Community Builder: Dorothy Devlin

Source:
Dungannon Observer
Date:
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Friday 11. July 2014
7 Section2
15441
780
(NIAMH-545)
Page 1 of 3
Ref: NIAMH 1109241
Community
Builder:
Dorothy
Devlin
Did you ever go to visit someone in their office and before you even met the person
you were feeling jealous of them because of the beautiful place in which they worked.
Well, this happened to me a couple of weeks ago when I went to visit Dorothy Devlin
who works at the Woodlands Beacon Centre in Cookstown.
in response to the emerging needs of its service users.
When Dorothy was giving me directions to her office,
Through listening attentively to what our service users
somehow I didn't realize what she was saying. "Do you
need, Niamh has been able to develop three Beacon
know the old railway station in Molesworth
Street?"
Support services with around 100 members, 10 twenty
asked Dorothy as we spoke on the phone and when I
four hour Supported
Housing Schemes with 100 residents,
said that I knew it well Dorothy told me that "We are
9 non twenty four hour Supported
Housing
connected to it. We are in that building."
Schemes with approximately
90 residents as well as three
As we arrived it dawned on me that we were actually
Floating Support Schemes which provide support to 35
going into the old stationmaster's
house at the station.
people. Alongside these schemes Niamh has also developed
It is a beautiful building, built with all the class that the
four Beacon Advocacy schemes which provided
old Great Northern gave to their stations at the peak of
support to over 5,500 last year."
their power.
Dorothy Devlin is one of those enthusiastic
people
One of Dorothy's assistants showed us into what would
who if you let them would talk for an hour about their
have been the sitting room. As I was standing admiring
job. It seems to be a characteristic of people who do these
the view of the station from the window Dorothy came in
sorts of jobs that they are really interested in their work
and introduced herself.
and dedicated to the people that they work with. Thinking
"It's a lovely view, isn't it," said Dorothy. "Sometimes
along these lines I asked Dorothy to tell us how she came
when I am here you can imagine the people standing
to be working here.
waiting on the trains. There is something very romantic
"I have been twenty years in care work," and when I
about it."
gave her a look of disbelief, Dorothy laughed and said,
I was green with envy. From the sitting room you could
"I started at 15. My first job was a volunteer in Ardboe
see the platform of the station on both ends. A wooded
Nursing Home. I did that job in the summer while I was
veranda overhung the standing area on each side and you
at school.
could clearly see the old railway track still in position.
"I also worked at the Marina Nursing Home and the
What a place for a photo-shoot for a Miss Marple film:
Cove Manor at holiday times and weekends while I was
you would not need to do any work to the place, it looks
studying for my A Levels."
like it is ready for customers at any moment. I want to go
I took the chance at the mention of A Levels to ask
back there and write a story about it!
Dorothy where she went to school and if she went to
Sadly I have to leave that bit and talk about the job
university.
in hand.
"I started off at Derrychrin
PS in Ballinderry. After
Dorothy Devlin is a person with a huge personality;
that I went to St Pius' in Magherafelt and then on to the
she is bubbly, yet serene, laughs but is serious and is in
Tech in Dungannon.
Then," said Dorothy with an air
total control of the conversation at all times. In short, she
of triumph, "At 19 I headed off to Edinburgh to go to
is a great conversationalist.
university
where I studied Psychology,
Sociology and
"I'm originally from Ballinderry but then we moved
Social Policy."
to Moortown and finally I finished up buying a house in
"I went to Scotland because my brother Damian was
Moneyglass. 1 live quite near the Crosskeys bar. 1 love it
already at Dundee University. Initially I wanted to go into
up there, you have great views of the whole Bann Valley,"
journalism,
in fact I still love writing, but it just never
said Dorothy as she launched into a conversation
that
came off; I went into this line of work instead."
would last an hour and be almost nonstop talking.
Again, now that she had mentioned
a brother I got
Dorothy must have thought that was all we were
in quick and asked Dorothy to tell me something more
going to ask her about herself because as soon as she had
about her family.
finished this sentence she began talking about her work:
"Niamh, which stands for the Northern Ireland Association "Well, my dad is Brian Devlin. He was a boxer all
for Mental Health, is the largest and longest established his days, and my mother is Dolores. There were four
of us altogether,
me and Damian who I have already
independent charity focusing on mental health and
wellbeing services in Northern Ireland. Niamh is structured mentioned, and then there is Briege and Bronagh. Briege
teaches drama in Campbell College and Bronagh is a
as a group consisting of four elements; Compass,
Youth Development
Worker in Galbally."
Beacon, Inspire and Carecall.
