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BNest helped Limerick Autism Group with their six-month peer programme

BNest helped Limerick Autism Group – Kasia and Eamon from BNest with Keith pictured at the BNest Social Incubator Showcase 2018. Picture: Ciara Maria Hayes/ilovelimerick.

BNest helped Limerick Autism Group with their six-month peer programme

By ilovelimerick Correspondent Cathal Doherty

Limerick Autism Group (LAG) provides socially inclusive activities for people with autism and their families. These activities include camps which take place five times a year with specifically designed weekly movement classes and support groups to aid the siblings of the children with autism.


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In June of this year, LAG and Parkway Retail Park teamed up to transform the retail centre to become Ireland’s first autism-friendly retail park. They did this by adding autism-friendly initiatives to the retail park. These initiatives included installing autism friendly parking spaces, staff inside the shops that were trained in helping customers with autism. A sensory check out was also installed specifically set up for customers with autism to purchase their items.

LAG also helped to set up the Limerick Autism Camps, developed by a group of parents who believed there was a need for socially inclusive activities for children with autism in Limerick.

The camps are “to provide a socially inclusive environment,” said Keith Enright, Director and Founder of LAG, for children “to have fun and interact with their peers without the expense on their parents.”

BNest helped Limerick Autism Group

Limerick Autism Group provides socially inclusive activities for people with autism and their families. These activities include camps which take place five times a year with specifically designed weekly movement classes and support groups to aid the siblings of the children with autism.

LAG was able to get their feet off the ground with the help of BNest, the first dedicated Social Enterprise Incubator Programme in Ireland.

BNest caters to all types of organisations from non-profits to community enterprises to businesses with a social conscience and offers a six-month peer programme at no cost to participating organisations. BNest is dedicated to helping businesses that want to make a social impact.

Keith was at the beginning of setting up LAG when he first came in contact with BNest. Keith took part in their six-month incubator programme at no cost and he was then able to make a name for his organisation and set up a small office due to the advice he received from BNest.

“They have been absolutely brilliant. They held us back when we needed to be held back and pushed us forward when we needed to be pushed forward and they’ve made a lot of connections for us with companies in Limerick,” Keith said about BNest’s help in setting up Limerick Autism Group.

BNest offers all sorts of advice, help, and guidance to starting out businesses and nonprofit organisations who want to make a social impact and so far BNest have had nearly 20 participants completing their Social Enterprise Incubator Programme since the programme began in 2016.

You can apply for the BNest peer programme now but closing date for applications is August 15. The BNest Social Enterprise Incubator Programme 2018/2019 begins September 7, 2018.

Apply at www.bnest.ie/apply.

For more information on BNest, please click here

For more stories about Limerick Autism Group, please click here

Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.