In light of escalation over the weekend in terms of advice regarding social distancing and “flattening the curve” from public health officials and the address by An Taoiseach on 17th March 2020, the board of Carmichael has decided that the Carmichael Centre will close until the advice from public health officials advise that the required measures in respect to social distancing are relaxed. At the moment, we are working to a March 29th date but expect that the Government will extend this if the situation as is expected, worsens.
Carmichael will defer our training events from 12th March until 30th April. We regret any inconvenience caused. In the meantime our full suite of eLearning (which can be accessed at any time from any location), is available on https://www.carmichaelireland.ie/courses/?type=e-learning-courses.
We are facilitating working from home for our staff. We will maintain online supports including email and newsletters. We are contactable by email if you need some advice or guidance on governance related issues. We will also be working on developing and updating resource material.
We will update everyone again when we expect to re-open.
Carmichael wishes everyone stay safe during this difficult time.
Independent Living Movement Ireland are nearly six months into the roll out of the ONSIDE social inclusion project in the border region. See the full article below:
ONSIDE Spotlight Article draft1 NOV 25th 2019
Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI) launched our #DeclarationofIndependence video campaign on Sunday 5th May as part of European Day on Independent Living. The short film features twenty disabled activists from across the country talking about the need for disabled people to work together and for issues disabled people face to be seen as equality and human rights issues.
“Our video is about changing the conversation in Ireland and Europe about disability. Our philosophy as ILMI can be best summed up as “Nothing About Us Without Us” and “Rights Not Charity”. What the Declaration of Independence is about is getting a clear message from disability activists of the type of Ireland we want to create. We want this to be a powerful message to get more disabled people involved and for us to be strong together to demand our rights”, said Sarah Fitzgerald, ILMI secretary who is a writer and scripted the video.
“We as Independent Living Movement Ireland want to bring about a more inclusive society. The only way this can happen is if disabled people work collectively together. The first step is for disabled people to recognise that the issues facing disabled people are equality and human right issues. We need disabled people to recognise that change is possible, but we need people to be active, to let policy makers and politicians know what we want and not be afraid to demand our rights” said Shelly Gaynor, Chairperson of ILMI.
“The video is all about getting disabled people to recognise that the way society is structured is what prevents our involvement. We need people to realise that it is not okay that our transport system isn’t fully accessible. We need non-disabled people to realise that Ireland can and should be a place where disabled people are able to do the day to day things that every takes for granted.” added Ms Fitzgerald.
In 2014 the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) declared May 5th as the European Day on Independent Living as a day of celebration to coordinate European-wide events and actions in the name of Independent Living. It aims to bring together disabled people and their allies throughout Europe together to raise awareness of Independent Living and to show the wider public that disabled people we are proud, strong and visible!
“As a founding member of ENIL, it is really important for ILMI to be involved in this European action. Real independent living is about people being heard, their voices respected and their choices honored. The message is so clear and powerful: disabled people are the experts in their lives and for too long their voice has not being listened to in Ireland or in Europe. We hope that this video encourages more disabled people to become involved in ILMI and affect policy change by working collectively and making Ireland a more inclusive society”, said Damien Walshe, ILMI CEO.
The video can be viewed on the ILMI website at https://ilmi.ie/ilmi-video-resources/ or Youtube
Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI) was established as CIL in 1992 by and for disabled people. Its aim was to ensure that disabled people achieved Independent Living, choice and control over their lives and full participation in society as equal citizens.
We are a campaigning, national representative organisation that promotes the philosophy of independent living and to build an inclusive society. Central to the way we work is to ensure that policy decisions that impact on the lives of disabled people have to be directly influenced by those whose lives are directly affected.
Our philosophy can be summed up as: ‘Nothing about us without us!’ and ‘Rights Not Charity’.
Our vision is an Ireland where disabled persons have freedom, choice and control over all aspects of their lives and can fully participate in an inclusive society as equals. Visit www.ilmi.ie for more details or info@ilmi.ie
It is ten years since Carmichael became involved in a series of meetings with various stakeholders on the need to set up a governance code for the community, voluntary and charitable sector. Looking back on our notes from those first meetings, it is clear that the issues and concerns still apply today: a recognition that a governance code should serve as a guide for boards on how to provide proper oversight; the need for a proportionate approach; the danger that compliance with a governance code gets relinquished by boards to managers.
However, much has happened since then. The Charities Regulator is now well established and has launched the Charities Governance Code. In the meantime, Sport Ireland adopted the Governance Code for Community, Voluntary and Charitable (CVC) Organisations as best practice for all sporting bodies. It makes sense that Sport Ireland takes over the CVC code at this stage, given the decision to retire the CVC code to avoid duplication with the Charities Governance Code.
Carmichael played a key role in the development and rollout of the CVC Code, including the provision of training and eLearning. We continue to support sporting organisations in attaining the highest standards of good governance.
We also provide support for compliance with the Charities Governance Code and look forward to developing these supports into the future.
See the Statement from the Governance Code Working Group here: https://www.governancecode.ie/
See the Statement from Sport Ireland here: https://www.sportireland.ie/Media/Latest_News/Sport-Ireland-takes-over-Governance-Code-for-sporting-organisations.html
The working group that developed and rolled out the CVC code consisted of the following:
- Boardmatch Ireland
- Business in the Community
- Carmichael
- Charities Institute Ireland
- Clann Credo
- The Corporate Governance Association of Ireland (CGAI)
- Disability Federation of Ireland
- Good Governance Solutions
- Volunteer Ireland
- The Wheel
Against stiff competition, Carmichael has been named a Dublin County winner of the National Lottery Good Causes Awards 2019. This is a testament to the work we do on behalf of community and voluntary organisations all around Ireland.
With 30 years’ experience based on a foundation of 45 resident charitable organisations, we provide support to nonprofits to help them to become more effective and impactful at what they do.
We manage two buildings located in Dublin’s north inner city which provide office accommodation for nonprofits. By co-locating in a shared space, pooling resources and tapping into peer support and services, our resident organisations can save time, reduce costs, up-skill and focus on delivering quality services to their beneficiaries.
We are also committed to working with nonprofits throughout Ireland and we deliver training programmes nationwide on governance, management and community leadership. Our training is designed to increase the effectiveness and impact of the community and voluntary organisations we work with. These organisations provide much needed services in the community. Examples include: community centres, sports clubs, community childcare services, social housing organisations and addiction support services.
For more information on the National Lottery Good Causes Awards 2019 see: https://www.lottery.ie/good-causes-awards.
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Twitter – @NationalLottery
Instagram – @lotteryie