Category: CARA Latest News

CARA Moves Up A Gear With Hyundai

The CARA Centre is delighted to announce the delivery of two new vehicles sponsored by Hyundai Ireland through the local dealership Adams of Tralee. The new Hyundai Tucson and i30 vehicles will be used to increase the impact of our work throughout the country in facilitating active and healthy lifestyles for people with disabilities. Managing Director for the CARA Centre, Niamh Daffy acknowledges the “importance of the continued sponsorship from Hyundai Ireland that has facilitated CARA to grow since the start of our partnership in 2011”.

Camp Abilities Ireland 2016

[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1423751086688{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”“A loss of Sight never a loss of Vision”” font_container=”tag:h3|font_size:30|text_align:center|color:%2334495e|line_height:36px” google_fonts=”font_family:Lato%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1459434682357{margin-bottom: 22px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”CampAbilities 2016
” font_container=”tag:h3|font_size:30px|text_align:center|color:%2334495e|line_height:36px” google_fonts=”font_family:Lato%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1459434608815{margin-bottom: 12px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”21st – 25th March
” font_container=”tag:h3|font_size:30px|text_align:center|color:%2334495e|line_height:36px” google_fonts=”font_family:Lato%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1459434599252{margin-bottom: 12px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”Cappanalea Outdoor Centre, Kerry” font_container=”tag:h3|font_size:30px|text_align:center|color:%2334495e|line_height:36px” google_fonts=”font_family:Lato%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1459434666022{margin-bottom: 40px !important;}”][vc_column_text]”Camp is better than Christmas”, “CampAbilities has been a life changing experience”, “I didn’t make friends, I gained family”. These are just some of the inspirational words used by our campers and volunteers to describe their experiences at the fun-filled CampAbilities 2016.

The camp has run every Easter since 2010 and the demand is growing every year. Children aged 10-14 years from all over Ireland come to camp to experience a huge variety of sporting activities. Previous campers also have the opportunity to return when they are aged 16-17 to participate in a Leader in Training Programme where they develop leadership skills through an educational learning experience which allows them become volunteers in the future. Now in its seventh year, many previous campers over the age of 18 have returned to help in the running of camp. This year we had two previous campers return and they did an amazing job as volunteers.

Camp is better than Christmas!

Camp was set up with two main aims. The first is to introduce children to sport and physical activity. This allows them to gain different experiences that may support them in choosing a sport or physical activity they would like to pursue in their own communities within the future. This year campers and Leaders in Training had a wide variety of activities to choose from. These activities included canoeing, kayaking, rock climbing, archery, athletics, beep baseball, orienteering, cycling, obstacle courses, swimming, soccer, horse riding and goal ball….The list is endless. In between all this activity the campers also participated in a number of different evening programmes ran by our incredible volunteers. These included a murder mystery, a campfire, a league of their own theme night and a camper/volunteer crazy challenge. The fun and excitement during CampAbilities 2016 knew no bounds.

The second aim of the camp is to educate volunteers on ways to adapt their instruction to include people with vision impairments in all of the above activities. The other important aspect of camp which has emerged is the importance of peer support. Children and their parents have found great support from each other in the challenges they face in a world that is set up to cater for people with full sight.

An exciting aspect that was introduced to the 2016 CampAbilities was an exchange programme with CampAbilities Utah. Two of their Leader in Training participants along with three of their volunteers attended this year’s camp and in July CampAbilities Ireland gets the opportunity to experience the same in Salt Lake City.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Inclusion through Sport

[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1423751086688{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Inclusion through Sport – International Day for Persons with Disabilities” font_container=”tag:h3|font_size:30|text_align:left|color:%2334495e|line_height:36px” google_fonts=”font_family:Lato%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1459508788169{margin-bottom: 12px !important;}”][vc_column_text]The CARA National Adapted Physical Activity Centre in conjunction with Sport Ireland celebrated ‘International Day of Persons with Disabilities’ officially launching the national standardised ‘Disability Awareness in Sport Workshop’ which is one of the training opportunities within the National Inclusive Training and Education Framework to address inclusion of people with disabilities across the Sport, Education, Adventure, Health and Fitness sectors in Ireland with support from the Dormant Accounts fund.

John Treacy ‘CEO’ of Sport Ireland launched the ‘Disability Awareness in Sport Workshop’ developed by CARA which will be delivered nationwide by Local Sports Partnerships. At the today’s launch John stressed “the value of collaborative work between all key agencies within the sector aimed at contributing to enhancing active and healthy lifestyles for people with disabilities at community level”.

Doireann Ni Mhuircheartaigh ‘Inclusive Communities Coordinator’ with CARA stated that the overall aim of the Disability Awareness in Sport Workshop is to build awareness of people with disabilities’ participation in community sport and physical activity. It will enhance the great work that many of the Local Sports Partnerships are already doing and will also help to promote the many inclusive sport programmes they support and coordinate whilst also attracting coaches and volunteers to bring their skills into these programmes.

Representatives from Sport Ireland, the national network of Local Sports Partnerships and National Governing Bodies of Disability Sport attended the launch with the overall aim of enhancing provision for people with disabilities to access sport and physical activity within their local communities. Many representatives presented, sharing some best practice taking place within their organisations and communities. Michelle Daltry ‘Partnership Manager’ with Disability Sport Wales was an invited keynote speaker who shared her insights on the Welsh approach to building sustainable programmes to increase participation of people with disabilities in Sport and Physical Activity across Wales.

Niamh Daffy ‘Managing Director’ with CARA indicated that with support from Sport Ireland, Dormant Accounts and other key stakeholders, CARA will continue to coordinate and advocate for a pan-disability multi-sports participation environment at a national and local level in collaboration with a range of national and local organisations. We believe that sport and physical activity for people with disabilities is a means of enhancing life, increasing social interaction, improving physical and mental health and empowering people in all aspects of their lives.

Our challenge is to ensure that people with disabilities have the same awareness of and access to opportunities to be active.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]