News

National Raffle 2022

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Down Syndrome Ireland is holding a National Raffle along with our branch network throughout Ireland. Our branches offer a range of services and supports to children and adults with Down syndrome and their families.

The raffle will support the DSI community at a local level as well as helping further develop supports at a national level, ensuring continued support to people with Down syndrome across the lifecycle.

Your support will help make a real difference to the lives of children and adults with Down syndrome, and their families in the Louth Meath area. 

Prizes are:

1st Prize – Disneyland Paris Holiday 

2nd Prize – Cashel Palace 5*Hotel 2 night stay  ( Sponsored)

3rd Prize – Patrick Guilbaud  Restaurant 2 Michelin Star Lunch for four ( Sponsored)

4th Prize – €500 Dunnes Stores gift card ( Sponsored)

5th Prize – Bruce Springsteen two tickets 5th May 2023 


Tickets this year are €5 for one, €20 for 5, €25 for 7


This year the Tickets can be purchased online. Each person purchasing a ticket online has to choose which branch to support on payment. 


To support your local branch click herehttps://www.idonate.ie/raffle/NationalRaffleforDownSyndromeIreland2022 and choose the Louth Meath Branch.


You can also purchase a physical ticket by contacting the Branch at 0838972044 or secretarydslm@gmail.com or any Committee member.

If you would like to sell tickets on behalf of the Branch please contact Brendan on 0838972044 or secretarydslm@gmail.com.

The draw will take place on November 11th 2022

https://downsyndrome.ie/event/national-raffle-2022/

https://www.idonate.ie/raffle/NationalRaffleforDownSyndromeIreland2022

Numicon Workshop

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Numicon Workshop in Slane Saturday 22nd October 2022 for Professionals & Parents/Carers. 


Professionals: Saturday 22nd October 2022, 10 am -12:30 pm
Parents/Carers: Saturday 22nd October 2022, 1.30 pm- 3.30 pm. 


This Workshop will suit Children whose Maths level is from infants up to the end of Second Class (early multiplication).
The Professional Workshop will take place in the morning and the Parents/Carers Workshop will come in the afternoon on Saturday 22nd Oct. 

Professionals 

There is a Numicon Workshop for professionals on Saturday 22nd October 2022, 10 am -12:30 pm in Conyngham  Arms Hotel, Slane. 

This Workshop is aimed at teachers/SNAs who are working with children with Down Syndrome.  

Due to the limited spaces, the Workshop is offered to teachers/SNA’s of paid members on a first come first served basis. 

Please email secretarydslm@gmail.com or text 083 8972044 as soon as possible to reserve a space. 


To book a place we will need the following information

Name:

Email Address:

Phone Number:

Name of School:Occupation (Teacher/SNA/Other Professional):

Parents/Carers 

There is a Numicon Workshop for parents on Saturday 22nd October 2022, 1.30 pm- 3.30 pm. 


Please let me know if you would like your child to take part.

 
Please email secretarydslm@gmail.com or text 083 8972044as soon as possible to reserve a place.

This Workshop is available to paid-up members of the Louth/Meath branch.


To book a place we will need the following information

Name:

Email Address:

Phone Number:


If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Fun With Numbers

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“Fun with Numbers” is starting up again.

We run “Fun with Numbers” Sessions each week.  There are 2 sessions per week on Mondays and Thursdays.
We are starting again on Thursday 8th and Monday 12th September.

We have set up the following age groupings however if your child’s age falls outside these categories we will still try to accommodate.
Junior Group Ages   8-11 – 4 pm Mondays
Senior Group Ages 12 and up – 5.30 pm Thursdays

The thought is that Deirdre will target older children on a Thursday and younger children on a Monday, however, all children are welcome to participate in either or both sessions each week if you think the content is suitable.
Down Syndrome Louth Meath will cover the cost of the sessions, so there will be no cost to parents for these sessions. The Sessions will run during the school terms as long as there is interest.

The students will need some materials ahead of the sessions, but Deirdre will let you know ahead of time what will be needed – it will all be inexpensive stuff that you may already have or can recycle around the house or will be able to get in the likes of Dealz. Deirdre will also send links for printable materials, should any member not have access to a printer please contact us immediately when Deirdre posts the links to printables and we can arrange to have them posted to you.

We have set up a WhatsApp group for each age group so that Deirdre can fill you in on what materials are needed and send you the Zoom ID and password.  Deirdre posts a video each week explaining the materials required.

Please let me know if you would like your child to take part. 
I will need the following details by the return of the email as soon as possible.

Child Name:Parents name and telephone number for WhatsApp Group:
Child’s age:Email Address:

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact secretarydslm@gmail.com.

Sibling support – Sibshop Workshop Saturday 10th September 2022

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We have organised a Sibling Support Workshop for our Branch. 

Saturday 10th September 2022 in Drogheda Presbyterian Church from 2.00 – 4.30 pm.   

