Positive Futures

A statement from Positive Futures...

🌊Making Waves for Inclusion in Dundalk!

We’re delighted to present a Positive Futures Welcome Award to Aura Dundalk Leisure Centre for creating such a warm, supportive and inclusive environment for people with an intellectual disability, acquired brain injury and autism.

Nominated by Aimee and the people she supports, Michelle and Ann Marie through our Mo Shaol Home Share and Short Breaks Service, Aura has made weekly swimming sessions something truly special 🏊‍♀️.

From day one, staff at Aura have gone above and beyond, ensuring everyone feels welcome, supported and empowered. And the impact? Michelle and Ann Marie now look forward to swimming every week and have made fantastic progress.

👏 Huge congratulations to the entire team at Aura Dundalk for living and breathing inclusion every day.

Creating inclusive spaces in our communities makes all the difference, and together, we’re building brighter futures.

Meet our advisory board✨!

We recently came together for our Advisory Board meeting, made up of staff and people we support and one message came through loud and clear: listening to and valuing people’s voices makes a real difference.

💬 Key themes from the discussion included:
Putting people first – continuing to build more person-centred support where choice, independence and individuality are at the heart of everything we do.
Being heard – ensuring people we support have meaningful ways to share feedback and influence decisions.
Looking ahead – shaping the future of Positive Futures, including characteristics that are important in finding our new Chief Executive and maintaining the values that matter most. The board decided that our next leader needs to be nice, kind and polite, a good listener, honest and approachable but firm and assertive when it matters 💛.
Learning & growth – improving access to training, advocacy and opportunities for development.

👏 A huge thank you to all members for sharing their experiences, ideas and ambitions so openly. Your voices are helping to shape a stronger, more inclusive future.

Respect. Inclusion. Accountability.

These are the values at the heart of the Positive Futures Welcome Award, recognising organisations that go the extra mile to ensure people with an intellectual disability, acquired brain injury or autism feel truly welcomed and valued in their communities🥰.

That’s why we’re proud to celebrate Enda Leonard who runs EL-Fitness Studio in Kinnegad with the Positive Futures Welcome Award👏. Enda has created a space where three people from our Cluain Farm Supported Living Service feel respected, included and encouraged to achieve their goals. For Aoife, James and Kevin, these sessions aren’t just about fitness, they’re about building confidence, connection and belonging.

Thank you, Enda, for living the spirit of the Welcome Award and adapting your sessions for the people we support, a true advocate of person-centred support 🙌.

“If we expect person‑centred practice in services, we must model it in our teams.” Paul Roberts, Managing Director, Positive Futures 💬

We’ve been deepening our person‑centred practice across our teams through bespoke sessions with Helen Sanderson MBE over the past few months. From this work, our Operations Team, alongside Service Managers and Deputies, turned learning into action 💪, using tension cards to shape a shared meeting agreement that reflects how we want to collaborate, communicate and support one another. Because when our teams come together, creating a psychologically safe environment, where everyone feels supported to contribute, connect and work towards a shared goal 🤝.

As we continue this journey, we’re guided by a simple belief:
“When we use the language of relationships, possibility and home, we begin to build services and lives that reflect those things.” ✨

👉 Read more on our person-centred approach: https://ow.ly/U6N750Z4EAc