Keith Shirley

We’ve got to try our best to fight the recession but sometimes we can’t help but cut back and let people go. As employers we have a social responsibility to try and help our employees. If we can’t keep their jobs open then we can help soften the landing.

County Carlow Chamber and Skillnet are providing workshops that will help with the transition from employed to hopefully re-employed. I’ve received the following mail from them and asked if I could reproduce it here:

As Businesses in County Carlow go through periods of major change including downsizing and restructuring, inevitably some employees will be put on short time or indeed sadly laid off .

Making the transition for these staff as smooth as possible is the trademark of an employer of choice, particularly when some of these staff have been taking care of your business for many years.

By way of support to companies facing such challenging times County Carlow Chamber through the Skillnet training fund has developed the Outplacement Workshop programme. These placement workshops begin with a comprehensive one-on-one interview with your employees to define unique skills and experience and to identify employment options which may include a similar job, a totally different position and/or self employment.

Often a career option may include re-training or a period of full time study. The emphasis is upon ’self-help’ and personal motivation, with direction and guidance provided by experienced professional people.
The significant benefits of providing this intervention to your staff during these very difficult times are:

• By looking after your staff at this sensitive time, you ensure your staff leaves your business on good terms and with dignity.

• Employees retained will have more respect for your organisation and the management team

• Future employees looking to join your organisation will have a positive view if they are aware that you have previously supported staff who were released

• Having a well managed Outplacement Programme helps reduce the impact of any significant loss of knowledge and productivity during the changes to the business

Our approach puts your employees at ease from the start by showing empathy and building trust to make for a successful working relationship, resulting in a smooth transition for your staff and your company.
Depending on the situation, if you are releasing one person or a small team of people, we can take the pressure out of the arrangements for you by liaising with your people direct to customise a outplacement services programme to include:

• Successful CV’s and Self Marketing Letters
• Job Search Strategies and Job Applications
• Winning @ Interviews
• Self Marketing, Networking & Selling Yourself
• Career Planning & Options
• Career Values & Needs Assessment
• Self Employment & Portfolio Careers
• Business Start Up
• Image & Personal Branding

We can run workshops and or 1:1 sessions either on site or off site at venues to suit you and your staff plus also provide the option for telephone/email support The objective of this intervention is to focus on encouraging people to think positively about change, seeing redundancy or short time as an opportunity rather than the end of their career. Where you have groups of employees who may be looking at career change or even self employment options, our successful Move Your Career ‘One Step Beyond’ Career Transition Workshops are especially designed for this purpose
To start this process, please contact, Ashling Ward on info@cktraining.ie or 087 6140386 in the strictest confidence.

Yours Sincerely

Niall McDonnell                                               Ashling Ward
_________________                                             ___________________
Niall McDonnell                                                   Ashling Ward
CEO County Carlow Chamber                            Training Manager
12/03/2009

My wife, Sylvia Shirley, will be taking part in a Special Olympics Ireland fund-raising event this coming weekend. The Mind Body and Spirit fair will be taking place at The Dolmen Hotel Carlow – 1^st March 2009 12 – 5 pm

I see a hot towel shave listed…..I wonder will Sylvia allow me to grow a stubble to test how good it is. I have a special kind of beard that seems to defeat electric razors – so I’d love to see how good a job a real cut-throat does. In addition there are all sorts of people/activities such as:

• Beautician (Completely unbiased I can say Carlow’s Best Cosmetic and Wellness Atelier will be there)
• Health Food Suppliers
• Clearing and House Blessings
• Homeopathy Practitioners
• Animal Healers
• Tarot and Angel Card Readings
• Yoga
• Body Massages
• Acupuncturists and herbalists
• Angel Healers
• Reiki
• Crystal Healing
• Personal Coaching
• Tai Chi
• Manicures

The Special Olympics Ireland – Carlow Fundraising Team has a fundraising target of €100,000 by the end of May 2009. The Dolmen Hotel have waived the room hire fee as their own donation to the campaign.

The organisers also have other events arranged including a Tug of War between County Carlow and County Kilkenny.  A Nintendo Wii Fit competition, a Treasure Trail in May, a Garden Party in the Delta Centre and a Carlow Garda Dinner/Dance on 3 April 2009 at the Seven Oaks Hotel.

Further Information about Special Olympics Ireland & Special Olympics (Co Carlow)

Note: This is copied from their distributed info

Did you know 58% of people with a learning disability in Ireland have no friends of their own?

Special Olympics Ireland is a national charity based in the 32 counties in Ireland and  will run a major all-island fundraising initiative from January 5th to June 5th 2009, called `Changing Lives’.  The money raised during our short campaign will support the 12,000 athletes and 18,000 volunteers in 420 clubs and also enable the recruitment of NEW athletes so we can realise our goal of reaching out to more people with a learning disability.

There are 943 people with an intellectual disability in County Carlow/Kilkenny but only 160 of them are County Carlow athletes in Special Olympics Ireland. Money raised will go towards providing sports training and competition for those athletes and to reach out to the clearly significant number of people in County Carlow not already involved.

The Special Olympic Athlete’s oath is “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt”  and in our brief 5 month campaign period we in County Carlow intend to work very hard to provide children and adults with an intellectual disability who participate in Special Olympics to develop improved physical fitness and motor skills, greater self-confidence and a more positive self-image. They grow mentally, socially and spiritually and, through their activities, exhibit boundless courage and enthusiasm, enjoy the rewards of friendship and ultimately discover not only new abilities and talents but “their voices” as well.

Special Olympics Ireland changes the lives of people with an intellectual disability by giving them a real opportunity to achieve in life, through sport.  Belonging to Special Olympics has a powerful impact, not only on people with an intellectual disability but also on their families, volunteers and the wider community.

The World Games are held every 4 years – 2009 will see the Winter Games in Boise, USA and the next Summer Games are in 2011 in Athens, Greece. To be eligible to participate in Special Olympics, athletes must be at least six years old and identified by an agency or professional as having one of the following conditions: intellectual disabilities, cognitive delays as measured by formal assessment, or significant learning or vocational problems due to cognitive delay that require or have required specially designed instruction.

Whilst athletes can commence training at six years of age, they must be eight years old before participating in competions. Our Irish athletes participate in Alpine Skiing, Aquatics, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Bocce, Bowling, Equestrian, Football, Golf, Gymnastics and Table Tennis. In addition there is a Motor Activities Training Programme offering cycling, kayaking, pitch & putt and tennis.

Special Olympics Ireland is sponsored by The Irish Sports Council and Eircom however in today’s tough economic conditions Special Olympics Ireland – Co Carlow Team couldn’t meet the needs of our own potential athletes without the generosity of supporters like you. Many Thanks!