We are just back from our second of three weekends in the Clayton Hotel, Galway for the Leadership for Inclusion Series.
The Leadership for Inclusion Series consists of three weekends over six months and is designed for families, parents, siblings and other family members who are committed to community inclusion, want to deepen their understanding of inclusion and be part of a movement creating change. This series of workshops helps families and their allies learn more about how to create change for more welcoming and inclusive communities.
We have received outstanding feedback from families as to the benefit of this Series and I just wanted to share one message that we received this morning:
“Hi Rachel, I just wanted to personally thank you for all you gave us over the weekend. I didn’t properly hug you and thank you when you left. The work you and your team do gives steadfast hope and strength for us to continue to reach for our goals and dreams and the confidence to know we’ll get there. It’s scary at times (sometimes often!) but you really do help to take the fear away. Thank you, Rachel. I really do appreciate what you and Leap are doing for all of us at the weekends and for so many other families. I hope you now have some time for yourself to recover, rest and relax and bathe in the realisation that you are doing and instigating something mind blowing and wonderful.”
Families with children with intellectual disabilities or autism benefit hugely from the approaches we share. The Leadership for Inclusion Series provides them with an opportunity to spend time thinking about how to best support their family members to pursue a life of their choosing – whether their goal is to pursue education, secure employment or set up their own enterprise. Families work together on individual and group work and use reflective journals to record their journey throughout the Series. They access ongoing assistance from Leap and build a strong network within the group.
We are honoured to have Robin Acton, who has just completed her second term as President of Inclusion Canada, teaching the Leap leadership team how to deliver the Leadership for Inclusion Series so that we can offer it to more families in the future. We are deeply grateful for the generosity of our Canadian colleagues.