Rewind 1st edition

[1]

Hi & WelcomeThis is your

New Newsletter

Hi all,

I would like to wish SOSs new newsletter the very best of luck!

I think it is great that we will be able to get all the news every few months and it will be great to see pictures of all the different events that are taken place.

Now to make sure the newsletter is a great success, we will need loads of help and it is up to everyone to make sure that all the news is given to Pat Ryan and that you encourage your fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and all your friends to read all about SOS.

Best of LuckFrancis

[2]

Dreamtime was set up at the beginning of this year in response to the needs and wishes of service users. This type of service, which requires all

sorts of expensive digital technologies, only became a realistic option when

funding became available from Denis OBrian, thank you Denis!

Dreamtime is mainly

broken into three areas, radio, film making and

photography (and the p r o d u c t i o n o f t h i s newsletter). Dreamtime

radio broadcasts on 90.9 fm, three Wednesdays a

month from 10am to 12 midday and 2pm to 4pm. The radio shows on offer are presented by service users who

prepare there own shows with their choice of playlist, service users

listening in from around the campus and beyond get great music, news & weather, requests and interviews with

well known people such as Brian Cody, The Kilkennys and much more.

Dreamtime film studio is busy putting together its first movie, CSI

Kilkenny, which involves many of the service users most are involved in dreamtime and drama, but not all as

the cast numbers 50 to 60 people. CSI Kilkenny is the third film produced by

SOS, the first two were filmed by external film groups, this time Dreamtime have

full control over the production and allows

time for a higher level of creativity. CSI will have i t s p r e m i e r e t h i s

November (18th) in the Watergate Theat re . Dreamt ime

p h o t o g r a p h y o r F o c u s o n Photography is in its early stages of development, we are currently working

to achieve Fetac accreditat ion, meanwhile the service users are busy

brushing up on there photography skills in preparation for such future courses, many of the photographs

within this magazine were taken by the guys in Dreamtime.

Dreamtime - Radio - Film - Photography

Dreamtime StudioThis new and exciting section within SOS

uses digital technologies to broadcast Radio, to produce films, to teach and faci l i tate

photography and other creative productions such as this newsletter.

D R E A M T I M E

C.S.I.K I L K E N N Y

Premiere 18th

Nov. 2010

Watergate

[3]

Drumming Drumming has been going on in

SOS for some years and has been

run by different staff. At present it is

run by Trish MacManus and Christine

Wyss. Many of the service users are

musical and have a good sense of

rhythm. Twice a week there is an

opportunity for people to join a

drumming session. On a Monday the

group is smaller and includes singing

and performance. Often, when the

weather permits, drumming takes

place outside in a relaxed

atmosphere. The big drumming

group, open to anyone interested,

meets every Friday. Sometimes as

many as 15 people will participate.

The drummers and percussionists

accompany melodies played on the

electric guitar and sometimes we all

get so high with the joy of what is

being created. We have the steady

rhythm drummers like Bernie OShea,

John Bergin and Frank Dooley. Then

we have others playing percussion,

Padraig Doyle, Pat Fitzgerald,

Margaret McGuiness among others.

We also have a specialist drummer

Gerry Meaney with his own set of

Bongos. Of course each person is

valued and there are too many to

mention. Drumming is a great way to

relax, as no words are required and it

is also a good way to let go of any

tension. After the drumming we all go

back to our sections in high spirits.

Youth ReachLast month SOS teamed

up with Youth Reach to do

an interesting collaborative

project. A total of

13 youths from

Youth Reach and

4 service users

from SOS were

brought together.

They spent one

week together to

make a piece of work from

clay that was to be fired and

glazed and then placed in

both SOS and Youth Reach.

The workshop was run by

Will Lennon from Youth

Reach and Christine Wyss

from SOS. It was about

bringing together people

from different walks of life

yet having in

common that

they are all

marginalized

by soc i e t y.

From SOS we

h a d P e t e r

McEvoy, John Bergin, Brian

Manning and John Earl.

The work took place in

Youth Reach. One day was

spent learning different skills

with clay, while on another day we went to

Woodstock for inspiration and then it was down

to doing the work. It was interesting to see how

well the two groups got on together. While some

from Youth reach were reserved, the lads from

SOS were very outgoing and this got a great

atmosphere going. The project is still ongoing as

youths from the groups merged perfectly, as our

people got to know how the youths spend their

time and now the youths will come here and see

how we spend our time.

The final work will be ceramic glazed tiles put

side by side to form a wall sculpture.

[4]

The wishing tree actors and singer Raymond Lyng went to Cork in June of this year to take part in the

National Performing Arts Festival.

CONGRATS!

Second place was awarded to The Wishing Tree and Raymond lyng received a medal for his song, The Fields of Athenry.

Many thanks and congratulations to all who took part and to Jim Craddock who Presented the second place medals to--

Sean Hickey, Anne Proctor,David Brian, Therese Nolan,

Noel Kavanagh, Jimmy Renahan, Ruth OConner, M.J Scallon,Joseph Byrne, Alma BreenCiara Cahill, Connor Walsh,

John Halley, Natasha Dowling, Deirdre ONiell ,Marie Bergin, John English, Mary Mahon and

Angela Holahan.

The Wishing TreeNational Performing Arts Festival

[5]

Service Improvement with

Co-operative LearningIn February Margaret Holohan,

Janet McCormick (Margarets Sister)

and Mary Lawlor went to D.C.U.

(Dublin City University) to do a

c o u r s e i n S e r v i c e

I m p r o v e m e n t w i t h C o -

operative Learning.

The aim of the course is

to provide, through focussed

education, individualized

Support with outcomes that

r e s u l t i n p e r s o n a l

d e v e l o p m e n t a n d

col laborat ion in serv ice

change.

O n c o m p l e t i o n t h e

participants will have developed

k n o w l e d g e a n d s k i l l s o f a

cooperative approach. This will lead

t o s e r v i c e c h a n g e a n d

improvements as a direct result of

service user consultation.

Four teams took part which

consisted of a service user, family/

carer and staff member.

Teams were from:

S.O.S. Kilkenny

St. Michael House

LArche Dublin

St. John of God Celbridge

Each team had to come up with

an idea around changing or

improving what is happening in their

service. For our project we looked

at our existing telephone list and

tried to make it more service user

friendly by having all staff photos

taken and placed beside their

telephone extension number. \this

will improve communication for

service users who have reading

difficulties.

This project also supports the

organization mission statement

and objectives.

On completion of the module

each Team had to give a

class presentation of their

project, people from the

different service and the

steering group came to

D.C.U. to hear a l l four

projects. Francis Coughlan

represented S.O.S.

The course was from Feb-

June. We all enjoyed working

together as a team, getting to know

about other services and meeting

new people. The whole learning

experience was very good.

11ElaineReception

4212Francis

CEO

66 AnnFinancialController

34

13

LiamDay ServicesManager

40

StephanieResidentialServiceManager

MichelleAccounts

50SineadAccounts

CatherineAccounts

The Nore Swim 2010

Jane Saunders participated in The Nore Swim 2010 on the 21st August. She was a fantastically brave woman and swam from Johns Quay by the Brewery to Johns Bridge. It was a lovely day and the weather was perfect for the occasion. There was a large crowd to support all the swimmers. The swim started at 3pm followed by a buffet meal in the Set, Langtons, which all the participants attended. After the buffet they were all presented

with medals for their effort. The swim was in aid of The Home Care Team. Jane raised 150 euro for this charity. She says the water was not too cold and she had been training with Breeda Sweeney, who supported her on the day.

[6]

The Garden CentreThe Garden centre went on a day trip