Getting the boys out is the priority. Both Stephen (13) and Seán (17) are autistic. Stephen goes in for 9am, later than the other kids, as there can be anxiety around school. Seán goes to Youthreach in Mahon. The support he needed wasn’t available in mainstream school and it was issues like this that prompted my husband John and I to set up the Rainbow Club in June 2015. We started with a budget of €637 and 22 families. Now we support 1,180 families, we have 30 staff and a pool of students and volunteers.
9.30am
The club is based at the community centre in Mahon. First-up I check emails and go through messages from parents struggling with school places and services for their kids. I advise and support them and link them with relevant people/agencies. If families want to meet us, I arrange one-to-one meetings. I do a lot of advocacy work on their behalf.
10am
It’s not my style to be holed up in my office. I drop in on activities — we have 24 activities for the kids — or meet in the canteen with parents. I have a certain number of meetings each week — for example, with managers and the chief operations officer, Molly, who is my daughter, and who worked her way up through the organisation.
11am
More meetings to discuss upcoming events or fundraisers. We don’t close over the holidays, so we are constantly planning ahead, summer camps etc.
1pm
Lunch in the centre café with staff or a parent, or in my office if I’m under pressure.
2pm
Telephone calls with partners, TDs, councillors, businesses, colleges, and ministers. We are working on getting a new home and we have a government commitment for funding. We got a nice boost when we recently won the Youth Award, worth €15,000, at the National Lottery’s Good Causes Awards.
3pm
I read through comprehensive reports from parents looking for a place for their child at the centre. We want to make sure the service matches the child’s needs so a lot of work goes on before the family starts with us. We also give them feedback reports to let them know how their child is doing.
6pm
Home, where I do some social media posts to raise awareness of our work. I love my job and I am passionate about the Rainbow Club.
