Our Partnership with Down Syndrome Ireland: Elina’s Paid Work Experience
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Down Syndrome Ireland is a charity organisation who provides support and services to people with Down syndrome and their families through a national office and 25 branches nationwide. With specialists in the areas of health, speech and language, early development, education and adult education, they enhance the lives of thousands of children and adults with Down syndrome across Ireland.
Through their Ability Program, Down Syndrome Ireland breaks down barriers and provides people with Down syndrome access to meaningful employment opportunities.
Rapport has proudly partnered with Down Syndrome Ireland to support in their effort to make those significant positive changes and to provide work experience and opportunities to build meaningful careers within the hospitality and guest services industry.
Our intern – Elina
We would like to introduce you to Elina who is completing her work experience in Ireland. She joined one of our client sites at Rapport for 10 weeks paid work experience, that was later extended to an additional 10 weeks due to her progress!
Elina trained in the Turas Training Centre in Dublin, and she has gain work experience so far at St. Vincent’s Hospital and in a primary school. She is a member of many clubs including Archery and Glee, and has won several hockey tournaments in Amsterdam, Barcelona and Bruxelles.
“Elina joined us on 11th of May 2023 and she is an amazing addition to our team. Through her bubbly personality and willingness to learn, she made our Thursdays and Fridays so much better. She loves music and so, with every task that we have, we also get a small concert or a music related quiz from Elina. She is extremely smart and a fast learner. Her enthusiasm is catching. We also had a few challenges, but mostly logistics as this was new for all of us. We have overcome them all through our team’s ability to adapt and evolve.
Our clients love Elina, and every single person stops for a chat with her. She is so happy to be around people and to tell them about her day. Having Elina has made us a better team, it made us better as individuals as we learned to appreciate our small wins much more than before. Watching Elina’s face when she manages to achieve a small task fills my heart with gratitude for being part of this. I am impressed with her determination to complete her tasks and with her ability to spread her happiness around.”
Ioana Pastravanu – Reception Supervisor
Creating an Inclusive Workplace is important to us.
Down Syndrome Ireland has provided our team with all the information and training necessary in preparation for Elina’s arrival.
“I was a bit nervous at the beginning as I did not know too much about Down syndrome. I wanted Elina to feel comfortable at work and I was ready to learn everything about it. Joanne from Down Syndrome Ireland has provided us with a lot of information, and she answered all of our questions. I really think that education is an important part of creating an inclusive environment in the workplace. It really helped us.”
Apple Wojcicki – Corporate Receptionist
“Since Elina entered our reception on her first day and until now, I can see a huge difference. She became very independent, considering that she has been escorted to work and supervised by her key worker in the first few days. Now she takes the bus by herself to come to work, has fully independence around the building and no longer needs assistance with her task. She is the definition of “practice makes perfect”. I strongly feel that being part of our team has helped Elina a lot and I love to watch her grow more and more every day.”
Ioana Pastravanu – Reception Supervisor
Priscilla Richardson – Client Services Manager
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