About Us
Who We Are
CanDo Enterprises is a social enterprise group founded and run by young people with vision impairments or blindness and other disabilities.
Together with our social care staff, we created CanDo Enterprises to proactively address a large gap in Irelands current employment system. People with multiple disabilities and visual impairments (MDVI) experience extreme inequality and are distanced from opportunities, particularly in education and employment. The employment rate of for people with MDVI hovers around 12.5% - we believe that this figure does not reflect the capabilities and interests of people like us.
That's why our team has developed our social enterprises: to train and empower young people with MDVI to become the most independent and socially engaged versions of themselves possible.
What We Do
We provide specialist training and work experience in a number of different areas such as:
- Confidential Shredding
- Weaving
- Soap & Skincare
- Horticulture
Our team supports each individual to learn comprehensive skills that are required for entry to the world of work. We aim to increase self-belief and encourage a sense of pride and ownership, while bringing about financial independence.
CanDo Enterprises is about shining a light on people's abilities. We believe that our participants should be supported to have meaningful, enriched and deep lives - just like everyone else.
Maker
Gill
Gill is our longest-working and most experienced enterprise worker. Gill started our "Towards Independence" programme in 1998, and after a few years dabbling in other services she made a comeback and has been working in our garden centre and charity shop for the past eleven years. Gill has been an absolute pleasure to incorporate in our new enterprise structure and is always enthusiastic to help out and chat with anyone she meets.
MAker
Sam
Sam was our very first CSP funded employee, starting with us this past April. Sam is someone who has an amazing amount of community experience - he has had work placements and volunteering stints in libraries, stationary shops, supermarkets, charity shops...the list goes on. He's the perfect example of someone who had all the skills for paid employment, he just needed the opportunity! We can't wait to see where this journey takes him.
Maker
Orlaith
Orlaith is a graduate of one of our later independence training courses, then called "Vocational Training". Graduating in 2016, Orlaith went on to further education before applying for her job here in the enterprises. Orlaith is extremely passionate about her woven goods ("I put my heart and soul into this!") and loves a good adventure audiobook while she is working.
Maker
Louis
The newest member of our team! Louis graduated from our "Vocational Training" programme in 2014 before going on to further education. In 2022 Louis completed a work placement with us in Business Administration and he's a self-professed Excel whiz. While Louis is learning the ropes in crafting products for our enterprise, we hope to put his IT skills to good use in the coming months.
Enterprise lead: horticulture and shredding
Peter
Our longest standing enterprise staff member, Peter started working in ChildVision more than 10 years ago. Originally trained as a Horticulturalist (with stints in the Botanic Gardens and Phoenix Park), Peter leads our horticulture programme and shredding enterprise. He's the man behind the hollyhock seed bombs and he's appropriately a member of the Green Team.
Enterprise lead: Candles
Anna
A passionate and deeply caring member of our team, Anna originally joined ChildVision as a childcare worker in the Early Years programme. After joining our adult service, Anna took a strong interest in our enterprises and trained up in soy wax candle making. Her incredible work ethic and enthusiastic energy are a hit with all the students (and soon, staff) who work with her.
Enterprise lead: soap and natural cosmetics
Jason
A gentleman with a background in steel fabrication, Jay started working as a support worker in our adult day service a few years back. It didn't take long for his talents to shine through - Jay proposed the idea of handmaking soaps as a meaningful activity for our students and the rest is history. He loves experimenting with new products and he always puts time and thought into adapting tasks to suit the people doing them.
Enterprise Manager
Sophie
Passionate about all things people, Sophie believes that the world would be boring if everyone were the same. She first came across vision impairment while doing a Masters in Cognitive Neuroscience of Language, and now she's more interested in people than brains. She's intrigued by how humans treat each other and loves the idea that we can create ethical, fair and wholesome pockets of society if we want to.
Department Manager and enterprise founder
Amanda
A strong and spirited leader, Amanda is a passionate advocate for people with vision impairments and other disabilities. Her leadership has seen the adult day services directly improve the quality of many lives, and it was her vision for us to be able to employ the wonderful people who pass through our doors. Amanda works extremely hard every day to better the lives of others, and the positive experiences of our employees are testament to her unwavering commitment.