Cantec Donation of a Lexmark Printer / Scanner

Round about January and July every year the new car registrations get really noticeable.  So we were more than a bit chuffed with our latest 162 Reg here at EmployAbility Galway.  Kindly donated by Aidan Goulding at Cantec Print Galway we are proud owners of a brand new 162 reg  Lexmark!  Its actually a Lexmark 310.

This little beauty is a real multi tasking Printer / Scanner / Copier.  We think it does Fax as well but Fax is is something we don't use any more!

At about 6000 prints per cartridge its a really cost effective little printer.  Its fast and we are able to scan straight to email so there is great integrity in relation to Data Protection.  Its lightweight and compact and a perfect addition for a small work team like ours

Thanks Aidan!

Local Papers help to spread the word about #100jobs campaign

Last week was a really busy week  at EmployAbility Galway.  We were invited over to the Saol Cafe Pride of Place judging on Wednesday, final prep was under way to tidy up a few bits and pieces for this weeks up and coming Customer Service Assessment, and we were working away on the #100jobs campaign.  Therefore we didn't get a look at the local papers until Saturday morning.

We are really delighted to see that the Connacht Tribune Group published a press release in both the Connacht Tribune and City Tribune on their business pages.  The Tuam Herald also published an article on the campaign in their news section.  Thanks to all three papers for helping us spread the word throughout the City and  County

If you would like to pledge a job to the you can use our online form at  #100jobs

Cafe Supervisor wanted at Saol Cafe

Saol Café is the first community-based social enterprise Café to exist on a higher education campus in Ireland.  The Café is located in the Institute of Lifecourse and Society at NUI Galway.  This institute brings together the fields of children, youth, older people and disability into one domain of research, teaching and policy.  Its core function is to achieve international excellence in social policy and practice development through the pursuit of interdisciplinary research in the social sciences by creatively integrating the rich and diverse intellectual resources from within the University and beyond.  The Café is operated by SCCUL Enterprises CLG., a registered Charity, part of whose goal is to assist communities to develop leadership & management skills so as to tackle social and economic isolation

Saol Cafe are currently looking for a Cafe Supervisor.  See advertised vacancy

National Bike Week with An Mheitheal Rothar

It's that time of year again, National Bike Week 2016 will run from June 11th - 19th!  An Mheitheal Rothar (Galway's Community Bike Workshop) will be celebrating their 3rd anniversary as part of Bike Week, and this year their event will also be the Galway City Launch of Bike Week 2016.

They have secured funding and booked the Spanish Arch for Saturday June 11th.  The event will run from 1-5pm and have lots of fun activities with music and entertainment throughout.  This Thursday 26th May at 7pm they will be hosting an open meeting for anyone who might like to get involved volunteering, or other groups who might like to collaborate for the event.  If you have never been to the workshop before it is the perfect opportunity to visit, have tea and see what An Mheitheal Rothar are all about - feel free to bring a friend too!

Some of the ways you could get involved:

• the event planning, preparations or publicity;
• helping set up the marquee, decorations or stewarding maintenance etc. on the day;
• running some fun activities or entertainment on the day - if you have skills you would like to bring we would be more than happy!
• helping to build an interactive sculpture which we will have their on the day.

On Thursday 26th at 7pm they will be going through things in more more detail and would like to hear if you have ideas for how to make the day as fantastic as possible!  Building on a project they did last year in which they visited 8 city primary schools and 2 community locations they are planning for the day to involve lots of cycling games and activities for young people, as well as general maintenance demonstration and safety checks for everyone else.

If you are unable to make the meeting but have some ideas or would like to get involved please do contact them  at an.mheitheal.rothar@gmail.com or 091-494347.  Check out this  link to the facebook event for Thursday with An Mheitheal Rothar

For anyone who might be interested in becoming a volunteer bicycle mechanic with AMR, they are planning to run a short Introduction to bicycle maintenance course just after Bike Week (places will be limited).

Our new public opening hours for 2016 are:

Services & Repairs (leave your bike and we fix it for you):

Wednesdays & Thursdays 1-5pm

DIY Bicycle Workshop (you fix your bike with guidance from our volunteer mechanics):
Wednesdays 6pm-9pm & Fridays 12-3pm

An Mheitheal Rothar,
C/o NUI Galway,
Block R,
Earls Island,
University Road,
Galway.

Phone: 091 - 49 43 47

 

Epilepsy & Autism Information Day

Thanks to Edel at Epilepsy Ireland for forwarding us the following information about an upcoming Epilepsy & Autism Information day that will be held on Tuesday, 8th of March 2016 at the Connacht Hotel.  The aim of the day is to highlight the incidence of the dual diagnosis and the supports available.  It is aimed at carers of a child or an adult with a dual diagnosis.

