Day Opportunities

The Day Opportunities service is a package of community-based day time activities for adults with a learning, physical and/or sensory disability, or a brain injury.  The service operates across all locality areas within the Southern Trust– Armagh/Dungannon, Craigavon/Banbridge and Newry/Mourne.

The Day Opportunities service has a base on the Bannvale site in Gilford which facilities the Horticulture and Catering groups.

Day Opportunities community groups are satellite groups from the base in Gilford and utilise venues such as leisure centres, libraries and other local community clubs to facilitate group activities.    Alongside face-to-face groups, the Day Opportunities service provides virtual groups via zoom sessions.  Through a person-centred approach, the service aims to enable individuals to lead full and meaningful lives through accessing a wide range of therapeutic, social, educational and leisure activities within the individual’s local community settings.  Individuals who engage in these activities have the opportunity to develop new and existing life skills, increase their knowledge and safe use of local transport services and improve their health and wellbeing.

Individuals are referred to the service by their community Case Manager and require to be independently mobile and able to attend to their own personal care needs.   Dependent on the venue and activity there may be a cost to the individual who engages with the Day Opportunities service.  Day Opportunities services are not building based, the service is flexible and ever changing, to meet the needs of the individuals referred.

 

Bannvale Bloom and Brew

We are proud to announce the launch of our Day Opportunities new catering trailer, ‘Bannvale Bloom and Brew.’

Operated by individuals with a learning disability and with the support of Day Opportunities staff, this trailer is located at the Horticulture unit, Gilford on the upper area of the Bannvale site.

The trailer is open for business from Monday to Friday, 9.30am – 4pm, serving soup, tea, coffee, and scrumptious tray bakes.

Day Opportunities provides community-based daytime activities to engage adults with a learning, physical and/or sensory disability in areas such as accredited further education; volunteering, paid employment, social enterprise activity and opportunities to meet and make new friends and use local leisure and recreational facilities.

The service aims to enable individuals to lead full and meaningful lives within their neighbourhoods, have access to a wide range of social, work and leisure opportunities and form/maintain friendships and relationships.

 

• Facility Centre

  Day Opportunities

  Bannvale site

  10 Moyallen Road

  Gilford

  BT63 5JX

  028 375 66699

  The Day Opportunities service operates Monday – Friday 9am – 4.30pm.

  Day Opportunities groups operate Monday to Friday 10am – 4pm.

• Routes to access the service

  Referrals are only accepted from the individual’s case manager.

• Referral criteria

  The following criteria must be met for an individual to be eligible to receive a Day Opportunity Service based on their assessed needs –

  • The individual has been assessed as having a disability (Physical, Learning and/or Sensory) and eligible to receive SHSCT Disability services, is an open case to an adult community fieldwork team / transition team;

  and

  • The individual with a Physical  Disability is aged between18 – 64 years;

  Or

  • The individual with a Learning Disability is aged 18 years or over (unless a school leaver in transition age could be 17 years old);

  and

  • The individual is able to independently mobilise and attend to own care needs:

  and

  • The individual has the capacity to access a wide range of opportunities within the community with minimal support to improve quality of life and maximise their independence;

  and

  • The individual is motivated and willing to participate in activities including outdoors in all weathers (as necessary)

  and

  • The individual can independently access groups via own or public transport

  and

  • The individual has capacity and is aware that they incur costs for room hire and activities where applicable

  and

  • The individual should not be receiving other services which would lead to a duplication of service provision such as a training programme, Day Care Services, attending work placement et
• COVID-19 specific information

  If you or a person you are living with tests positive or is presenting with Covid-19 symptoms, please do not visit our service.  Please call Day Opportunities on 028 375 66699 to discuss further.

• Daffodils planned by the Horticultural team
  

  Daffodils planted by the Horticulture unit

  

  Daffodils planted by the Horticulture unit

  

  Daffodils planted by the Horticulture unit

• Awards won / nominations

  The Day Opportunities service submitted an entry to the “wildlife friendly” competition of the conservation volunteers event 31.08.2023.  The class was to show how a group have demonstrated improvements in the garden, that have made it wildlife friendly and encouraged biodiversity.  The Service Users and staff recently created a bee and bug hotel in an unused space of the surrounding wall of the Bannvale site, aiming to encourage a safe hideaway for wildlife and in turn reducing waste and reusing materials which the service had for disposal.   The group thoroughly enjoyed this project in learning about ecosystems and biodiversity.

• Events and photographs
  • Carers event June 2023 – carers event held in Armagh to celebrate carers week and to thank them for everything they do. (pictures attached from the event)

   

  • Sunflower field –Bannvale in bloom, Summer 2023!

  Following the success of last year’s sunflower field, the Day Opportunities horticulture group replanted the sunflowers and wild flowers.

  The sunflowers were be in bloom mid-late August and brought colour to the site for approximately 3-4 weeks.