A group of talented musicians are set to entertain in north Dublin as part of an exciting initiative this month.
A number of people with disabilities will proudly display their talents over the next four weeks in a delightful musical trail in Finglas and beyond. The Disability Music Programme, by the Meetingplace Arch Club, hopes to provide a space for people to explore their abilities and give them a confidence boost.
Meetingplace Arch Club founder Sandra Dillon told Dublin Live: "The guys love entertaining. They said it helps with their mental health." The group will be performing at the Parochial House on Church Street on Saturday from 3.30pm.
Read more: Dublin man with cerebral palsy gets dream job after campaigning for PA hours
Sandra hopes to expand to other places in the vicinity too. The mum-of-three said: "We’re also going to places like SuperValu and ask if we can busk outside only for maybe an hour or half an hour."
While waiting lists for mental healthcare have multiplied since Covid, the club has helped create a safe space for kids and teenagers with disabilities to build their social skills. The idea for the Meetingplace Arch Club came to Sandra after she saw her youngest son, who is on the autism spectrum, struggle to make friends as a teenager.
She said: "You find with a disability, around 12 years of age, what was nice and sweet all of a sudden becomes different. All of a sudden, people start to outgrow you, especially teenagers. We put him in karate and we had him in swimming lessons but he became very isolated.
"My son was in Trinity College learning social skills from a professor. So I was thinking about what we could do to emulate that in the community."
In 2010, Sandra set up the Meetingplace Club in the hopes of helping other children and teenagers like her son hone their social skills. Speaking about the club, Sandra said: "We’ve done art projects, we’ve done camera projects. We've also done a poetry class."
In 2012 they also started doing hippotherapy which is a form of physical therapy that uses the motion of a walking horse for therapeutic movement.
Speaking about the upcoming music trail, Sandra said: "Some of these guys are self-taught. They go home and play instruments for hours. It helps them with their mental health.
"They’re mad into Aslan and this kind of thing. This year the music is going to be a big priority."
Read next:
Kindhearted Dublin doctor raises over €20k for young quadriplegic patient
Irish woman forced to choose between rent and food as cost of living spirals
Mum's plea for help to make home wheelchair accessible for teen daughter
Dad of wheelchair user slams lack of automatic ramps on brand new trains
HSE staffing crisis leaves kids in limbo after disability diagnoses
Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox.
