Longford's St Christopher's Services Activation Pod launched by Minister Anne Rabbitte

St Christopher’s new hub catering to school leavers was launched today by Minister of State for Disabilities Anne Rabitte. The units aim is to help their service users transition into adult life after leaving the comfort of the school environment.

The new services hub will be a centre for activity and ideas and will be dedicated to the development of young adults with disabilities. 

Minister Rabbitte spoke at the event, “I thinks it’s important that we meet the needs of everybody at everybody’s own level,”

“That takes a lot of planning and time to ensure we get the right transitions so that the most complex cases can be addressed and people with the lower needs also can be adressed.”

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The CEO Marian Keigher also spoke at the launch saying, “Our services provide support and care for over 122 people,” 

“The services we provide are needed to bridge the gap that society creates by the expectations of what is needed to live an independent life and the ability of a person to do so,” she explained. 

Speaking with the Longford Leader, Jenny Rayson, Manager of Activation Services explained, “ We are opening a new unit for school leavers,”

“We needed a space where they could learn independent skills and have a safe transition from the school into the community.”

The Activation Pod has a state of the art sensory room for the service users to use.

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“There moving to a location that's familiar to them and accessible to the town as it is daunting for anyone when they go from school into adult life,”

St Christopher’s has faced a lot of hardship in the past year in lieu of financial issues as well as  balloting from 130 staff members following a breach in agreement around the payment of increments.

“We had a very positive meeting between the board, the unions, the HSE, and the local representatives,” said  the Minister.

“St Christopher’s gets in excess of 14 million euro a year to operate, but that 14 million isn't enough to keep it ticking over and there's a residual debt that needs to be addressed there,”

“The back payment for staff wages in excess of one million euro was also approved,” The staff wages are separate from the deficit but these wages have been approved by the HSE and should be soon paid to the staff. 

“I myself have a sustainability fund in this year's budget, which for the likes of St Christophers through section 39, to ensure that they are on a sustainable footing that could continue to provide services,” said Rabbitte. 

“I do see a bright future for St Christopers from a debt perspective.”