We are continuing our online supports for our Active Retirement members. Here is this week’s version of the Activity Pack which also includes some previous material.
Each week will see new material and activities our members can enjoy. Be sure to get involved.
As always, if you have any questions or just feel the need to get in touch Jenna is available on 087 604 1703 or through email activeretirement@ozanamhouse.ie
As part of our remote supports to our senior members, we are sharing on our website the activities available to our Active Retirement Group since these measures were brought in.
The links below are packed with activities, health and safety material, nutritional content and general information. If you are feeling isolated or have any questions we are always here for your support.
Our Active Retirement Coordinator can be contacted on 087 604 1703 or through email activeretirement@ozanamhouse.ie
Last Week’s Activity Packet;
And this week’s
Stay safe everyone.
While Ozanam House is closed, we endeavour to support all members of the Men’s Group during this difficult time. The Men’s Group exists, in no small part, to combat social isolation. The restrictions in place mean that this is made much more difficult. Having said that, we are happy that the provisions we put in place at the beginning of this pandemic are enough to help sustain the men’s physical and mental health.
Some of the measures we have in place include:
Going forward, we strive to minimise the effect that isolation has on our members. We are liaising with management and other senior coordinators on a weekly basis and exchanging ideas on how best to continue to support our members.
Youth Programmes
This year we had 236 children and young people engage in all of our summer projects. The last day of the project is always bittersweet and this yearwas no different. We had tears and hugs. Children pleading to come back…. Parents lining up to inquire about the registration day for our youth programmes. As short as the summer is, it makes an enormous impact on the children and the holidays we are able to give them. The handmade thank you cards from the children will surely make it to the volunteers’ memory boxes for a very long time.
As we were about to close the side door for One last time, we noticed that one of the children stayed back with his mum after everyone left, crying his little heart out. When we asked them what was going on they told us that he was crying because he didn’t want to lose all the new friends he had made in this two weeks. It is at times like this that we get to fully appreciate the impact the summer project has on the children’s life.
In many ways, the Summer Project brings the whole community around Ozanam House together for the duration of the summer to make a difference in the children and young people’s lives. All this is only possible with the huge contribution and dedication from our volunteers who take time out from their summer holidays and help us make the children’s Summer happen. This year was amazing, we engaged 61 volunteers, 38 of whom came to the centre for the first time, all contributing to a truly incredible summer.
Community
-Active Retirement Group
The weather was very kind on our days out – except for the first trip when it was really hot, the temperature was very pleasant. The general atmosphere in the group is very pleasant and positive – appreciatively making the best of everything that comes their way and set out with an intention to enjoy the day and have fun. Our bus driver – Liam – was so pleasant and so helpful – above and beyond the call of duty. He knows the group very well at this stage and they think the world of him. Food and service were always excellent. Having a good meal out is very important for members and really makes it a good day out.
-Men’s Group
The summer Outings Programme is a key aspect in the overall personal development of the members in the Men’s Group at Ozanam House. Members gain educational, social, historical, physical and cultural skills by attending the programme which is an extension of the weekly club they attend. The men are very interested in Irish history, a fact they shared with us on an earlier outing to Kilmainham Gaol. We therefore decided to bring the men on trips with substantial Irish cultural and historical significance. It worked very well as the tours were in chronological order, starting with the earliest rebellions of the 15th century and continuing up until the rising in 1916. The summer programme began with a trip to Athlone Castle, followed by trips to Meath, Wexford, Kildare, Wicklow and Cavan. It culminated with a trip to the Padraig Pearse Museum which brought everything together very nicely.
Some of the guys spoke about how important the trips were to them and that it would have been a long and lonely summer for them if the trips were not on. That highlights how vital the Men’s Group is to its members. It is, in essence, their family and they enjoy being a part of it.
Childcare
Ozanam House Childcare Centre has had a very busy summer. The childcare centre staff are delighted with the result of our makeover during the summer months. With new flooring, furniture and a fresh lick of paint the classrooms are looking bright and fresh and are an inviting space for the preschool and afterschool children to spend time learning and exploring. While the centre was busy having a makeover the children were equally as busy having fun, the pre-schoolers enjoyed trips to Wooly Wards Farm, Imaginosity, Malahide Castle and Howth beach while the afterschoolers went swimming in a local pool and enjoyed trips to St Annes Park and the Phoenix Park. We are now settled back into our new term, we have welcomed some new preschool and afterschool children and look forward to welcoming more to our new and improved centre.
