| Company Registration Number: |
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C524496 |
Charitable Status Number: |
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20251 |
Business Advice: |
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Mr. Mike O' Reilly, Mob: (087) 2570 923 E-mail: mikeoreilly@orbs.ie |
Accountants: |
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Tom Carolan & Co. Mobile: (087) 121 6345
E-mail: tcaccounts@eircom.net
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Current Company Board of Directors
Dear Member,
It Is that time of year again when we the Board of Directors must inform you as members about our activities in the year just gone by. As we started into another year Independent People with Disabilities were hopeful that maybe things might get better with the start of a new year but that was not about to happen as the country was still not back on a new way of life as we were still restricted from movement by government and the rise in cases and deaths caused by COVID was alarming,
Independent People with Disabilities were still available to people who needed our help even through the pandemic with limited access to the office.
The office is running smoothly, we have had telephone enquiries from people looking for their entitlements to be re-instated; people also come in looking for information on different disabilities.
Activities for 2021
We would like to thank the H.S.E. Dublin Mid-Leinster for their continued support given to us and we would also like to thank the general public for their generosity in giving to our charitable collections held in Westmeath.
We would also like to thank and acknowledge the kind donations received from the following:-
And
For their continued support to us during the year even though we were not able to fundraise as much as we normally did we were delighted to receive financial support from the above which meant that we were able to keep the office running even if it was only part-time. All of our meetings with Westmeath County Council and other organisations were conducted via online meeting platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Webex to mention a few. Even though we could not physically meet in person this proved to be a new way of meeting that was proving very effective.
Annual General Meeting
Our Annual General Meeting for 2021 had to be held online via Zoom on 14th September, 2021 and all the business of the office was discussed and passed by the Board members present. Michael Mulvey (Company Secretary) and Mark Ahern (Chairperson) gave their respective speeches and emphasized the importance of having representation on the various organisations we are involved with.
Disabilities Showcase Day 2021
Again we had to conduct our Annual Disabilities Showcase Day online on 1st September, 2021 and we were invited to be part of this event, Mark Ahern represented Independent People with Disabilities and spoke about two books that he had read plus there were an array of different party pieces including talks about Alzheimers Dementia, living with a hidden disability, interactive chair exercises, Care and Repair service and many more. Music on the day was provided by Noel O’ Farrell and Ray Collins, popular musicians in the county. St. Hildas Services performed The Jerusalema Dance which was very well done.
The two hour show proved to be a great success by all accounts from the amount of comments and feedback received.
Make Way Day 2021
On Friday, 24th September 2021 Independent People with Disabilities took part in the annual Make Way Day for 2021 to bring issues of concern to them and our friends with disabilities to the attention of Westmeath County Council.
We appeal to the public to be aware that whenever you block a footpath you are putting a person with a disability in very serious danger by making them go out onto busy roadways because the footpath which is designed for easy access is blocked by obstacles.
We have it on good authority that anyone caught parking on footpaths will be penalized by an €80.00 on the spot fine or four points on your licence for the second offence. This is good news for people with disabilities as this might deter people from parking and obstructing people in wheelchairs using footpaths in our towns.
Representation
The organization continues to have local representation in the various committees such as:-
This gives the organization significant influence in the community.
At National level we are represented on the board of Iarnród Éireann and also at meetings with the Department of Social Protection in Dublin. However due to the fact that travel had been restricted during COVID there were no meetings with Iarnród Éireann but we were able to conduct meetings online with the Department of Social Protection through the Webex platform and these meetings proved to be very fruitful.
It is important that people with disabilities are represented at these meetings and that our voices are heard both locally and nationally.
In Conclusion
Michael Mulvey (Company Secretary) would like to thank all of his fellow Directors on the Board for their continued support in fundraising activities which Independent People with Disabilities was involved in throughout the year and he looks forward to working with all of them into the future.
Ends.