Description of the service
Who uses the services?
People with mild/moderate intellectual / learning disability.
How many people use the service?
33 client visit us for day care & 22 stay with us on a residential level.
Tory Services was established for a number of reasons
- to reduce numbers of service users in other areas;
- to promote inclusion in the community;
- to regard our services as a valuable contributor to the community;
- to overcome negative attitude by presenting a positive attitude.
Please describe what happened in your service/project
Our service was established to offer a service to people who worked in enterprise based activities. These activities were already established in the overall service but they were re-located to a community base in an industrial estate. Three small units were established, staffed by a supervisor and in some cases two supervisors, with a maximum of 8 service users on a permanent basis in each area. Each area is self contained with no differences between staff or service users. Each person has equal input into decisions regarding their work area.
Method
- Each area has a work advocacy group to plan, agree and review their area;
- We adopted a positive attitude in aiming to become integrated into the community
- applied for jobs in the local press
- invited other units to be part of a lunch time soccer session
- invited other units to visit us and this was reciprocated
- accessed college courses and employment initiatives open to the community as a whole.
Outcomes
- Smaller groups aided the education of behavioural issues and appropriate social skills became more the norm;
- Service users felt that they are part of a workforce contributing to the community;
- Social contacts to supported/open employment contacts were created naturally.
Name of organisation: Brothers of Charity Services – South Eastern Region
Name of Service (if different): Tory Services
Address: Units 20-21 Tramore Road Business Park, Waterford – Ireland
Telephone: +353-51-378004 Fax: +353-51-378013.
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