About my training: Nuala Norris

1. What is your role at Contact a Family?

I am manager of the Northern Ireland office. I have been working here since 1996 and have held every position in the organisation from project coordinator to regional development officer. I am responsible for two full time staff and a team of parent volunteers.

We provide information to parents of disabled children, and to the professionals who care for them, about types of disability, rare disorders and life limiting or life threatening conditions.

I also assist parents to set up or locate a mutual support group in Northern Ireland.

2. What attracted you to the course?

The role of manager was a progression for me as our organisation developed and I really felt unequipped to do the role justice as I had no management training or experience.

The Management Development Programme came at just the right time for me.
In truth, as we are a small organisation, the fact that NICVA subsidised the majority of the course fees was a huge bonus too.

3. What were the main challenges?

The main challenge that I found was the time commitment. Attending the course one day per week sounds ok! In reality, I found that I was doing my own five day week in the office in four days, and then had to complete assignments and personal learning logs.

Having said that, our session on time management helped me sort that one out to a degree.

4 What has stuck in your head from the training?

So much! One of the many phrases I adopted from the course was 'should I be doing this? Should I be doing this now?' Simple, but surprisingly effective.

I am so much more aware of everything that I do. From staff supervision to health and safety, project planning to financial management.

It really was a wonderful course and I absorbed so much information which I am actively using that I could not honestly pick out one topic that was more useful than another.

5. Any highlights from the course delivery?

Throughout the course we received very detailed hand outs and additional written information which we kept in folders. That material is now a bible which I refer back to on occasion and I know that I will continue to use it as a reference tool in the future.

6 What are your plans for the future?

To build a stronger Contact a Family NI team and to expand our projects and services in Northern Ireland.