Featured on The Aternoon Show

The Afternoon Show, RTÉ’s live flagship daytime programme, featured a segment on The O2 Ability Awards during yesterday’s show. Seonaid Dunne, Kanchi Sounding Board Member and Chiarra O’Ranaigh, of Eye Cinema Galway and a previous winner of an O2 Ability Award, were on hand to chat about why they feel it is important for organisations to think differently and apply for an O2 Ability Award.

Read transcrpts of the interview here.

• Posted:29 Oct 2009 at 09:00 am

PwC Now Assessment Partner for O2 Ability Awards

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), is the assessment partner for the O2 Ability Awards 2010. The PwC team will work alongside Kanchi’s disability management consultants in the assessment and verification of organisations shortlisted for the O2 Ability Awards. These shortlisted organisations will receive a free full-day, on-site assessment.

Speaking at the announcement, Ronan Murphy, Senior Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers said: “We are delighted to become the assessment partner for the O2 Ability Awards.  PwC is committed to having a positive impact on the people and communities around us and supporting the O2 Ability Awards is a key way of achieving this.”

Created by the founder of disability organisation, Kanchi and visually impaired social entrepreneur, Caroline Casey, the O2 Ability Awards promote organisations that think and act differently in relation to people with disabilities; who recognise ability and talent over disability; who see the economic and personal potential of employees and customers with disabilities, making products and services available to all.

Since 2005, over 100 businesses and organisations including Superquinn, McDonald’s Restaurants of Ireland, Bank of Ireland, Kerry County Council and Aura Sport & Leisure, have been selected as O2 Ability Award organisations. Awards will be presented across six categories and there will be three overall winners: one each from the private and non-private sectors as well as an award for the Best Small Company. A televised series documenting a selection of organisations that participate in the O2 Ability Awards will be broadcast in May 2010.

• Posted:21 Oct 2009 at 10:00 am

A Birthday for Ben

Special Stories Publishing is an award winning Irish publishing company, producing children’s books which introduce disabilities, social, health and education issues to children, parents and schools.  Each book aims to help children learn the importance of accepting friends and classmates who are different to them.

A Birthday for Ben, part of Series Two in Special Stories, is told through the eyes of Ben, a young boy who is deaf. He is about to celebrate his birthday, but not exactly thrilled about it.  Fearful he will be left out when the music starts playing, his Mum helps him realise all kids are able to have fun on their birthday.

Authored by Kate Gaynor (Photo Left) and beautifully illustrated Karen Quirke (Photo Right), A Birthday for Ben draws from the experience of Irish Deaf Kids Founder and Kanchi Sounding Board Member, Caroline Carswell (Photo Center).

“The idea for the Birthday for Ben book came from my summer camp experiences as a kid. My primary school was deaf-aware, with 4 pupils in different classes at about the same time. However, at summer camp, I had to explain what my hearing-aids were, and why I wore them. This was fine in itself, but a few of the other kids seemed to find the concept of deafness really hard to “get”.” explains Carswell.

”’A Birthday for Ben’ is a very welcome resource for both parents and teachers as it introduces the whole notion of hearing and deafness to young children,” continues Carswell, “By making the book available to primary schools throughout Ireland, IDK and Special Stories hope to highlight the everyday issues that deaf children may encounter on a daily basis in mainstream school”.

Series Two also introduces Autism, Dyslexia, Down Syndrome.

Karen Quirke, the Illustrator behind “A Birthday for Ben”, is also the artist behind Irish Deaf Kid’s 2010 Calendar, now available at most major book stores throughout Ireland.

• Posted:15 Oct 2009 at 03:00 am

Positive Solutions

The Irish Association for Supportive Employment will hold a national conference in Kilkenny this Friday and Saturday.  Entitled “Supportive Employment – Positive Solutions”, this conference offers a great opportunity to network with a wide variety of organisations and interested parties to discuss how to improve employment  and customer service for people with disabilities. Keynote speakers, workshops and a marketplace of information will be available to all attendees.

Kanchi’s Managing Director, Gabrielle Murphy and Sinéad Harding, Project Manager of the O2 Ability Awards 2010 will be in attendance.  Gabrielle Murphy will be presenting on the O2 Ability Awards at IASE’s Awards for Best Practice in Supportive Employment.  The Irish Association for Supportive Employment is an Endorser of the O2 Ability Awards 2010.

• Posted:07 Oct 2009 at 12:00 pm

Arts and Disability Awards Info Session

The deadline for your second chance to apply for an Arts and Disability Award is fast approaching.  November 2nd will mark the closing of applications for the 2009 Arts and Disability Awards (Round II).

The Arts & Disability Awards Ireland is a bursary programme for individual disabled artists living in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland working in ALL artforms. An information and advice day on the Arts & Disability Awards will take place in Dublin on Wednesday October 14th, 2009 at Fire Station Artists’ Studios.  Contact the Arts and Disability Forum to register.

The Awards are the result of a partnership between the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaìon and the Arts & Disability Forum.

• Posted:05 Oct 2009 at 12:00 pm

An Impressive Handicap

Today the world’s best known amatures and professional champions of golf will tee off at St. Andrews in Scottland, home of golf. 168 teams made of up one Champion and one Amateur will compete over the next four days in the  The 2009 Alfred Duhall Links Championship.

To play at the “home of golf” among professionals such as Padraig Harrington, Ernie Els and Rory McIlroy would be a dream for any amateur golfer.  However for Manual De Los Santos, playing at St. Andrews is not only a dream come true, but a testament to how thinking differently can lead to world recognition.

At 18 years old, De Los Santos was pursuing a career as a professional baseball player.  However, after a motorcycle accident, he became a left leg amputee. Upon discovering a baseball grip and golf grip are similar, he decided to change games.  Today he is sponsored by Allianz and Winner of many tournaments across Europe including the highly regarded 2008 Swedish Invitational Open.  Manuel De Los Santos plays with an impressive handicap of only three.

Read full article in The Irish Times

• Posted:01 Oct 2009 at 10:00 am