We are delighted to celebrate the official opening of our new community centre, Station House in Waterford City. IWA Members, Christina, Victoria, John, Jack, Alex, Jordan and Cosmin took centre stage at the event on Tuesday, 28th Jan, and will be the first young adults to enjoy the state-of-the-art building.

Mayor of Waterford, Cllr. Jason Murphy, was on hand to help officially open the building along with Ann Marie O’Grady, CEO of IWA. Many family members, IWA employees, HSE staff and representatives from organisations who worked on the building project were also in attendance.

Located in the heart of Waterford City, the new centre will serve as a home for young adults who are part of IWA’s School Leaver Service. This strategic location aligns with the organisation’s mission of supporting people with disabilities to be part of the community.

The expansion of the community centre will provide us with the capacity to grow the service and enable members to gain more access to the city and all its amenities. The school leaver service has already had a profound impact on the lives of many members, with success stories of increased independence, college attendance, and work experience opportunities.

Liam Saunders, Area Manager for Irish Wheelchair Association, expressed his excitement for the new centre, stating, “We’re delighted the centre is finally open. So much hard work has gone on in the background to make this happen. The Project Team worked tirelessly, on top of their day job, to ensure our members get the best facilities there are. I would like to thank everyone who has played their part in ensuring this dream has become a reality. I am delighted to hand the building over to our members today.”

Waterford Mayor, Cllr Jason Murphy, added, “It’s a privilege to be invited here today to officially open IWA’s new building. We are extremely proud to have it in Waterford city and can’t wait to see how the programme grows to support more people with disabilities in the Waterford area. It is superb to see a vacant building in Waterford City brought back to life and I couldn’t think of a better purpose for the building than home to IWA’s members.”

This project is the result of the partnership and collaboration. IWA would like to sincerely thank our colleagues in the HSE for their support particularly Aoife Fitzgerald and Janet Ferguson and all the Day Opportunities Services Team.

So many people worked on the refurbishment of the building including Mark Weldon and his team at the Causeway Group. Huge thanks to all the people who worked hard in the background.

IWA’s CEO Ann Marie O’Grady was also in attendance and said; “I am incredibly proud to be here today. People are at the heart of everything we do at IWA and this building is opening today because of our dedicated people who continue to have a vision for the future of our members. Huge congratulations and thanks to the IWA Project Team, Liam Saunders, Area Manager, Caroline Lacey, Service Manager, Brian Condon, Property Manager and Sarah Rothwell, National Development Officer. This beautiful, modern building will support our members today and long into the future to achieve all that they want to.”

Interested in a career working with our Young Adults?

Careers at IWA

IWA is proud to have been named one of Ireland's top employers in the annual independent survey carried out by the Sunday Independent. Our services are at the visionary and we currently have vacancies across the country in different roles including Young Adult Support Workers who work with members like the ones mentioned in this report.

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