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The third annual Cedar Foundation User Forum conference took place recently with a record crowd which heard of the amazing achievements of the group and the positive difference they are making to the lives of other disabled people.
A capacity crowd attended the recent Cedar Foundation User Forum conference to learn about the achievements made by the organisation and the Forum in the last year.
The Forum consists of disabled people whose aim is to make a positive difference to The Cedar Foundation and the lives of other disabled people.
This was the third annual User Forum conference, held at the Lagan Valley Island Centre, Lisburn.
Speakers
The Forum was delighted to welcome the deputy mayor of Lisburn, councillor Trevor Lunn, to the conference, as well as special guest Monica Wilson, chief executive of Disability Action, who spoke of her journey as a disabled person.
Niall Irwin, chairman of the User Forum, spoke about the progress that the Forum has made in the past year:
Raymond Kirk, from the User Forum committee, played a major role in organising the conference and was pleased to see the outcome.
He said, “This is the first time the conference has been in the Lisburn area... the conference was fantastic with a great turnout. There has been a lot of interest in joining the User Forum and it has been an all round success. Plans are already underway to arrange next year’s conference, the only problem will be how to make it bigger and better but I’m sure we’ll find a way!”
Anne McAleer, independent facilitator of the User Forum, spoke of one of the highlights of the year - the Barcelona conference on supported employment. Anne and Niall have a keen interest in supported employment and represented the User Forum at Barcelona to increase the Forum’s knowledge on the subject. Anne made a presentation to over 500 people at the conference.
Anne explained, “Supported employment enables people with disabilities to gain paid employment with support. It initially provides one to one support in the workplace for the disabled person, gradually withdrawing and building up natural support so that people with a physical disability can be integrated into the workplace. The conference gave us the opportunity to learn so much about the subject, especially from a European point of view. It was a great personal experience and I was really pleased to have represented The Cedar Foundation”.
Other speakers included Stephen Mathews, chief executive of The Cedar Foundation, who spoke about the organisation's in the last year. Raymond Kirk relayed stories of the team building weekend at the Share Centre, Fermanagh, where disabled people had the chance to go swimming, some for the first time in years, make a film, print tshirts and have a ride in a speedboat.
Janine Rainey closed the conference with news of the User Forum’s most recent success, a fashion show organised and starring disabled people, at the Wellington Park Hotel, to raise funds for The Cedar Foundation.
More information
To find out more about the User Forum contact: Anne McAleer, independent facilitator, The User Forum, The Cedar Foundation, 1 Upper Lisburn Road, Belfast BT10 0GW or 
028 9061 2424.
For more details about The Cedar Foundation please go to www.cedar-foundation.org, 
info@cedar-foundation.org or 028 9066 6188.
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