.

We have a variety of opportunities for volunteers either working one-to-one with a person with intellectual disability or in a group setting. These photos give some examples of the roles that Volunteers undertake.

On behalf of the people in our Services I would like to express our sincere thanks to all our wonderful volunteers for their time, enthusiasm and commitment.

Rosemarie Kearns, Volunteer Coordinator.

[email protected]


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Johanna Breteler and Geraldine Tarpy, Orchard Services Preparing to plant the garden in Gort.


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Profile of People Using Services 2014

OVERALL TOTAL

COMMUNITY SERVICES

DAY SERVICES

RESIDENTIAL SERVICES

SUPPORTED LIVING

RESPITE (NUMBER OF RECIPIENTS IN BRACKETS)

Children’s Services 463 366 97 - - 8 (14)

East Galway Adult Services 245 33 238 135 3 7 (30)

West Galway Adult Services 325 103 246 126 72 8 (16)

Total 1033 502 581 261 75 23 (60)

Early Intervention Services 391 391 - - - - -

Community Services include children in mainstream schools receiving support from School Age Teams and adults in our Horizon and Suas Services receiving Multidisciplinary Team Supports.

The Galway Early Intervention Services are inter-agency disability services for children from birth to six years old and are provided by the Brothers of Charity Services Galway in partnership with Enable Ireland and HSE West.

SERVICE

Paschal Murray, Clarenmore Services Paving the Way at Ballybane Community Garden.


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Profile of Staff 2014P F/T

Permanent Full TimeP/T

Part TimeT F/T

Temporary Full TimeTOTAL STAFF WTE POSTS

Admin/Org Supports 35 16 9 60 52.30

Medical 2 2 - 4 4.00

Nursing 92 83 4 179 148.95

Multidisciplinary Service 29 31 3 63 51.61

Instructors/Supervisors 24 22 - 46 37.84

Transport 4 25 - 29 18.71

Social Care Leaders/ Social Care Workers 56 42 2 100 84.99

Care Assistants 99 305 3 407 326.72

Maintenance 4 1 - 5 4.38

Others 21 61 4 86 56.66

TOTAL 366 588 25 979 786.16

WTE Staff Posts 786.16 includes locum staff employed as at 31.12.2014


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Synopsis of Financial Results for the Year 2014 (Service operations extracted from 2014 Audited Accounts)

Financial Results 2014

2014€,000

2013€,000Income

Health Service Executive - Allocation 43,554 43,094

Designated Funds Released 224 120

Deferred Income Released -60 (4)

Other Income 3,985 4,144

Total Income 47,703 47,354

ExpenditureStaff Costs 38,863 39,147

Other Costs 8,949 8,138

Total Expenditure 47,812 47,285

Surplus / (Deficit) for Year -109 69

Reserves as at 31 December 1,111 1,220

Expenditure by Service DivisionChildren’s Services - County Galway 3,801 7.95% 4,466 9.44%

Adults Services - East County Galway 17,929 37.50% 17,881 37.82%

Adults Services - West County Galway 17,811 37.25% 16,714 35.35%

The Multidisciplinary Departments 4,642 9.71% 4,789 10.13%

Central (Corporate) Services 3,436 7.19% 3,266 6.91%

Superannuation 193 0.40% 169 0.36%

Total 47,812 100% 47,285 100%


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Brothers of Charity Services Galway, Woodlands Centre, Renmore, Galway.TEL: 091 - 721400 FAX: 091 - 721444

EMAIL: [email protected]

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