Learning Life Skills at Drumlin House
MEET THE FINALISTS: NOT FOR PROFIT/SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
Drumlin House is a day service for adults with intellectual disabilities, catering for one hundred service users from Cavan and Monaghan.
They are a not for profit service provider based in Cootehill with another satellite facility in Ballyjamesduff, which opened in 2024.
“Supporting a person with an intellectual disability to be able to live an ordinary life as independently as they possibly can is really what we’re about,” Director of Services Breege O’Reilly explained.
The service started with three staff and seven service users in 1982 and now have a team of 56 staff working with 100 service users.
“The success of that has been due to the commitment and dedication of our board and the commitment and dedication of our staff,” she explained.
They provide a number of “person centred” courses for people at all levels, operating five days per week. For example, the START programme caters for school leavers, supporting them in the transition from school to adult life. This group undertakes courses in computer literacy, word processing, communications, food choice and health, and personal care modules among others.
“Really what you are doing is taking a young person at eighteen and supporting them to understand their rights and responsibilities,” Breege said.
The programme maintains what skills service users have already learned and builds on those where possible. Each service user has their own key worker where they work on person-centred planning, which includes their goals and aspirations.
Breege has been working at Drumlin House for 35 years, and described how the service has become “embedded” in the local community.
“We have great support from the community and the families.”
She described how some service users have jobs in the local community, while the facility is also QQI accredited meaning service users can partake in certified education courses.
“We work all the time to build their skills whether it is learning to use public transport independently or cooking their own simple meals, budgeting, all of that. I think they do enjoy it.
“You are supporting individuals to live an ordinary life in an ordinary place.”
CONTACT US
Drumlin House can be found at Cooney’s Row, Cootehill [H16YR27]. Call 049-5552605 or Email: info@drumlinhouse.ie
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FULL LIST OF FINALISTS
Read about the other three finalists in this category by visiting the stories below.