You can listen to the full interview on Near FMs Pod Casts at www.nearfm.ie

Robert McCafferty and John O’ Dwyer gave an

interview to near FM Radio about the benefits of

coming to Suaimhneas Clubhouse for people with

mental health difficulties.. We offer a comprehensive

programme of recovery which takes is aspects such

as opportunities for housing, education,

employment, socials. We are strictly non – medical.

We leave all that to the experts.

The Clubhouse is run on the basis of 36 standards

for Clubhouse International who inspect us every

three years and give us a certificate of accreditation.

We would like to give a big “thank you” to Near FM

Radio and to Debbie who has been a good

supporter of Suaimhneas Clubhouse over the years.

The ‘Listen To This’ news team arranged to interview ‘Martin

Mcgloughlin’ owner of ‘Nicky’s Plaice’ in Howth from whom

Suaimhneas have a T.E (Transitional Employment) job for the

past eight years. Myself and some of the news team which

included Gemma Clarke and Liam Fitzgerald went out to

Howth on a beautiful day and filmed one of our members Mick

Dyer who currently obtains the T.E position carrying out his

job, then we had a chat with Martin about what TE meant to

him and how it benefited his business. We had great fun and

Martin was no stranger to the camera giving us helpful tips and

tricks! After the interview and we went up to the rooftop and

had a nice cup of tea! We would like to say a huge Thank you

to Martin and Nicky’s Plaice for taking the time out of his busy

day to facilitate us and making us feel so welcome!

You can watch our interview with Martin on the Suaimhneas Facebook page

By Robert McCafferty

In God I trust

This is a continuation of Michael’s Article in our Suaimhneas

Voice - Summer Edition...

During the time in the Army he drove the French Ambassador.

On one of his trips to France he took home a statue of St. Joan of

Arc. He presented it to the local church. It stands on a stand to

the side of the main door. My Grandfather William also died

shortly after I was born. He was attending mass on a Sunday

morning when he collapsed and died. My father walked in to

find him dead. Although my Grandmother Harte was a

Protestant she knew everything about what was going on in the

Catholic Church so that the two boys had to toe the line.

She was s a very close friend of the ‘Ardiff’ family including the two priests. They very often

visited her at her home in Rye Vale.

On the 11th April, 1945 - my third birthday, Eleanor passed away. She lies buried in the church-

yard in the village. I do not know if my father attended her funeral. I would like to think that he

did, after all she was his mother.

Aunt Catherine who helped raise him is buried in our family grave in Confey. It was about this

time that I began to realise who my father was. Seeing him throw turf off the top of a truck

outside the cottage was a treat in itself, the turf had to be taken to a shed at the rear of the

cottage by the older children before going to school. The cottage had three bedrooms and a

kitchen. There was an outdoor toilet which had to be tended on a regular basis. There was no

running water in any of the cottages. My mother did the cooking over an open fire. She was a

dab hand at the cooking. She could make a meal out of little or nothing. My father’s favourite

pastime was shooting rabbits. He would always come home with a couple of braces. He must

have gotten his skills with a gun from his army days. My mother made beautiful stews with the

rabbits. The neighbours caught their share by snaring them or ferreting them.

By Michael Savage

To be continued...

We have already got two sons married and believe me when I say that the preparations for the son’s weddings

and our daughter’s wedding were completely different. All we had to do for the lads was to dress up and show up!

Whereas for our daughter’s wedding all the plotting and planning started away back and went on for months.

However, with everything covered the day finally arrived.

It started about 8am when the bridesmaids and flower girl arrived at our house. Next came the hairdresser, and

the makeup artist. They took over the sitting room and turned it into a salon. A little later the photographer and

the video man arrived , so watch out we were being followed all around the house , all actions were being

recorded. Photos were taken in the back garden—next we were all ready to go. Last to leave were my

daughter and myself.

We arrived at the church in the Bentley. The quartet played while I walked her down the aisle. I handed her over

to her husband to be ‘Mark’. Father Tom immediately made us feel relaxed and he proceeded with the ceremony.

It was a lovely wedding with Mass and beautiful music and prayers. After all the congratulations etc, we headed

off down the M50 to Clonabreaney House.

A quartet played lovely airs and songs while we supped champagne and snacked on all kinds of finger food in the

reception area of the large country mansion. When we had met and chatted to all, we were ushered into our

seats in the dinning room. Next the bride and groom entered to the tune of “Match of the Day”. We had a very

tasty meal and when all were full we had a few speeches. Even the bride made a speech to thank us all.

