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Hey folks, today I want to give a little update to inform you all of some exciting events and activities specifically geared towards the autistic community in NI. we understand it can be pretty challenging to find the time to sit and browse the internet to find these activities so I have compiled a list of some events in one place with the hopes it makes them easier to find. Just before we get to it I need to make a little disclaimer, The Appleby Trust is not the host of these events, we are just making a public list so people can easier find them. Anyway with that out of the way, here are some cool things to try in NI Upcoming Events & Activities Easter Sensory Saturday - Hosted by Helping Hands 25/03/2023 - 11:30-13:00 MEMBER-ONLY EVENT. Helping Hands Autism Resource Centre, Millars Lane, Belfast, United Kingdom https://allevents.in/belfast/easter-sensory-saturday-members-only/10000518736955197 W5 Belfast - Belfast W5 has many autism-friendly considerations available such as allowing assistance dogs, supporting the JAM card system (Just a minute) & even having a quiet room to allow people who need a moment to relax. It may also be possible for a carer to get a discount or free ticket if they are eligible, more info can be found on their site. Website: https://w5online.co.uk/plan-your-visit/accessibility email: info@w5online.co.uk HI-RISE - Lisburn HiRISE hosts autism-friendly Sunday mornings each month, They also have a sensory room and the staff have been trained in autism. They offer both autism-friendly climbing activities and soft play activities they even received the AUTISM NI Impact Award! More info can be found on their website Website: https://highriseni.org/key-information/accessibility/autism-tailored-activities/ email: contact@highriseni.org Phone: 028 9263 6195 Belfast Zoo - Belfast Belfast Zoo boosts some great autism-friendly features such as quiet hours and sensory days throughout the year, they also offer fast tracking to holders of JAM cards, Autism Alert Cards & National Autism Cards during busy hours. contact them for more info Website: https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/zoo/accessibility email: info@belfastzoo.co.uk Phone: 028 9077 6277 Titanic Belfast - Belfast Titanic Belfast offers VIP wristbands, Pre-visit packets and other accommodations for people with autism, They also support the JAM card System. check out their site below to contact them for more details. Website: https://www.titanicbelfast.com/accessibility/ Roe Park Resort This hotel sports autism-friendly rooms along side other accommodations and seems to have put a lot of work into becoming more autism friendly. You can find out more on their site linked below Website: https://www.roeparkresort.com/blog/2018/05/23/hotel-news/autism-friendly/73-131/ Dundonald Ice bowl & Indiana Land - Dundonald Both offer Autism friendly sessions, to find out more info you can visit their site or contact them via phone Website: https://www.theicebowl.com/ Phone: 028 9080 9100 That's All I have for you this time, hopefully this list can be helpful and I hope you all have a great day. Until next time. Sarah signing off. 

Hello again folks, it's been a while since I last did one of these blog posts but we are back and ready to post more of these little snippets of what's going on in The Gathering Rooms during the day-to-day in the background as well as new ideas, promotional menu items, Autism news and info and other related topics. Speaking of Autism, did you know that Autism is at the very core of our project? People who are new to our project might be interested to know that when planning and setting up the Project that would grow into The Gathering Rooms we specifically asked a bunch of our prior trainees (including yours truly) about what they felt was missing in the community for Autistic individuals. Ultimately they pointed to the desire for a place to grow in social skills along with opportunities to build real-world practical working skills in a safe and friendly environment as well as a place where people with Autism could go to eat, hang out & socialise while just being themselves. This led to the creation of The Gathering Rooms. Anyway, now that reintroductions are out of the way, I think it's the perfect time to mention it's February! Valentine's is right around the corner so why not check out some of The Printroom's new updated range of valentines cards ? We poured our hearts into them so we are sure you will love them. Or if like me the way to your heart is through your stomach then be sure to check out some of our delightful Valentine-themed treats which you can find on our Facebook page , while you're at it why not share the love by liking and following our page? Until next time, have a great day!

We are proud to say that after a few months of lockdown The Gathering Rooms staff are back in action and ready for anything! While we may have had to close for the lockdown, rest assured we have been busy preparing our premises to make sure everyone feels comfortable and most importantly safe when they return. First of all, to minimise risk to our staff and the public our whole team have been trained extensively in new procedures as we have made many adjustments to combat COVID-19. Staff are being continuously updated to follow the latest government guidelines. Staff and trainees will adhere to strict social distancing rules, extra handwashing & sanitising, of course, all of our staff and trainees are required to wear protective equipment such as face masks and shields. Trainees also have their temperatures checked first thing every day they enter the premises. We are also supporting track and trace by recording peoples names when entering the premises. We have also made some significant changes to how our building operates, we have instigated a one-way system that is signposted to minimise traffic in the cafe. automated hand sanitizer dispensers have been installed throughout the building. The restrooms are cleaned down after every use as well as rearranged seating with protective screens at both the till and between side by side tables as to space customers out and keep them safe. We also opened up our beautiful outdoor seating area where people will be able to keep their distance while enjoying a meal in the fresh air outdoors.   With these and many more changes as well as an ever-evolving effort to combat the spread of COVID-19 we are confident we can minimise risk as much as possible.   We cannot wait to see you all again.