The Workshops are carried out by Liz Fitzpatrick & Linda Foley who are both Nurses working with children with Intellectual disabilities. They are qualified Sibshop Facilitators and run Sibshop workshops which are afternoons of fun for siblings of children with special needs. Please see attached leaflet.

As well as having lots of fun it provides a great opportunity for siblings to get together and chat about some of the difficulties and the positives of having a sibling with Special Needs.

The workshops are for our member’s Siblings aged between 7 & 13 and the members with Down Syndrome should be over 2.5 years old so that the Siblings can see and understand that their brother or sister has special needs.

These Sibshops are free to our members.

Please reply to secretarydslm@gmail.com or text Brendan at 083 8972044 to register your intention to attend.

Place on each workshop is limited to 12 and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.


“SIBSHOP WORKSHOPS (duration 2.5 hours)


Sibshops are fun workshops for siblings of children with special needs. We run them on weekend afternoons or during school holidays. They are lively, with games and discussions. We also prepare a snack and/ or make pizzas with the children. 


As well as having lots of fun it provides a great opportunity for siblings to get together and chat about some of the difficulties and the positives of having a sibling with special needs. 


The workshops are aimed at children aged between 8-12 years with a maximum of 12 children in the group recommended as we find this works best in order to give all the children a chance to contribute to the discussions and games. Their sibling with special needs should be over 2 and a half years old so that they can see and understand that their brother or sister has special needs.”

Employment Support Specialist with our Louth Meath Branch

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We have an exciting opportunity for a dynamic and highly-motivated individual to join our team as an Employment Support Specialist and to play a central role in helping our adult members with Down syndrome achieve and sustain work placement/paid employment.

Find out more about the role and how to apply here: http://bit.ly/2ME7ZEh

Closing date: 17/8/22

#ShareTheJourney#DownSyndrome#jobs

Céilí Night

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I N V I T A T I O N

Céilí Night

Saturday, 3rd September

Down Syndrome Louth/Meath Branch is holding a Céilí Night

 Causey Farm

for our older Teenagers & Adults.

7-10pm

Music By Eimear & Friends

COVER CHARGE €10

Food: Chip Van on Site

RSVP For numbers Please Text Liz on 087 1333760

 Causey Farm

Girley, Fordstown, Navan Co. Meath, C15 P83R

Family Fun Day & BBQ

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Invitation

Family Fun Day & BBQ

Newgrange Farm

 Sunday 4th September 2022

Down Syndrome Louth/Meath Branch is holding a Family Fun Day & BBQ in Newgrange Farm, Slane, on Sunday the 4th Sept.


BBQ from 2pm-4pm approx. BBQ is free and is paid for by the Louth/Meath Branch.

The cost of entry for adults & children (who identify themselves as being with DSILMB) is €6 each.

Book online at newgrangefarm.com – in the special needs section on the bookings portal.

All Members of all ages Welcome

Coffee Morning Get Together

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Sunday 14th August, Ark play centre in Pudding Hill

We would like to invite you to our August monthly coffee morning.

The goal of these monthly meetings is to create an opportunity for parents and their children to meet up regularly in a fun environment.

The August coffee morning will be held at Ark play centre in Pudding Hill Moorepark, Puddenhill, Co. Meath, A42 Y046 on Sunday 14th August from 10 am to 12:30 pm.

(Coffee and tea are available for purchase at the venue)

The prices are €5 and free for parents.We look forward to meeting you 😊

Insil & Avril

Dunderry Fair Thank You

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A big thank you to the Dunderry Fair, the Dunderry Fair organising Committee and all who helped out at the Dunderry Fair who presented the Branch with a cheque for €2000.00.

In the photo, the Chairman of the Dunderry Fair Johnny Keely is presenting our Chairman Paul Radford a cheque for €2,000.00.

A great night was had in Geraghty’s on the 22nd of July as Dunderry Fair distributed cheques from a very successful Fair 2022 to local charities and deserving causes.

Graduation

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Congratulations to the wonderful students from our Athboy class who graduated recently.

Aimee, Ann-Marie, Cara, Cathal, Deirdre, Dualta, Eileen, Eleanor, Emily,Fintan, Joan, Liam, Katie, Michelle, Monica, Teresa and Tomás graduated from a mixof four courses – Latch-On Literacy and Technology, MOTE My Opinion My Vote,Work Skills and Personal Development.

Athboy Graduation Class 2022

They were joined by proud families, friends, teachers and DSI branch and national representatives for a lovely celebration ceremony in the Darnley Lodge Hotel, Athboy.

The Athboy class started out in September 2016 with 10 students for a two-year Latch-On programme. After an enjoyable and worthwhile two years, and with 8 morestudents joining, the class continued to work through DSI’s adult education modules.With the programme extended due to Covid, all modules were completed in March2022.

Athboy Class Graduation

The Louth Meath branch was delighted to have such a fantastic group of students. We look forward to seeing them move on, building on the skills and friendships that havebeen developed over the six years of the programme.