Afterwards there was loads of dancing. Then we had a rest for a while when the bride and groom cut the cake. It

was in the shape and colour of a Dublin jersey—They are both avid Dubs supporters. They headed off on a 3

week honeymoon to the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

By Liam Fitzgerald

About 4 years ago my brother Anthony got seriously ill. He was told he needed a kidney transplant. This came

as a huge shock to all the family. We were worried that he wouldn’t get the transplant in time. He was put on

dialyses treatment and after about 9 months the all important call came from the hospital to say they had a new

kidney. Sadly another person had to die for this to come about.

Anthony had just arrived home from been out cycling which was part of his exercise regime to keep fit for the

operation. As he lives very close to the hospital, he just dropped everything he was doing and walked out the

front door alone and headed straight in the direction of Beaumont hospital. As he went he phoned another family

member to say where he was going. This other brother said for him to wait and he would accompany him but

Anthony just said no it’s ok ‘I’ll be grand’. Everything went very well and Anthony has been in excellent health

ever since. Last month he decided to take part in the ‘British Transplant Games’ in Newcastle. He took part in 4

events - Cycling, running, bowling, and the good news is that he won a bronze medal in bowling.

Anthony has been living a very full & busy life since his transplant. He is very grateful to all the medical staff who

looked after him so well and are still looking after him and also grateful to all the people who prayed for him.

By Geraldine Moloney

One of the most interesting days I have ever experienced. What did we

do - We met at 9 O’Clock in O’Connell Street Dublin, There were twenty of us.

We got the number 122 bus going from O’Connell Street to a place called

Mountjoy Prison which was about ten minutes away on the North Circular

Road Dublin. We were met at the gate of the prison by a worker there. He

brought us in and talked to us all about the prison. We were all very interested

but we didn’t see any of the actual prisoners. We could see all of the windows

and doors of the rooms alright. He told us that they had breakfast each

morning then they spent the whole day locked in their rooms. They were giv-

en their meals. There would be some things on for them during the day if they

wished. Some of us asked him questions as he brought us into a room like a

museum which contained guns, clothes, souvenirs, locks and watches. We

spent an hour with him and an older man who was also was and ex

-worker in the prison. They both had been in the other prisons in Ireland, We

all were keen to hear all they told us. They told us a lot we never knew before.

Mountjoy prison was built in 1850. It was the first Irish prison. Other prisons

came later, one in Portlaoise, in Limerick and in Cork. We spent an hour and

a half there and we left around 11.30am after finding out a bit about the place

and the people who are there.

By Kathleen Rahill

Last Month, Suaimhneas arranged tours of Mount Joy Prison and the new Circuit

Criminal Courts. We started of in Mountjoy prison museum were we learned about the

history of the prison since its opening in the 1800’s, it was very interesting, it has

changed and evolved to what it is today. Then we made our way to the courthouse

were we were given a comprehensive tour of the courthouse. A young lady barrister

explained the workings of the courthouse and she answered all our questions with a

smile. Then after all that we went to Nancy Hand’s pub for some lunch which was very

good, the décor in the pub was a bit dated but the food was excellent! Afterwards

everyone made their way home.

By Robert McCafferty

As one of our Socials, we took a trip out to Deer Park in Howth for

a game of Pitch & Putt, we were apprehensive about the weather

because after all it is Ireland but we were delighted that the rain

held off for the full 18 holes!

We had a great time, some of us had never played golf in our

lives but thoroughly enjoyed it – there was a few naturals in the

group!

Deer park itself is a beautiful area, the scenery looking over Howth

is breath-taking, we are all looking forward to going back soon for

another round of golf!

By Anonymous

A games night was held in Suaimhneas in August. The plan was that we play a few games of bingo and then have a quiz followed by a game of charades. There was a good turn out for the social Gemma and Catherine worked on. There was also hot food in the form of chicken wraps planned.

During the day in Suaimhneas Gemma went to a lot of effort to wrap the prizes in nice paper. We had a few games of bingo followed by a quiz. Some people were luckier than others at the bingo as they won two and three prizes. The prizes consisted of chocolate brownie cake and muffins.

For the quiz we had to arrange ourselves in groups of four people and we were to pick a name with a funny theme. After the quiz we got the chicken wraps .They were very enjoyable. There were second helpings for anyone that wanted them. When we had finished the food we had great fun with a game of charades. Overall the evening went very well and everyone enjoyed it. It would be great if another one was planned for in the near future.