You can find out more about their work on their website  or by contacting Edel at

Epilepsy Ireland, Westside Resource Centre, Seamus Quirke Road, Galway
T: 091 587640  

Equestrian Training Programme

Festina Lente has currently two places available on their Equestrian Training Programme. This programme is a Solas funded Special Training programme specifically aimed and 16 year plus young adults who have an interest in working with horses/and or animals and who are in receipt of Disability Allowance.

The programme is also open to over 16 year olds who may have required extra support in school and may of availed of Resource or SNA hours. It is a national course so trainees can come from anywhere in Ireland and there is an Accommodation allowance available to support them staying in Bray while the course is on.

For further information you can contact

Jacqueline Joynt, Training & Day Services Manager, Festina Lente Enterprises

PH: 01 2720704 / 2720706 ext. 207  |  Email:  Jacqueline@festinalente.ie

Minimum Wage Increase 01 January 2016

From 01 January 2016, the statutory minimum wage will increase to €9.15 per hour, as recommended by the Low Pay Commission.  

The  new hourly minimum rates of pay that are due to be implemented in Ireland from 01 January  2016 are as follows

Minimum Wage for Employees

Experienced adult worker €9.15 per hour (was €8.65 )

Over 19 and in 2nd year of first job  €8.24 (was €7.79)  

Over 18 and in first year of first job  €7.32  ( was €6.92)

Aged under 18   €6.41 (was €6.06)  

Minimum Wage for Trainees:

Employee aged over 18, in structured training during working hours

1st one third of course  €6.86  (was €6.49 )

2nd third of course €7.32 (was €6.92 )

3rd part of course €8.24  (was €7.79)

Furhter information on the National MInimum Wage is available on the Citizens Information Website

Wishing Everyone a Happy and Peaceful Christmas and Best Wishes for 2016

The team at EmployAbility Galway would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported us this year.  We have had a high number of successful job placements throughout 2015.  72 people with disabilities were successfully employed by Galway City and County employers  this year.  

For the holiday period our offices will close at 5pm on Wednesday 23rd of December 2015 and will reopen on Monday 04 January 2016.  In the meantime we would like to thank all the people who have supported us over the years, and wish everyone a happy and peaceful Christmas.

We look forward to coming back to 2016 well rested and re-energised to kick off 2016 with a lively start

Galway Chamber Business Awards

We have been really busy over the last few weeks closing out new job starts for January so we we can kick straight back into action when we reopen on Monday 04 January 2016 after the Christmas season.

This means a few ( very fast! ) weeks have passed since the Galway Chamber Business Awards. Unfortunately we didn't win  the Customer Services category on the  night, but we take our hats off to the winners Eyre Square Dental, who were really deserving winners within our category.  Hopefully they will be able to give us some guidance not just  for the 2016 Awards, but so we can look at some of their practices and incorporate them into our own business as we love working on continuous improvement.  

A big congratulations to all the team at McCambridges who went from winning their category to taking home the prize for the overall winner on the night.

The  awards ceremony was a great opportunity for us to showcase our work to over 400 employers and business people. We were delighted to have Harry accept our finalists certificate on behalf of the team.  

Thanks a million to Galway Chamber, all our neighbours at Galway Technology Centre, our Board, and GK Media who were commissioned by the Galway Chamber to make a short film for all finalists.  You can view our one above.

Struggling With Social Anxiety? Check out "Step Out Ireland".

It is estimated that in Ireland 1 in 8 people suffer from Social Anxiety so we were delighted to hear from Step Out Ireland who are just in the process of starting to support people in Galway. They have put some information together for us which we would like to share

"At Step Out Ireland we believe that people with social anxiety should be able to lead fulfilling lives including being able to meet new people, form meaningful connections and feel a sense of belonging within society. We provide one to one support, social interaction opportunities and personal development guidance for our members. 

Step Out Ireland arranges social activities and workshops for people that suffer from social anxiety.  Since we started in May of 2015 we have held close to 20 social meets & workshops with over 100 different people coming along. This has included relaxed coffee & chat meets, skills workshops, social anxiety books & documentary discussion meets, group awareness meets, etc.

We are also in the process of arranging workshops around interpersonal skills and relaxation techniques to assist our members to lead more successful lives.

Further information is available on our Website  ,  Facebook    and Twitter pages.  We would be delighted to hear from you so please feel free to 

Give us a call on 089 4562488
Email us at help@stepoutireland.com
Tweet us at @stepoutireland