Consortium Meeting – January 2022

Our latest Consortium meeting was held in the afternoon of 25th January 2022.

We spent some time reflecting on 2021 and what had been achieved. Many highlights were mentioned including:

• keeping all the work going despite the challenges of Covid19
• the creativity, adaptability and flexibility of staff when adjusting programmes to make them safer, stepping in to help in other areas when needed and keeping the show on the road with a smile on their face!
• how accommodating families were when changes had to be made – they were so glad to have the support – in any form.
• the first year of our multidisciplinary team – acknowledging the enormous work in setting up a big programme like this and the impact on our community
• the provision of ‘Assessments of Need’ for children who had been on lengthy waiting lists and the ability to move forward for them and their families, knowing the supports they need
• the opportunities for staff to meet with one another and build relationships and connections across services – espeically through the variety of training opportunities – Lamh, Circle of Security, IY and multi-sensory room.
• Christmas and the supports provided through Winter Wonderland, food vouchers and other Christmas events for families in need – all very positive experiences and lots of positive feedback from families.

Our challenges were mainly Covid-related – keeping programmes going, keeping services open, not being able to meet face-to-face. We also discussed the ongoing challenge of engaging staff from early years services in ABC planning and Consortium level meetings.

We thanked all of our partner organisations and the ABC team for all of the work that was completed – a huge number of families have benefitted across the year.

Our Consortium Model Sub-Group gave an update on their work. An updated Consortium agreement is being finalised and will be shared for Consortium feedback shortly.

We looked at our proposed budget for 2022. While we await confirmation from Tusla on the activities we have submitted, we spent time speaking about each of the programmes, asking questions and exploring the themes.

Key dates for 2022 were shared and the Steering Group agreed to look further at refining our processes and procedures across this year so that planning for 2023 is smooth and given all the time it needs. We have made lots of progress this year and look forward to continuing that as we move through 2022.