Contract Type
Full/Part Time. Contracted until April 2029.
Closing Date
Monday, 13 July 2026 at 5pm. Shortlisting will apply.
Taking up Appointment
A start date will be indicated at job offer stage.
Application Process
Submit a Cover Letter and CV to Children's Activity Services, No Barriers Foundation.
Email: [email protected]
About No Barriers
Established in 2016, the No Barriers Foundation has grown to be a leading force in driving impactful change. We are committed to creating sustainable health solutions, uplifting and uniting communities to creation inclusion and social change. If you are driven by a desire to make a difference and you thrive in an innovative environment where passion meets purpose, this newly created role presents a unique opportunity for the right candidate.
Reporting Relationship
Reporting to the Children’s Activity Management team.
Role Overview
The Children’s Activity Coordinator is responsible for the coordination, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of the No Barriers Foundation Children’s camps, activities and programmes delivered by The No Barriers Foundation across various Children Disability Network Teams (CDNT) areas in Donegal.
Location of Post
The role supports services across the four CDNT geographical areas: CDNT Letterkenny/North Donegal, CDNT Inishowen, CDNT West and South West Donegal, and CDNT East. Travel throughout the CDNT areas is an integral part of the role.
Working Hours
Full-time/Part-time posts. Hours are structured to reflect the operational needs of the role. The postholder is expected to maintain availability during school hours/school holiday periods, after-school hours, evenings and weekends, as these are the primary delivery windows for No Barriers Foundation programmes/camps.
Reporting Relationship
The Children’s Activity Coordinator reports directly to the Children's Activity Management team at No Barriers Foundation.
Key Working Relationships
- Children's Activities Management team.
- Families of children on CDNT caseloads in the area.
- Local community organisations, sports clubs, arts groups, drama, nature and water therapy, animal therapy and leisure providers including sole traders.
- No Barriers Foundation Activity Coaches.
- No Barriers Foundation administrative and management team.
Role Overview
The Children’s Activity Coordinator is a newly created, geographically embedded post within the No Barriers Foundation Children's Activity Service. The postholder acts as the primary link between the No Barriers Foundation, local activity providers, and the families and children supported by the CDNT within their designated area. The role focuses on three interconnected functions: building a sustainable network of inclusive activity providers within the local community; setting up and contributing to the delivery of inclusive activities for children with complex disabilities and working directly with CDNT families to gather information on attendance, participation and access to inclusive activity needs.
Children and families are largely available outside of school hours, the working pattern for this post is structured around afternoons, after school sessions and weekends. This is the core rhythm of the role, and candidates must be available and willing to work these hours as a standard part of their contracted week.
The Children’s Activity Coordinator works under the direction of the Children’s Activity Management team and does not hold line management responsibility.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities
1. Community Provider Relationship Building
- Identify, approach and develop working relationships with local community organisations, sports clubs, arts groups, leisure providers and sole traders within the designated CDNT area who can deliver or host inclusive activities for children with complex disabilities.
- Support providers to understand the access, communication and support the needs of children referred through the CDNT, and facilitate practical adjustments to enable genuine, safe inclusion.
- Develop and maintain an up to date local provider directory within the CDNT area, including activity type, accessibility, location, cost and suitability for children with complex disability profiles.
- Ensure all providers are approved in line with No Barriers Foundation standards and relevant safeguarding requirements, liaising with the Children’s Service Management team prior to any formal engagement.
- Act as an ongoing, consistent point of contact for local providers, supporting the sustainability of inclusive provision within the community.
2. Activity Set up and Inclusive Delivery
- Coordinate the practical set up of inclusive activity sessions within the CDNT area, including confirming and booking venue locations, organising the relevant programme or camp equipment required for each session, coordinating activity coach staffing and ratios, communication with CDNT social care worker and activity providers. Contacting families in advance of each session if additional information is required relating to the child’s need within the activity.
- Facilitate and co-deliver inclusive activity sessions for children with complex disabilities, adapting delivery activities to meet physical, emotional, sensory, communication, mobility and additional support needs as required.
- Set up and deliver No Barriers programmes/camps in collaboration with identified staff, for Sibling workshops and Parent support group sessions.
- Plan sessions using neurodiversity-affirming, strengths-based and child-led principles, ensuring that regulation, safety and meaningful participation are prioritised during all activities.
- Work alongside No Barriers Foundation Activity Coaches to ensure appropriate staffing, supervision and participant support at all sessions.
- Conduct pre-activity risk assessments and ensure all safety, safeguarding and consent procedures are confirmed in advance of each session.
- Implement inclusive adaptations and reasonable adjustments to activities as required, in consultation with the information provided by families.
3. CDNT Engagement and Information Gathering
- Build and maintain an active working relationship with families and identified staff within the designated geographical area.
- Promote No Barriers Foundation camps and programmes with relevant staff who work with CDNT caseloads.
- Where appropriate, work directly with CDNT families to gather and record information on which children are attending activities, frequency of participation, any barriers to engagement and individual access requirements.
