'It's heart-lifting to come in here on a Thursday night - they lift you and they send you home happy'
A Co Down club which supports people with special needs, is celebrating 50 years of work at the heart of the community.
Paddy said he eventually became part of Gateway over 40 years ago after an unconventional recruitment pitch. "Since then it was used as a scouts hall, it was used as a dance club, a badminton club but we as a committee managed to get a long lease from the then Bishop of Dromore, Dr Brooks. "Now they have the respect of the community and they're well received and that's what Gateway has done for special people in Newry, that's the legacy."
"From making tea at a meeting in November 1973 to 50 years later, being a youth leader, a chairman, a trustee and acting treasurer, it's hard to believe!". "I had no affinity or knowledge with learning disability in any shape for form barring Joe McDonald in Drumalane Park," Paddy said. Paddy has also spent the last few decades volunteering and working with the Special Olympics, something he said that being involved with Gateway introduced him to.There have been many families that have benefitted down through the years from the Gateway Club staffs dedication and compassion.
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