Our Active Retirement Group were delighted to participate in the making of Everybody Sings.
Everybody Sings is a project that looks at the “candid and poignant examination of the relationship between intimacy and aging.” The project is a mixture of documentary, testimony and live performance. The project is led by artist, and former Ozanam House drama teacher, Shaun Dunne with film designer Luca Truffarelli on board.
Some of our members met with Shaun for one to one interviews and others participated in a singing class and dancing session for the project. In addition, there was some filming of the group engaging in their activities. The Pictures of which can be viewed below.
Bealtaine Festival Commission Everybody Sings
The Bealtaine Festival is the national festival celebrating the arts and creativity as we age. It takes place each May and is run by Age & Opportunity, the national organisation which promotes active and engaged living as we get older.
As part of the festival ‘Everybody Sings’ will take place in Dublin’s Smock Alley on 15th and 16th of May at 7.30 pm. The tickets can be bought here
Eugene O’Leary is a Cork-born, Dublin-based adventurer. He was kind enough to share some of his stories with us this week. He spoke about his many adventures all around the world, his charity work and how he became involved with it all in the first place.
He used to work on the lighthouses, but his time spent away from his family was becoming too difficult so he packed it in and started working in the shipping industry. One of his daughters was born with a heart complaint and spent time in Crumlin’s Children Hospital. This is when Eugene started his extensive charity work. He started raising money through marathons, which also helped him to stop smoking.
His daughter unfortunately passed away due to heart difficulties at the age of 19. At this stage, Eugene’s commitment to charity greatly increased. He took part in cycle events around the country and then abroad like the 500km cycle in five days in South Africa. Then came cycles in Italy, Hungary and further afield. Eugene showed us his pictures from these journeys and his shots of the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls.
He has represented many charities like Crumlin Children’s Hospital and the Chernobyl Children’s Trust. This is a charity set-up in Ireland, but works with many community groups in Belarus, as well as the Children’s Oncology Centre. At the age of 75, Eugene is still going strong. He hopes to complete one of the caminos, he has already completed several, later this year.
Thank you Eugene for coming in to share your stores and inspire us all.
Last week we added an extra dimension to our new parents morning that we host once a month in our centre.
Parents in our childcare centre come together once a month for an informal breakfast, a chance to meet each other, have a chat and explore what additional supports we can offer.
This month we were joined by ATD 4th world (All Together in Dignity) who gave us a presentation on the ‘Poverty Stone’ which is located beside the famine memorial in Dublin’s Docklands. 2018 marks the 10-year-anniversary of the Human Rights and poverty Stone being laid in Dublin.
The original stone was placed in Paris in 1987 near the Eiffel Tower. The idea was the brainchild of Fr Joseph Wresinski, a man who grew up in poverty, and was to commemorate those that suffered and died in silence due to poverty.
This presentation lead to some really interesting conversations about poverty, justice and how best we can support one another.
In the pictures below, our staff and parents write a word or name associated with basic Human Rights or poverty on a small stone which will then be placed in the Docklands with many others on October 17th (International day for the eradication of poverty). These stones will serve as a reminder to Dublin’s citizens that poverty knows no borders, is timeless, enduring and is a global issue.
Last Thursday our Art Students portrayed their fabulous works in the Ozanam House Art Exhibition.
The Art Teacher Ida Mitrani had guided our art students throughout the year, pictured above with Ozanam House Manager Tony Rock.
Our talented students have produced some fabulous works, from still life, landscapes to animal portraits.
Irene Quinn won the Teachers Choice Award.
Anne Bermingham won the Peoples Choice Award.
We would like to thank all who participated in the art class, and to everyone to attended the event. We are looking forward to seeing some more works of art next year!
Our Dolphin After School Class cleaned up Grenville Street as part of the Adopt a Street Campaign. We used all the equipment given to us by the Council. We helped each other, great team work!
It felt great to help keep our community tidy.