A quick update As you all know the outbreak of Covid 19 has led to all but the most essential to life services and stores closing down temporarily, this sadly includes The Gathering Rooms but while we may be extremely disappointed in having to close down until further notice we want to be as positive and productive as possible within this period. We will be using this lock down to complete some additional work on our premises and come up with funky new ideas for the future. We have been looking at our menu to see what we can revamp and improve from our current offering. The Print Room staff have been using this time to work on new card ideas and drawing up designs from the comfort of their own home all while trying to keeping our trainees involved in the process as much as possible. So while we our cafe may be out of action during these times, rest assured we are all doing well and we will return better than ever when this outbreak blows over. Remember folks take care of yourselves. Being stuck at home it can be very easy to fall out of routine but we all have to remember to keep both mentally and physically active.

Hey folks, it has been a while since we had one of these little blogs as we have been super busy, but don't worry we will be back to our regular schedule from now on! First of all, I'm sure you are all aware next Tuesday is St Patrick's day and The Gathering Rooms will be closed on Monday and Tuesday to give our trainees (and staff) a well deserved break! We will be open again on Wednesday the 18th. As of March, we have a few new faces among us as we take on more new trainees, we can't wait to see how they get on in the coming weeks and as we see them learn all sorts of new skills! We are always listening to their feedback and making sure we can accommodate their complex needs as much as possible. One of our goals here in the Gathering Rooms is to make sure we keep doing everything we can to improve our service to those who need it, with this in mind, we recently launched our live calendar where you can find all sorts of autism-related community events and training taking place in and around Armagh as well as the rest of Northern Ireland. We will be keeping this updated with events every Tuesday, you can check out the live calendar on the Services & Advice page on our site . If you have any feedback we would be grateful to hear it. We have other improvements as well as we are still working on getting our sensory play area up and running. Remember to keep an eye out on our website and our social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram where we will continue to post updates, competitions, offers, autism news and events regularly. Thanks again for checking out our little blog, see you all next week!!

Hi folks, welcome back to our little blog! You may have recently seen our post about additions to our future sensory room including one particular fluffy friend. It's great to see children get their hands on them and play with these delightful toys, we hope it will bring the kids some extra enjoyment during their visit to the Gathering Rooms. In other news, we have been developing a live, interactive autism-related events calendar on our website and social media. We all know how hard it can be to find and keep track of what autism-related events are happening locally, so we decided why not make one big calendar that everyone can use to find enjoyable events. So far we have been focused on gathering a wide range of autism-related events, both free and paid, we're hoping to post events like sensory hours in local supermarkets, autism awareness training, charitable events and whatever we can find that may be suitable. Please let us know if you know of any upcoming events and we'll be happy to include them in our calendar. Alternatively, if you know of any places/groups to contact to get more information on future events that would also be very helpful. The more information we can build into the calendar the more people we will be able to assist.

Hey folks, welcome back once again to our Gathering Rooms update blog where we keep you up to date with all the latest goings-on in The Gathering Rooms. We are delighted to say we have been making good progress with our sensory play area, we have a bunch of sensory toys slowly accumulating and we have had some great feedback from our trainees who have ASD on what we should include in the play area. We will make sure to keep you update on the sensory playrooms development as it evolves. In other news, you may have seen some of our 20% off vouchers floating around town, if you manage to get your hands on one you can redeem it for 20% of your next visit to The Gathering Rooms. but you need to hurry as they expire on the 31st of January!

Hey everyone, welcome back after a lovely start to the new year, I hope everyone had a good time and enjoyed themselves over the holidays! I have to admit it does feel pretty good to be back to work! The Gathering Rooms is back up and running in full force and full of energy from the holiday break. We have a few great ideas on how to make it an even more enjoyable place for everyone, the one we are most excited about is creating a sensory play area. We have been asking for community feedback on what sort of toys and things we should include in this area as we want it to be a place where kids with autism or kids without to just relax and play whilst at the gathering rooms. We hope to have this up and running in the very near future but of course, any suggestions are very welcome! We can’t wait to share more with you. We always appreciate any feedback so if you’re ever dropping by be sure to let us know what you think! Next time you're visiting be sure to pick up a loyalty card so you can get your 9th cup of coffee free!

December is here & The festive vibes are in full swing with everything from a gathering of Gingerbread men, mince pies & festive treats on the menu, we have lots of little Christmas cards for sale made in our very own Print Room & the rooms are tastefully decorated with that classic warm Christmas feel while we all sink right in to that beautiful end of year bliss and as you may have heard we now open Monday - Saturday so please feel free to pop in and give us a visit and get yourself in the festive spirit as well. In other news, last night the staff here at The Gathering Rooms had the pleasure of attending Autism Services Annual Christmas Formal where there was a fantastic combination of live music & showcases of projects involving your service users. It was a great night and everyone seemed to be having an amazing time as they sit and chatted, the Kids got to play some Virtual Reality games, dance away to music and to wrap it all everyone was able to grab a quick bite to eat from the buffet & partake in a raffle with some fabulous prizes up for grabs!