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Members of the Inspired Group meeting the Minister for Disabilities and Social Affairs in Dail Eireann recently.
THE Board of Management of Inspired, based in Friary Lane in Tralee, have announced that they have been successful in their application for Pobal funding under the ‘Ability’ program and will receive substantial support over the coming years.
Inspired is one of 27 projects nationwide — and the only Kerry project — selected to share €16m in funding. The minimum grant for each project is €200,000 while the maximum grant will be for €750,000 over the funding period.
Inspired were supported in this project by their partners; Nano Nagle School, St Itas and St Josephs Special school, NEWKD and Kerry ETB.
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“This award will secure our future and allow us to expand and develop our project to improve the lives of young people with disabilities in the Kerry area. We hope to expand our project from 3 days a week to a 5 day program in the near future,” said a statement from Inspired.
“Our focus in Inspired is on Education, Employment and Community participation in consultation with these young people. We have had a very successful and exciting 2018 –the highlight was a visit from Minister for Disability Issues, Finian McGrath and a subsequent visit to the Dail with our participants.”
We are unique type of project, as our participants have ownership over the project. Fundamental to our project, is the understanding that young adults with learning disabilities wish to have control over the direction of their lives. It is heartening to realise that Pobal have recognised this.
In all cases, the participants decide, in a collaborative process with the project workers, what the curriculum involves and the employment and community activities in which they would like to engage.
In Inspired we focus on ability. Our ethos is and will always be a person-centred approach in which we respect these young people’s existing abilities and aid them in reaching their full capacity. In the three years we have been operating, we have witnessed major changes in participants’ self-esteem, empowerment, and ability to articulate and pursue their own ambitions. We have also witnessed a huge shift in attitudes in our local community, arising from the visible contributions the young adults are offering to the community of Tralee.
Anyone interested in joining Inspired is asked to contact Maree O’Connor on 087 2457826. They are based in 5 Friary Lane Tralee and their participants come from all over the county.
