• Strengthening Advocacy

• Strengthening Employment opportunities for service users

• Establishing a rights committee in SMH

3. Community Participation

A volunteer programme will be set up and take a community network approach. By involving local people as volunteers, we will create a robust volunteer network that can support service users achieve their goals.

SMH core mission “My Life, My Way, My Choices” provides a clear pathway for each person who uses SMH services to live their full life. SMH works with service users to understand their needs and wishes and help them achieve their goals. Volunteers are very much part of SMH and bring so much to service users lives, therefore it was important to restart the volunteer programme as soon as possible post-Covid. As part of the Strengthening Disabilities Project and aligning with SMH Strategic Plan 2022-2026, the volunteer programme was re-started in 2022 and took on a community network approach. By involving local volunteers, the aim is to create a robust volunteer network that can support service users achieve their goal.

In September 2022, a dedicated project co-ordinator was employed to oversee the re-establishment of a volunteer programme. The initial task was to ensure that the programme had the appropriate governance structures in place. To date, a SMH Volunteer Policy and application process has been implemented and with the support of the Communications team, a multi-faceted “Step Forward and Volunteer” advertising campaign was launched. The SMH Volunteer Programme was officially relaunched on 5th December 2022 to celebrate International Volunteers Day. In tandem to this, SMH Project Coordinator also implemented a strategically targeted Transition Year schools programme and the Corporate Volunteer Champion programme which where both launched on International Volunters Day.

Looking forward to 2023, the next steps is to liaise with the managers and service users to establish the volunteer roles that are required and start the volunteer recruitment process. As this is a new programme it is of paramount importance that quality of roles and meeting service user goals are the focus but also meeting HIQA regulation.

Aligning with the SMH Strategic Plan 2022-2026, the Strengthening Disabilities project will create an active rights-based culture within St Michael’s House (with a particular focus on the UNCRPD Articles 12 and 19) and the necessary supporting structures to implement and sustain these successfully. The project team will provide updates on the Strengthening Disabilities via SMH communication channels as the project moves into the implementation phase.

Activity Hub

The Activity Hub is an online platform that hosts educational workshops, virtual exercise and social classes, and provides a wide selection of accessible resources for adults availing of our services. The Activity Hub has worked with service users, staff and external bodies throughout 2022 to increase the opportunities for people to further develop their online skills, keep active and healthy and to take part and have their say about the service.

Our main achievements in 2022 included:

• Over 50 different units from Day Service, Residential and people from home logged on throughout 2022

• 4,168 attendees were recorded to participate in online activities throughout the year

• 7 Weekly Classes (Social & Exercise).

• 28 service users took part in co-designing the new Activity Hub webpages.

• 686 people attended social events throughout the year (Quiz Night, Football Fan Club, Valentines Day, Halloween Party etc)

• 268 was the average monthly attendance to exercise class on the Activity Hub.

• 15 Units got involved with the Make Every Movement Count October Challenge, in conjunction with clinical teams

• The Activity Hub was used to deliver the ‘Active Healthy Me’ health & wellbeing programme, developed by Active Disability and the HSE. It helped people to increase their knowledge and understanding on the importance and benefits of being physically active, living a healthy lifestyle and the opportunities that are available to participate within their local community.

Sport & Leisure Services

Sport & Leisure Services in St. Michael’s House include the leisure centre, accessible swimming pool and community sport & physical activity programming.

Leisure Centre

Adults and children availing of services from St. Michaels House visited the swimming pool on 3,205 occasions in 2022. They participated in aqua aerobics, parent & toddler classes, physiotherapy led hydrotherapy, group swims, family swims and school swims. In 2022, the leisure centre converted an ancillary space into a gym, which was sponsored by the Sports Capital Grant. The gym has been used to support people to learn how to use equipment in a safe, motivating and fun way before exploring opportunities available in community settings.

Community Sport & Physical Activity Programmes

The community sport and physical activity programmes are run in conjunction with community partners, including local sports partnerships, National Governing Bodies of Sport, local sport clubs and leisure facilities. An average of 155 people engaged in a range of different activities each week, including football, multi-sports, bowling, chair aerobics, gym session, golf, bowls and active classes for people with dementia.