Errigal Truagh Special Needs Parents & Friends Ltd

Glenview, Dundian
Emyvale, Co Monaghan
Tel/Fax: 047 87680 Bus mobile: 086 326 4856

Errigal Truagh Special Needs was founded in 2001 after a group of parents/ family members of adults with Physical /Intellectual disabilities as well as others from the parish of Truagh came to a meeting to see if there could be a social club set up in the area for people with special needs.

This meeting highlighted that a number of adults were not availing of a day service and were at home all the time.

It was decided that a committee would be set up and we would pursue the possibility of setting up a Day Activation Centre in the parish. Meetings were held with the HSE to highlight this and we were able to secure funding to open a centre. The local Heritage Committee agreed to rent us a building and a local firm was engaged to transport Service Users to the Centre and home again.

We employed:

1 Manager
1 Nurse

We contacted the local FAS office in Truagh and we secured two care assistants to work 19.5 hrs every week.

2001 we opened our doors for the first time, with ten Service

The range of activities we now provide are:

Numeracy & Literacy
Computers
Arts and Crafts
Music and Drama
Physical Exercise.
Horticulture
Special Olympics
Road Bowling
Swimming
Going out for lunch once a week.
Pottery
Day Trips

We employ tutors for swimming, music and pottery. We have two tutors provided by the local VEC as well as others who give their time voluntary to help with cycling etc.

In Feb 2004 we moved to a larger building which we lease from a local

In May 2004 after almost three years of fund raising we bought our own bus and we employed a driver. This was traded for another new one in 2008.

In June 2003 we formed a Limited Company. The Board is made up of sevenmembers. Five are family members of an adult with a disability and two are from the wider community. The reason for this is that family members will always have control over what happens in the Centre.

Over the years the Centre has gone from strength to strength. We now employ 6 very committed staff and we continue to have two CES and 1 TUS worker in our centre all of whom are very much valued team members.

We have Service Users from Monaghan, Scotstown as well as Truagh. We have a large and varied range of activities and we are proud to say that three of our Service Users qualified for the All Ireland Finals of Special Olympics in Limerick in June 2010. We brought home

1 – Gold medal
1 – Bronze medal
2 – 4th place ribbons

The ethos of our centre is to provide a home from home setting where we nurture the ability, not the disability of our Service Users. We are committed to building our own purpose built centre and in December 2013 we received a HSE Lottery Grant of €270,000, which has meant that work on our new purpose built Centre has now become a reality. We have the total support of our local community who support us through many fundraising events run by both individuals and other groups, including GAA, local Foroige group, schools both national and secondary as well as the local pubs who have all held fundraising events for us. Needless to say we could not offer the opportunities that our Service Users enjoy without that commitment from our community.

Our dream of building a new purpose built centre is well on its way to becoming a reality with the purchase of a site and the commencement of work on the building which is well underway.

Within the new building we are adding a multi-sensory room that will not only cater for our adult service users but will also be used out of hours by children with autism in our catchment area.

Chairperson : Patrick Flood
Company Secretary : Ann Treanor
Treasurer ; Helen McKenna Brady

Board of Directors:
Michael Treanor
Philip McKenna
Antoinette Errity
Aidan Keenan.

All of the above can be contacted at etsndesign@gmail.com

Mission Statement

Our mission is to provide a community based day activation centre to maximise the potential of persons with learning and physical disabilities. We aim to enhance the lives of all who experience our service. Ensuring the service users remain at the forefront for all of their health and social care activities and by inspiring active participation for all involved.