Return to Services | Ozanam House News

Volunteers

As Ozanam House begins to reopen to our members, and we hear the sound of many voices in the walls of our great centre once again, we want to take a moment to thank you all.

We were delighted to be able to continue to support so many people throughout the past 4 months. With the dedication and hard work of our staff and so many of our volunteers, we were able to continue to support over 300 people remotely.

We have provided online activities, resource packs and support to so many people;

Class chats and online activity sessions for the children in our childcare centre.
Online music classes, online quizzes and resource packs for children and young people in our youth services.
Amazing art and cookery classes, videos and demonstrations from our teachers and our first online adult education class in Yoga.
Ongoing resource packs and supports to our elderly members.

We would like to say a very special THANK YOU to our amazing volunteers and staff for all of their hard work and dedication throughout this time. Challenges like this can bring out the best in people and we certainly saw some amazing efforts from all of our team.

Thank you!

Reopening Timeline

We are now moving into our reopening phase in the centre and want to share some information with you on our plans:

Over the coming days and weeks, we will be welcoming back many of our members to Ozanam House.

1. The reopening of our services started with our childcare centre returning on Monday the 6th of July with 32 children rushing back into their classes with smiles and warm welcomes.

2. The next to return will be our Youth Groups on the 20th of July. Instead of the usual Summer Projects there will now be smaller ‘Summer Sessions’ taking place. The children, young people and our dedicated volunteer youth leaders can’t wait to get cracking having lots of fun over the coming weeks

3. As our Senior Groups are in a higher risk category it means their return is slightly later than the other groups. Following public health guidelines we hope to be able to welcome members of our Active Retirement and Men’s Group back later in August and early September.

4. The Adult Education classes will resume on the 5th of October with the registration dates taking place from the 21st to the 25th of September from 9.30 – 11.30 am at the Grenville Street entrance.

Health & Safety Procedures

Management and staff have been working hard to adapt our centre and our practices in line with public health advice. We now have great systems and structures in place following the best and the safest practice to be able to continue to provide services in such challenging times.

We will be adhering to the guidelines set out by the HSE and WHO. This means regularly washing our hands, keeping our social distance and practising good respiratory etiquette like coughing/sneezing into our elbows.

The building landscape has also changed, we have introduced a new one-way system in Ozanam House. Floor markings and signage are all in place to help everybody get used to this new one-way system. Hand Sanitiser will be provided throughout the building as well as signage on what to do.

We will be in contact with all our volunteers should any changes occur as well as updating our social media platforms and website. So keep an eye out.

On behalf of everybody at Ozanam House, thank you so much for your support, dedication and patience, and we look forward to seeing you again very soon.

Stay safe.