By Maria Devon

I recently attended the Bord Gas theatre production of The Sound of Music with the NCBI on 23rd

August. It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon sitting of the famous musical about Maria Von Trapp,

Captain Von Trapp and the Von Trapp Children. There were 21 of us sitting in the back row on level 4

and the show was spectacular, with riveting musical performances and songs such as ‘Climb Every

Mountain’, ‘Let’s Start at the very Beginning’, and ‘The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music’.

The story line was an excellent adaptation of the film with Maria playing the part of a novice nun come

governess assigned to Captain Von Trapp and the Von Trapp children. Maria became a loved

governess and Captain Von Trap and Maria became romantically involved and were married in the

convent where Maria had been a novice nun. There were a few standing ovations for the performance in

the convent especially the song ‘Climb every Mountain’ sung by the mother superior just before Maria as

a governess married Captain Von Trapp. The play ended with the happy Von Trap singers and family

escaping the German occupation in Austria at the time and it was a well pieced together colourful

performance which we all really enjoyed!

By Martin Whelan

We had an employment dinner on Thursday 27th of August and there was a good attendance for it.

There were about ten people that turned up for it .We had to meet at 6.30pm in the evening.

Catherine and Fiona were working the social. There was a large table booked for us. The menu was

eating as much as you like for 18.50. It was a two course meal which you could either have as many

starters or desserts as you like. I had two spring rolls that were very nice and for the main course I had

egg fried rice with king prawns. Some of the other members had spring rolls and some had spare ribs,

chicken and sweetcorn soup. The food was nice and hot and the waitresses were very nice and courte-

ous. The service was excellent and the restaurant was spotlessly clean. After we had finished eating we

had the employment meeting. Catherine gave the agenda’s out and the meeting went very well. We

stayed in the restaurant for about two hours and finished at around 8.30pm. Overall the evening was

very enjoyable and I would recommend that we go back there in the near future for further employment

dinners.

By Anonymous

As some of our members had resolutions to keep fit this new year the decided to join

the gym. We joined the Finglas gym early in the new year and it has become very

popular. We attend 3 days a week and every one looks forward to their weekly workout.

Some people use the exercise machines and others go for a swim.

We are driven there by a staff member and it’s all free. So happy days so we have no

reason to be unfit.

By Eddie Caffrey

Just by chance I visited a doctor’s waiting room in Santry with my niece. While she was with the doctor I sat in the waiting room and read the notice board. There was an advertisement for Tir na NOg walking club which takes every Tuesday morning at 10.30 am. We leave Suaimhneas Clubhouse latest 10.10am and go down in the people carrier. We meet the other members of Tir na NOg walking Club outside the Red Stables and go for a gentle walk around the Rose Garden for approximately 35 minutes. It is very beautiful, relaxing and also if it gets too much for anyone there are loads of benches to sit on. I have availed of the bench a few times! It is great to have this facility on our door step and we shall continue to do it weather permitting. With the Walking Club and Finglas Fitness and Swimming Club we should all be fit all fiddles!

By Catherine Bermingham

Tir na NOg Walking Club is supported by Arthritis Ireland

“Inspire your adult learners with the skill, confidence and vision they need to

find their path to success. An adult education curriculum combines

assessment and preparation resources to help them succeed - both in their

education and in the workforce”.

This year I was asked by the staff at Suaimhneas to research the courses to

be held in 2015-2016 in the various schools, colleges and Adult Education

institutes on the north side of the city.

My first task was to get the relevant telephone numbers. When I had these

secured it early August and I soon learned after numerous unsuccessful

efforts, that adult education centres weren’t contactable until the end of the

month. The last week I made contact with all of them and requested multiple

copies of their programmes for the coming year. In fairness a number of

them sent on the literature. I got directories of all the CD ETB courses to fill

in the gaps.

The range of courses in the various programmes is just huge. For example

there are games and hobbies, languages, academics, creative writing,

computers, arts and crafts, health and personal well being, business and

accounts, practical subjects and numerous others.

The members of Suaimhneas have been studying the various programmes

over the past couple of weeks. We are to have a presentation from an Adult

Education organisation called ’Clear’ in the next week or two. After that it’s

decision time for all.

Thanks to the staff at Suaimhneas for their invaluable help and guidance.

By Liam Fitzgerald

Give yourself a kick start and quit smoking for good by attending Suaimhneas

Smoking Cessation Course – You Can Quit Today!

The programme is run in Suaimhneas by Gemma and is a two part programme which

is held of fortnightly. The dates will be advertised in advance so keep an eye on the

boards for any updates and sign up sheets.