The wonderful part of talking to Dorothy Devlin is that
The section we have here, Beacon, provides support
she is expressive and lets you know by her tone when a
services to people with experience
of mental illness
point is finished and what parts of her story are important
through supported housing, day support and advocacy
to her: she has a wonderful use of language and it is not
services. Beacon is the largest division in the group."
difficult to understand that she would be a good writer.
Then Dorothy went on to give me a little history of
Out of the blue Dorothy began to tell us about work
Niamh and the Beacon group within the charity:
that she soon to undertake for Habitat NI.
"Lady Margaret Wakehurst established Niamh in 1959.
"Habitat NI is founded on the conviction that every
At the core of Niamh's services is the community-based
man, woman and child should have a simple, decent
support it provides to people who have had experience of
affordable place to live in dignity and safety," said Dorothy,
mental illness.
and then she made us write down this bit from a
Since its inception,
in response to emerging needs,
leaflet:
Niamh has developed Beacon Support services in towns
"Since its founding in 1976, Habitat has built more
throughout
Northern Ireland. Niamh now has fourteen
than 800,000 homes worldwide
with a Habitat home
Beacon Day Support Centres with approximately
1,000
now completed somewhere in the world every 4 minutes.
members attending
regularly. Over the years. Niamh
Habitat has become a global leader in addressing poverty
has continued to develop innovative additional services
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Source:
Dungannon Observer
Date:
Page:
Circulation:
Size:
Friday 11. July 2014
7 Section2
15441
780
(NIAMH-545)
Page 2 of 3
Ref: NIAMH 1109241
piece of ground which is connected to the building and
we have made it into a garden area."
"There are small allotments where the members are
able to grow fruits and vegetables. Some also grow flowers
and the project gives them all a sense of achievement.
I'll bring you down to show you the garden when we are
finished here," said Dorothy.
"The Prince's Trust helped with the making of the
garden. When we received the plot it was overgrown and
full of rubbish that had gathered over the years. Young
people from the Prince's Trust came along and cleaned it
up for us. They were a great help."
Then Dorothy continued,
"That is what is so good
about having a place like the Beacon Centre in an area,
it gives other groups in the vicinity a chance to help out.
The man who helps the Lower Castledawson
Community
Association with their allotments also comes along
to help us. His name is Jim and he comes along to give
pointers and help the members."
"He is very good with them, encouraging and keeping
them interested. Some people have a real knack of that,
just helping and enabling others to learn," said Dorothy,
"and this is another aspect of having the Beacon Centre, it
allows ordinary people to see the help that they can give."
It was obvious from the way that Dorothy sees the
centre as a real part of the community and not something
set apart.
"Oh, and before I forget, we are going to have a BBQ
Dorothy Devlin with Colleen McGinn, Ann Wright,
in August in which we shall be using as much of the vegetables
Nigel Faulkner, Michael McLaughlin and Ignatius
that we have grown here as we can. So put a date
Heron.
in your diary for that," said Dorothy.
housing by helping 4 million people of all races, faiths
Dorothy then went on to tell me about some of the
and backgrounds
to have a safe, healthy place to live.
other courses that were being held in the centre.
Every Habitat home is built by the family who will live
"We have tutors coming from the South West College
in it in partnership with the local community. By working
to give a creative writing course. It is being held here and
in partnership with families Habitat empowers them
in Magherafelt Library and shall involve pupils from St
to break that cycle and build the foundation for a secure
future; improving health, increasing educational opportunities Pius' as well as members from the centre."
"The theme of the course is going to be "The Concept
and providing livelihood support."
of Hope" and we want to express through writing what
Dorothy then continued, "That's the sort of project that
the whole concept of hope and recovery means to both
I would love to be part of so this year I am heading off
the young people and the members. Writing is a wonderful
to South Africa to work on the Mandela Project. Habitat
way of getting our feelings out and can be very therapeutic."
Nl is building houses in Capetown. There are four of us
going from the Mid Ulster area; me and my sister Briege,
"We also hope that it shall be a good way for the young
Agnes Mcllroy and Michelle Murphy."
"I love doing fundraising
and found that table quizzes, people to learn something of the difficulties that other
people have to deal with," said Dorothy, "and it will give
especially when you have a raffle with good prizes,
everyone the chance to reflect on what the whole concept
is a good way to raise money. Then I had a 70s night in
of hope and recovery means to them."
