This year the Leinster Academy will adopt the Lakers as their official community partner as part of the Community module…
Lakers Social & Recreational Club is a community-based sports, social and recreation club for children and adults with a primary diagnosis of an Intellectual Disability. The club provides a wide range of sporting and educational services to members across Leinster from its centre in Bray, Co. Wicklow.
The primary objective of Lakers is to provide opportunities to people with an intellectual disability to develop their skills, co-ordination and ultimately their self-esteem through the medium of their participation in sporting and social activities according to their abilities.
A secondary but very important objective is to provide a strong, supportive network for parents, families and friends of people with a disability as a vital resource in facing the challenges they inevitably face.
In Lakers we seek to address the feeling of exclusion frequently experienced by our members. As a family-led organisation which evolved from its surrounding community, we believe that our ethos and approach is uniquely effective. We believe being part of our club is extremely beneficial to our members as they feel safe, happy and part of the community.
They currently offer over 30 activities including tag rugby, basketball, drama, art and pottery to our members. Their members come from a large catchment area on the Irish East Coast including many from Dublin city.
The Lakers’ premises in Bray is an old warehouse which was scheduled for demolition a number of years ago but it provides a vital centre for their activities. They have an urgent need to find a new home which will enable the Lakers to provide improved facilities, work with more members, provide more classes and add new therapies to their portfolio.
Visit www.braylakers.ie for further information.