As part of a health-care organisation, EVE is committed to promoting the health of the participants and staff in our services. Smoking is one of the leading causes of death and illness and we have an obligation to everyone to address this critical public health issue. In line with national HSE policy, EVE plans to implement a Tobacco Free Campus as of the 1

st July 2015 initially for staff. This policy covers all areas of EVE

campus/buildings, entrances, doorways, car parks etc.

The policy will apply initially to staff and external contractors. We are not asking employees to stop smoking – however the policy will require employees who smoke to refrain from smoking during their hours of work, both on and off campus. We realise that this change may be difficult for people who smoke, and we are announcing the policy now in order to give everyone sufficient time to prepare for this change. We will actively support all staff in this regard. We have a range of smoking cessation support services (ref: www.QUIT.ie website, the National Smokers’ Quitline 1850 201 203 and the ‘You Can Quit Facebook page and resources from the Health Promotion website) and would encourage all smokers to avail of these. Information sessions will be held in all EVE centre’s to communicate details of the policy and discuss the local implementation plan.

Participants/members who smoke will also require support to manage their addiction while attending our service. It is our intention to address their individual needs through the Person-Centred Planning process. We will help make the transition to a tobacco free campus easier by providing information to potential participants/members about our tobacco free policy prior to joining the service; screening/early identification of nicotine dependant individuals, and provision of smoking cessation support during their time in the service. Upon leaving the service, participants/members can avail of continued support from the HSE’s cessation services, their local GP or Pharmacist.

HSE EVE Tobacco Free Campus 2015

For more information on Suaimhneas or to arrange a tour please contact:

Suaimhneas Clubhouse, Unit 103, Malahide Road Business Park, Coolock, Dublin 17

Telephone: 01 847 9911 Email: suaimhneasclubhouse@eve.ie

Blog www.suaimhneasclubhouse.wordpress.com

.

Employment, Education, Housing & Projects

A brief description of a Clubhouse/Transitional

Employment relationship is as follows:

Members are paid the going rate of pay

An absence of work history and or hospitalisation will not affect

a member’s chance to obtain a TE

Clubhouse staff learn the entry level job in advance. They train

the member on the job until the staff, the member and their su-

pervisors agree that they are ready to work independently

Members return to the Clubhouse for the balance of the day as

a part of their support system and to strengthen them for future

independent work

The Clubhouse guarantees absence coverage

If a member is not able to perform the job, he or she is expedi-

tiously replaced by a new member

Placements usually last from six to nine months, at which point

the working member moves on to a new TE, independent work,

or college, and another member is then trained for the job

Remember ’Northside Befriending Service’

is held in Suaimhneas every Tuesday from

7.00pm

Contact Suaimhneas or keep an eye on the

notice board in the ‘Daily Grind’ for details

on forthcoming socials.

Our news programme ‘Listen To This’ is uploaded to our Facebook page

weekly keeping you up to date with what’s going on in Suaimhneas

Find Us On Facebook @ Suaimhneas Clubhouse

Information, views or opinions

expressed in The Suaimhneas Voice

originate from many different sources

with contributions from throughout our

Clubhouse community.

Please note that content does not

necessarily represent or reflect the views

and opinions of Suaimhneas Clubhouse

HSE/EVE or our affiliates. Any feedback

or contributions are most welcome.

Sunday 19th July was the annual day open day at the allotment.

The weather was good for the day, which was very important.

I arrived early. Catherine and Louise were the staff on duty,

serving coffee and tea. The selection of home baked goodies

were lovely. All the allotments looked great, what an

improvement since last year. There is a beautiful mural, and

new pathways. The allotments have been revamped. It was a

great opportunity for the allotment holders to meet up for a chat

and go around and see all the other allotments. Nearly

everyone donated something to eat, and there was more than

enough to go around. Later in the day there was a barbeque.

A great day was had by all!

By Aideen Bickerdike

Hi my name is Siobhan Byrne. I recently moved into

my very own apartment. Before I got my apartment I

was very stressed and I didn’t feel safe where I lived. I

went to Suaimhneas and spoke with My keyworker.

Catherine contacted Haii Housing and in s a short time

I got a reply back to come for an interview. At first I

wasn’t successful. Louise and Catherine wrote letters

on my behalf. In a matter of two months I received a

phone call asking if I would like to see my new

apartment in Ballymun. I went along to see it and I

couldn’t believe my eyes, it was gorgeous and it was

going to be mine. It took time to get all my stuff ready. I

had to change my bills. The Community Welfare

Officer helped me with furniture which was very help-

ful. I feel safe now in my apartment and I love coming

home as it is my own home.