- Support families to understand available activity opportunities and assist with referrals and registrations to No Barriers Foundation camps and programmes.
- Act as a responsive, approachable and informed point of contact for families within the CDNT area in relation to the Children's Activity Service.
- Recognise and respond sensitively to the complex needs and pressures experienced by families of children with complex disabilities, maintaining a supportive and nonjudgmental approach at all times.
- Maintain confidentiality at all times.
4. Data Collection, Recording and Reporting
- Maintain accurate and up to date attendance and participation records for all activity sessions within the CDNT area, using agreed data management systems and procedures.
- Systematically collect participation data from CDNT families, including children attending, frequency and type of activity accessed, barriers to participation and family feedback.
- Contribute to service monitoring, evaluation and reporting processes, providing data and case examples to the Children's Activity Management team as required.
- Identify gaps in local provision, emerging family needs and opportunities for new activity development within the CDNT area and bring these to the attention of the Children’s Activity Management team.
5. Administration and Organisational Responsibilities
- Maintain records to a high standard, including provider information, risk assessments, session plans, consent forms, incident reports and safeguarding documentation, in line with organisational policy and data protection legislation.
- Manage any activity related expenditure within the CDNT area within agreed budget parameters and ensure appropriate documentation is in place.
- Attend team meetings, supervision and performance review processes as required by the Children's Activity Management team.
- Adhere to all No Barriers Foundation policies and procedures, including Safeguarding and Child Protection, Health and Safety, Data Protection, and the organisational Code of Conduct.
- Support the Children's Activity Management team in the ongoing development and improvement of the Children's Activity Service.
6. Health, Safety and Safeguarding
- Maintain current knowledge of and comply with all relevant child Safeguarding legislation, Tusla guidance and the No Barriers Foundation Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy.
- Complete and regularly review risk assessments for all activity settings and sessions within the CDNT area.
- Report and escalate any safeguarding concerns, incidents or near misses without delay and in line with No Barriers Foundation procedures.
- Promote safe, trauma-informed and regulation-supportive environments for all children attending activities.
7. Any Other Duties
- Undertake any other duties reasonably requested by the Children’s Activity Management team, with the grade and purpose of this post.
Person Specification
Essential Qualifications
- Alternatively, a Level 5 or Level 6 qualification in Health and Social Care, Disability Studies or a related field, combined with a minimum of three years' relevant work experience across disability, children's services and/or activity delivery.
- Garda Vetting clearance prior to commencement. Appointment is subject to satisfactory vetting.
- Full, clean driving licence and use of own transport. Travel across the designated CDNT geographical area is a core requirement of this post.
Desirable Qualifications
- Level 7 or Level 8 degree (NFQ) in a relevant discipline, to include: Social Care, Nursing, Allied Health Professions (Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Psychology), Teaching, Early Childhood Education, Youth Work, Community Development, Disability Studies, Sport and Recreation, or a closely related field.
Essential Experience
- Demonstrable experience of working directly with children or young people with disabilities, including those with physical, intellectual, sensory, medical and/or communication support needs.
- Experience in planning, setting up and/or delivering activities or programmes for children/families in a disability, community, sport, education or therapeutic setting.
- Experience of building and sustaining collaborative working relationships with a range of stakeholders, including families, community organisations and/or multidisciplinary teams.
- Experience of maintaining professional records and contributing to reporting, documentation or administration processes.
- Availability and willingness to work regularly during after school hours and on weekends, as this is the primary working pattern for this post.
Essential Skills, Knowledge and Competencies
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage effectively with children with complex disabilities, their families, CDNT identified staff and community providers across a range of settings.
- Working knowledge of the needs of children with complex disabilities, including an awareness/ understanding of sensory processing, emotional regulation, communication differences and meaningful activity participation.
- Ability to plan and adapt activity delivery to meet individual access, participation and support needs in an inclusive community setting.
- Collaborative working approach, with the ability to develop and sustain productive partnerships with local organisations and sole traders.
- Strong organisational and self-management skills, with the capacity to manage a varied workload across multiple community settings.
- Commitment to inclusive, child-led, strengths-based and neurodiversity-affirming practice.
- Proficiency in standard computer applications for record keeping, communication and reporting.
Desirable Experience and Knowledge, but not essential
- Experience of community outreach, community development or local provider network building.
- Experience of collecting and managing service data or contributing to outcome measurement processes.
- Knowledge of local community infrastructure, leisure, sport and arts provision within the relevant geographical area.
- Experience of supporting children or young people with rare conditions, complex medical presentations or high support needs.
Personal Qualities
- Empathetic, warm and child centred in all interactions with children and families.
- Flexible and genuinely available to work across the week including afternoons, after school hours and weekends as the core rhythm of this role.
- Creative, resourceful and solutions focused.
- Team player.
- Self-motivated and capable of working independently across a large geographical area.
- Reliable, consistent and professional in all working relationships.
- Committed to ongoing professional learning and development, reflective practice and the values of the No Barriers Foundation.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: €43,000.00-€51,344.00 per year
Benefits:
- Employee assistance program
- Gym membership
Work Location: In person
