Company Registration Number: |
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C524496 |
Charitable Status Number: |
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20251 |
Solicitors: |
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Fair & Murtagh Solicitors, Tel: (090) 64 80700 E-mail: athlone@paulconnellan.ie |
Accountants: |
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Hardiman & Co. Tel: (090) 64 74119 E-mail: info@hardimanaccountants.ie
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Company Board Directors
Dear Member,
It is that time of year again when we, the members of the Board of Independent People with Disabilities must notify you, the members of our activities for 2014.
As you know we are a relatively new organisation and “Rome was not built in a day”. We have been actively engaged in helping people with their cases of appeal with the Department of Health, Department of Social Protection and other State Departments as the need arose. We held a total of 4 meetings in our office at 96 Seán Costello Street in Athlone in 2014.
Funding activities included Churchgate Collections in Mullingar, Moate and Athlone which we would like to thank the members and general public for their generous contribution to. We also held a flag day collection in the Town Centre, Shopping Centre in Athlone in September, and again we would like to thank the members and the general public for their support and contribution to the collection.
Funding contributions were gratefully received from Westmeath County Council, Westmeath Community Development Ltd, Mullingar Credit Union, Athlone Lyons Club and the Health Service Executive which has funded the rent for the office down through the years.
Activities for the Year
Annual General Meeting
On Saturday 23rd August 2014 Independent People with Disabilities held their Annual General Meeting in the Radisson SAS Hotel, Northgate Street, Athlone with 25 people in attendance. The meeting was small but contributions from our members made for a very interesting meeting. Our guest speaker was Anthony Rafferty, a young man who acquired his disability and has a young family. He spoke of his latest experience with the airlines and being refused access on flights due to the size of his electric wheelchair. There were a number of other issues brought to the attention of the Board that Hugh Mc Guire, as Company Secretary and Office Manager subsequently pursued.
Disability Services & Information Showcase Day
On Wednesday 15th October 2014 Independent People with Disabilities took part in the seventh annual Disability Services & Information Showcase Day which took part in the Mullingar Park Hotel, Dublin Road, Mullingar.
Mr. Hugh O’ Reilly, Senior Executive Officer with Westmeath County Council opened the event and spoke about his role as Senior Executive Officer.
This event was very well attended with a total of 33 stands showing the activities of the various disability organisations in Westmeath. Throughout the day a total of 295 members of the public passed through the doors of the hall showing great interest in all the information on display.
Independent People with Disabilities were very fortunate to be there as we had a lot of interest and as a result we got thirteen new members on the day.
You and Your Rights 2014
On Monday 20th October, 2014 Independent People with Disabilities held our third successive conference on You and Your Rights in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Clonown Road, Athlone. This event follows on from the Budget every year and give people information on what they are eligible for when the Budget is announced.
This event was opened by Cllr. Frankie Keena Mayor of Athlone who commended the work of Independent People with Disabilities and spoke about housing for people with disabilities and said that he was always at the end of a phone line if anyone needed help.
Other speakers included John Byrne from the Department of Social Protection Athlone, Edel Martin Housing Officer with Westmeath County Council, Marie Mc Evilly and Ann Toohey from Revenue in Athlone. All speakers gave excellent presentations and answered all questions put to them in the Question & Answer session with professionalism.
Employment and Training Opportunities for People with Disabilities
On Wednesday 3rd December, 2014 Independent People with Disabilities held their annual event to mark European Day for Disability in the Mullingar Park Hotel, Dublin Road, Mullingar. This event which is the most important in our calendar year was very successful and had an attendance of 95 people at it.
Mr. Hugh O’ Reilly, Senior Executive Officer with Westmeath County Council opened the event and spoke about his role as Senior Executive Officer and spoke about the embargo on employment being lifted from Westmeath County Council.
Other speakers included Mr. Denis Rohan, Assistant General Secretary at IMPACT Trade Union, Mrs. Kathleen Lafferty Service User (Mother of a young man with Autism ), Mr. Tony Reilly Coordinator for Employability Service Midlands, Mr. Mark Ahern Chairperson of Independent People with Disabilities, Mr. Frank Murtagh Assistant CEO of Westmeath Community Development Ltd, Mr. Anthony Rafferty service user (Young man in search of employment), Ms. Aileen Moloney Longford Westmeath Education & Training Board and Ms. Christine Charlton Head of the Local Enterprise Office in Mullingar. All presentations were delivered with excellence and a very interesting Question & Answer session followed.
Hugh Maguire (Company Secretary & Office Manager) was taken ill for a couple of months and had to go to hospital for surgery. This meant that he had to step back from his duties and Mr. Michael Mulvey member of the Board stepped in as assistant Office Manager. Hugh Maguire and the rest of the Board would like to take this opportunity to thank him for all his help with keeping the show on the road.