New opportunities for school leavers at proposed new Mayo Western Care day centre
The Western Care Association is developing a new day centre in the heart of Westport town.
The centre, on Bridge Street, will offer new school leavers and young people from the area a central location from which to access education, training, employment, and to explore their creative potential in the town.
Western Care has been successful in an application for planning permission to Mayo County Council for a change of use of what was formerly a tourist information office in Westport to provide a day centre with ancillary retail use.
In a report to planners, the Association set out how it employs over 1,000 staff and currently has 120 locations across the county, providing community-based supports and services to children and adults with autism and/or an intellectual disability.
The current Westport day service location at Distillery Road, Carrowbeg Enterprises, hosts 25 plus service participants and their staff team.
However, the location is at capacity and can no longer facilitate new service participants from the greater Westport area.
The report continued: 'Our participants play an integral part in the community, having long established relationships with the Custom House Art Gallery, community groups, local businesses, clubs and schools.
‘We continue to build on the positive relationships and value that this group have brought to Westport since its development in 1995.
'We are currently challenged to provide services to the many young men and women from the area who have recently finished school and those preparing to leave school over the next three to five years.
'The Bridge Street location offers new school leavers and young people from the Westport area a central location from which to access education, training, employment, and explore their creative potential.
'It is proposed that this service will provide a discreet local town-centre location for individuals with a mild ID and/or autism, where they have easy access to local services and facilities.
'Initially, we intend to support three individuals from the Westport area, developing into a service for approximately 10 young people.’
RETAIL EXHIBITION SPACE
The report further set out their plans for the property: 'It is our intention to establish a regular retail exhibition space at the front of the premises, which will facilitate the wider Westport community where local artists can display and sell their work in pop up exhibitions.
'The high spec finish throughout the premises offers the creation of a safe, open, young, contemporary layout that we have found great success, for this profile of service participant, in some of our similar services in Castlebar and Ballina.'
The report also noted that Westport is a vibrant community and the challenge in locating a premises that is central, accessible, of a high standard and affordable has been 'considerable'.
'We have been quietly exploring potential locations in the area for a number of years.
‘The HSE, our main funder, are now supporting us financially to secure an appropriate location, which will be registered as a designated New Directions location.'