Recently launched child advocacy inclusion group 4AL held a well attended Family Picnic in the Park in St Helena’s Park on Sunday in association with the Louth Disability Cycling Club who provided specialised rides for everyone with various disabilities with their special needs trikes and bikes.
4AL stands for All Abilities Action Alliance Louth and were recently founded by Alexandra Jedrzejewska and Emer McNally who both grew increasingly frustrated with the number of issues in Louth concerning parents of children with special needs. According to Alexandra the group was set up to help local kids with disabilities to reach their full potential while also helping form a community for parents who can often feel isolated.
“We set this group up as an advocacy group for children with special needs. Myself and Emer are both parents of children with special needs and we both realised pretty quickly that there are a number of issues for kids with disabilities. Education is a big one and there simply isn’t enough places in secondary schools. We see our kids having enormous potential but there are roadblocks in our system which mean that they don’t get the same opportunities as other kids.
“We have about seven people on the committee of our group and we want to raise awareness and organise events to promote inclusivity and to create a community for parents to make connections and gather collectively. A lot of women who have a child with special needs are single and they have to give up their careers and their lives to look after their child. It can be very isolating and we are here to help them,” stated Alexandra.
Emer emphasised that one of the main aims of the group was to strongly advocate for the rights of their kids.
“We will be lobbying the government and holding them to account to ensure our kids have the same rights and opportunities as everybody else. It is very hard to get access to services and that needs to be addressed immediately. When you do eventually get in and see somebody the people working in the HSE are fantastic but the problem is there simply isn’t enough services. Even simple things like having access to swimming classes for kids with disabilities can be tough to organise as there aren’t enough classes being offered.
“We plan to link in with other organisations like we are doing today with the brilliant Louth Disability Cycling Club and hold events throughout the year to raise awareness of the issues we face. The lack of therapeutic services not only has an adverse effect on the child but also the parents and the siblings. We want to create something positive here and we are very heartened to see the large crowds turn out for our first event here today,” stated Emer.
Paul Callan from Louth Disability Cycling Club said he and his colleagues in the group were delighted to attend the inaugral event of 4AL.
“It’s been a lovely day down here today and we were delighted to come down and offer both kids and adults a chance to have a spin on our bikes. We have volunteers from Cuchulainn Cycling Club who are always more than obliging to us and help us pilot the bikes. We meet every Wednesday at 7pm down in St Helana’s Park and we use it as a meeting spot for anybody who would like to use our services. We generally go for a cycle around town for an hour or an hour and a half and it’s been going really well.
“We provide bikes for anybody with disabilities to have a wee spin. We provide the bike and the pilot and it’s growing the whole time. We started off last year with one bike and now we have 15. I would like to give a special mention to Variety the children’s charity who donate special mobility trikes to children across the disability spectrum. They are an absolutely fantastic charity and they have been brilliant to us,” stated Paul.
