Local Consultation Group

Communication to All Local Consultation Group Members, 21st December 2010

The Centre for Disability Law and Policy was most grateful to receive so much interest in its new Local Consultation Groups that were setup this year, and thank you for kindly agreeing to become a member.  We had the pleasure of meeting all new members individually over the course of many months in order to invite everyone to our Centre so that they could find out about what we do, and to tell people about the new Local Consultation Groups.  Since that time, those of you who had expressed an interest in getting involved in the work at the Centre straight away and were available, were asked to visit the Centre and review its ongoing research projects.

In the New Year, the Local Consultation Group members will be asked to join the Centre for its first formal meeting and I sincerely hope you are able to attend. You will receive another letter shortly with the date and time of these meetings (it is likely there will be two dates and times to enable as many people as possible to participate).

Why we have set up our Local Consultation Groups?

The Centre considers the forming of its Local Consultation Groups to be very important.  They have been created so that local people can find out about the work of the Centre and feel part of what it is doing.  Further, the Groups will help the Centre to better understand issues faced by people in our community.  The Centre hopes to be able to learn from the Groups and improve its work.  If they would like to, people in the Groups will also have the chance to get centrally involved in the Centre’s research work and other activities.

About the Local Consultation Groups

In February and March 2010, the Centre for Disability Law and Policy advertised for people to join its Local Consultation Group of people with disabilities, people with mental heath challenges, members of the deaf community, family members and carers.  The Centre received a huge response to its advertisements and this was greatly appreciated. 

Some people expressed an interest from organisations that support people with disabilities and mental health issues, therefore we have decided to set up a second group solely for these individuals. 

So we now have two Local Consultation Groups:

• Local Consultation Group of People with Disabilities, Mental Health Challenges, Families and Carers
• Local Consultation Group of People who work in Disability and Mental Health Support Orgnisations.

From March to September 2010, Rachel Stevens and colleagues from the Centre personally met with everyone who had expressed an interest in the Local Consultation Groups in small groups of 2-3 people.  This gave people a chance to visit the Centre and the National University of Ireland, Galway, and to find out more about the work of the Centre and the proposed Local Consultation Groups.  People were asked at these meetings if they would still like to get involved in the Groups, and those that agreed will now join the Centre for two formal meetings per year. The first meetings will be held in the February 2011.  In addition, some Group members have agreed to get more involved in the work of the Centre and some of these individuals kindly met with staff at the Centre in the Autumn of 2010 to review two of the Centre’s ongoing research projects.

Contact Details

For further details about the Local Consultation Groups please contact Ms. Mary McQuinn:
Tel.: +353 (0)91 494012
Mobile: +353 (0)87 6660634
Fax.: +353 (0)91 495569
Email: info.cdlp@nuigalway.ie
Postal address: Centre for Disability Law and Policy
National University of Ireland, Galway

• Disclaimer
• Privacy
• Copyright
• Accessibility