Ardboe Hall, but I also found that another good way to
"October 10th is World Mental Health Day and we are
get people to give something was through Just Giving
aiming to have a function along with the Council to celebrate
which enables people to donate on the internet."
the event. We will incorporate the writings that the
Then Dorothy went on to say that the local business
pupils from St Pius' and the members do into that event."
had also been a great source of help to her and had
I am not sure who, whether it was me or Dorothy, but
supported her well.
someone mentioned holidays in the midst of all this work
"We are off to Africa on the 12th July and back again
and I asked Dorothy if she would get any this year at all
on the 22nd. But we are working every day, it is not a
as she appeared to be very busy.
holiday. We are expected to be on site at 8 am and to
Laughing heartily, she came back at me with, "I am
stay there til evening. As far as 1 know I am going to be
going to Belgium and Holland in a few weeks. I am looking
a labourer," laughed Dorothy.
forward to it."
That is another great personality trait of Dorothy, she
This led on to a conversation
about the Van Gogh
has one of those get up and go attitudes.
and the fact that no trip to the
"The members of the Beacon Centre here did a sponsored museum in Amsterdam
city would be complete without a visit to the museum.
walk for me and 1 really appreciated their efforts,"
Dorothy also told me that after she had finished college
said Dorothy.
she had travelled quite a bit and spent some time in Portugal
Now that we were talking about the members I asked
and other parts of Europe, especially Spain and Italy.
Dorothy to explain what went on in the centre.
"Beacon is for people who have mental issues. Here
At the mention of Italy, we just had to talk about Rome
we run courses and projects for them. We have received
and the beauty of the city.
good funding from the Lottery and the Northern Trust,
"You know," said Dorothy, "Edinburgh
is a lovely
who are our principle funders. The Council gave us a
place as well," and we went on to talk about Princes
This cutting is reproduced by NIMMS under licencee from NLA No further copying (including the printing of digital cuttings), digital reproduction or forwarding is permitted except under licensefrom NLA. www.nla.co.uk (for newspapers)
Source:
Dungannon Observer
Date:
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Circulation:
Size:
Friday 11. July 2014
7 Section2
15441
780
(NIAMH-545)
Page 3 of 3
Ref: NIAMH 1109241
Street and the Royal Mile.
"Did you ever hear
hthe the piper
p
who stands at the top of
the Royal Mile and plays the pipes? He is a busker and
has to get a permit from the Council to play; they allot
him a slot and he is only allowed to play at a certain time.
Slots are very sought after," I told Dorothy, sharing the
one piece of knowledge that I have about Edinburgh.
"It is beautiful but there is a lot of poverty in Edinburgh
as well; there is real poverty and a lot of it is linked
to the high drug use," said Dorothy.
"Actually while I was at college there, I worked on
an 'advocacy project' that was run by the university. It
was part of a Links project and we did advocacy work on
behalf of people who were recommended to us by various
groups. I think it was probably in Edinburgh that I realized
that I wanted to work with people, helping them in
any way I could," said Dorothy.
"How do you relax," I asked, "Do you have any
hobbies?"
At the mention of hobbies I think Dorothy laughed
harder than any person I have ever interviewed before.
"I love restoration, restoring old things, and any DIY
work I can find. I have totally restored the house that I
bought and did it up the way that I wanted it. It has taken
me a long time and I have had a lot to learn but it has
been worth it."
"My work is pretty intense so I like to relax through
activity and I find that restoration gives me quite a lot to
do. I also sing and play the bodhran. 1 was in a play once
with the Moortown Players. The play was 'Farmer Joe'
by Brian McMahon. It was great fun."
"And finally, to relax I do a bit of meditation
and
yoga," said Dorothy, "but I can tell you that without the
team that I have around me here I would have time for
nothing. I have a great team of people behind me, Donna
Arrell, Helen Kirkpatrick,
Beth Service, Julie Wilson,
Yvonne Wilson, Sharon Sibley and Jamie Neil to name
a few."
"With arts and crafts, which we take to the Hub and
sell, and cooking classes and all the rest, we are very
busy here and in Magherafelt.
On Wednesday we have
a 'young people's group' when we have young people
come in and help. Again, this is a good way of allowing
young people to extend themselves and help others," said
Dorothy.
There is a lot more I would want to write about Dorothy
and the Beacon Centre in Cookstown but we have run
out of space. Eventually we all went out to the garden to
take the photo and just as we were out there the members
were having a tea break. We invited everyone to get into
the photo and they duly obliged.
I was not surprised to find a happy group of people.
I felt welcomed in the centre by Dorothy and her team.
Like all people committed to their work, their enthusiasm
is infectious and pervasive. Leaving the centre I could
not help but think about the amount of good work that
goes on in the community and how people like Dorothy
and her team are working quietly in the background with
little fuss and getting what needs done, done with kindness
and a smile.
We are lucky in that we have such people in our midst!
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