Brothers of Charity - Latest News
December 9, 2011
Brothers of Charity National Annual Report 2010
The Brothers of Charity National Annual Report 2010 is now available to download as PDF File.
Click here to download the file (2 MB)
September 30, 2011
Congratulations to Galway's Peter Triest Housing Association who won the Irish Council for Social Housing National Award on Wednesday 28th September
The ICSH Community Housing Awards were initiated in 2003. The award encourages, recognises and rewards excellence in the
delivery of social housing. It promotes and showcases how innovative design can help create sustainable communities and
impact positively on the lives of tenants and residents, the local and wider community and contribute towards a greener
environment.
Peter Triest Housing Association won the award for the Leargan Development which is at two locations on the estate, a block of six
one-bedroom apartments and a larger development which incorporates a mixture of one- and two-bedroom apartments, a five-bedroom and a
four-bedroom house, and a small resource facility. The accommodation has a range of special features, including assistive technology to
support the residents to live as independently as possible.
The development is a joint initiative between Peter Triest Housing Association, the Brothers of Charity Services, and Galway City
Council under Part V of the Planning & Development Act. The development has recently been completed by O'Malley Construction and the
architects were McCrossan, O'Rourke, Manning.
Congratulations to the Directors of Peter Triest Housing Association, John Joe Higgins, Ann Loughney and Seamus Durkin and to all the
staff involved in the conception, design and commisioning of the project and to those who supported it.
Particular congratulations and appreciation must go to John Joe Higgins who relentlessly and passionately drove this initiative! Well
Done to All!
September 22, 2011
Official Launch of the Soundscape Gamelan
To celebrate the Official Launch of the Soundscape Gamelan, a special concert 'Songs and Dances from the Island of Java' has been
organized in the Town Hall Theatre on the 1st October @ 8pm.
Local gamelan musicians will be joined by some of the finest musicians and dancers from the UK and Indonesia to play the
Soundscape Gamelan in what promises to be a spectacular introduction to Javanese culture. Also featuring will be a unique
animation film with a gamelan soundtrack by people of Bruach na Mara services and artist Aideen Barry.
All proceeds from the concert will go towards Soundscape Music Project. In supporting the event, people will be helping us to
insure that workshops and projects continue in all areas of our services.
Tickets available from Town hall Theatre or from Jon Reynolds.
Jonathan Reynolds
Soundscape Music Project
Galway
 Download Poster (PDF) |
 Download Flyer (PDF) |
September 1, 2011
Galway Building Project up for Irish Council for Social Housing Awards 2011
Leargan, the new building that the Cois Saile Services moved to recently has been short listed for the Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) Awards 2011. This wonderful development, purpose built for the Cois Saile Services and an apartment building close by for a number of people who will be supported to live semi-independently is the outcome of a partnership between the Peter Triest Housing Association and the Galway City Council. The builders were O'Malley Construction.
The ICSH have made a number of site visits to Leargan to see the development, and John Joe Higgins and Ann Loughney, accompanied by Pat Folen from the Housing Department, Galway City Council and Stephen Manning from McCrossan, O'Rourke and Manning, Architects (also representing O'Malley Construction) were invited to make a presentation about the development to the Judging Panel of the ISCH in Dublin on Tues 30 August.
The winners of the ICSH Award will be announced at the ICSH Biennial National Social Housing Conference in Galway on 28 September.
April 6, 2011
SOUTH EAST COMPANY RECEIVE COUNCIL ON QUALITY & LEADERSHIP ACCREDITATION
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On Monday, 28th March, a team of four reviewers from the Council on Quality and Leadership, led by Christine Norris, commenced a week long evaluation of the services delivered by the Brothers of Charity Services in the south east. After a week of intense activity and scrutiny we were delighted to be awarded a four year accreditation by the Council on Quality and Leadership.
In granting this award the Accreditation Team said that we demonstrated our commitment to the principles of Person Centred Services by integrating the values and practices of person responsive and person centred delivery into all functions of the organisation in addition to providing flexible and changing supports and services based on each person’s priorities while maintaining solid assurances of protecting their health, safety and welfare. |
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There was great delight when it was announced that we achieved 100% in Person Centred Basic Assurances, Systems and Practices, and greater delight to the announcement that our services are part of a “small elite group achieving well over the national average” in Personal Outcome Measures.
Christine, on behalf of the Council on Quality and Leadership, commended the Brothers of Charity Services South East for its strong efforts and achievements in bringing about positive change in the lives of people we support as well as the communities in which services are delivered. She added that, looking back over the history of the services in the South East, it was evident that the people working in the services were committed to bringing about positive changes and complimented us on our ‘outstanding progress’ to date.
The Accreditation Team said that in this time of serious cutbacks and economic downturn, the staff they encountered communicated a tremendous sense of optimism and displayed an admirable openness to comments and suggestions. They were particularly impressed by both the obvious commitment to the Ethos of the services and how this was incorporated into everyday work and thinking at all levels in the services. They said that it was evident during the week that staff treat those they support in a highly dignified manner and value their contributions and abilities and that they model respect for adults even when families may use childish terms.
It gave us great pride when a member of the Accreditation Team, who herself has a disability, said that she would wish to be served by this organisation. She was particularly impressed with the I’m Not Happy policy and procedure, a copy of which she took back to America for sharing with organisations.
July 2010
The Brothers of Charity Services Waterford in partnership with Waterford Youth Arts have been creating a movie. The story follows four short stories within the framework of a fictional drama class were the teacher asks the students 'what do they want to be'?. The stories that unfold range from a man who wants to have a pet dog but he's not allowed to have one because of objections by his house mates to a reconciliation between a young girl who has recently lost her dad through illness and her long lost uncle. The director James Rockett said "this is the third film that Ciorclach has made in recent years and each film explores the ordinary and the extraordinary in the lives of the people who use the services of Brothers of Charity Waterford. We hope that the audience enjoy the film we have had a lot of fun making it".
The premiere will be before Halloween and there are plans to put it up on You Tube site 'Waterfordfilims'.
Writer/Director & Drama Tutor: James Rockett, Film Tutor & Cinematographer: Ken Coleman.