Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Accomplishments
References
Work Availability
Timeline
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Mark McCollum

Mark McCollum

Raphoe

Summary

A Psychology graduate (first class) with extensive experience in the fields of further disability, training, project management, mental health, autism, community education, and transformative social change with vulnerable and at-risk groups.

Group and one-to-one support, Disability equality training, Communication strategies with Autism and neurodivergent, Trainer of Special Educational Needs workers, advocacy, disabled adults, an inclusive ethos, group facilitation, Pro-Zoom, social media, creative engagement, Person Centred Training, project evaluation and administration seeking the a new position.

STRENGTHS

Extensive experience in training deliver on a broad range of subject areas including disability equality training, the social model of disability, applied psychology, research methods, communication strategies for autism, and Reminiscence Theatre in dementia care.

Worked as national director of the Blue Drum–the Arts Specialist Support Agency guiding national arts and community development policies.

Familiar with the Meitheal model of family support

Proficient with Salesforce CRM software

Skilled at networking and supporting groups of older people – Co-ordinator of the Voice of Older People, Donegal.

Broad knowledge of the recovery and social models, facilitating workshops in mental health in community settings. Comprehensive knowledge of research methods in terms of the application of quantitative, qualitative methods, and participatory research in community settings. Adept at supporting the development of creative personal development plans.

Experience with European networks having worked on a Reminiscence Theatre Program Erasmus+ Programme – ‘The European Dementia Network’ with 16 partners throughout the European Union.

Extensive experience in art education; Community Development & Art based group practice, University of Montana, Drama and Performing Communities, University of Ulster. Broad knowledge of the application of innovative creative programs as the method for conflict resolution development and how to connect the educational business markets.

Write complete and detailed research reports Diplomacy and high levels of empathy in dealing with people at all levels. Very practical and highly self-motivated.

Overview

27
27
years of professional experience

Work History

Trainer and tutor

08.2022 - Current
  • With Innovating Communities; here I delivering the Innovating Communities program in Schools and community groups across
  • Donegal
  • The program is based on the principles of Design Thinking; I support challengers through the design thinking process to find a creative solution for an issue they identify
  • Empathy and creative collaborations are key elements of the program.

Community Navigator

Movement
06.2020 - Current
  • Ireland
  • (ILMI) In this role, I deliver training in the areas of basic IT skills, Social Inclusion and the social model of disability, and the Power Threat Meaning Framework for Mental
  • Health to disabled adults in the border region
  • The training is being delivered virtually on the Zoom platform
  • The work is based on the principles of Community Development.

Training Development Officer

01.2023 - 01.2023
  • Since leaving secondary education in 1984 I have held several positions in the retail, manufacturing, and construction markets
  • I also managed my company in the forestry sector
  • With the Blue stack Foundation here Iwas generating content for innovative participatory training programs in Disability Equality for
  • Businesses, community groups, sports organisation and schools as part of the social enterprise program run by the Bluestacks Foundation

Autism Support Officer

Autism NI
01.2020 - 06.2020
  • In this role, I delivered autism awareness programs and creative training programs in visual communication strategies to families, in receipt of a recent diagnosis of autism throughout Northern
  • Ireland
  • I delivered the training and subsequent home visits as part of an early intervention team, informing, supporting, and signposting people to bespoke the services they require
  • I organised all aspects of my work independently, but operated and maintained all records as part of the overall early intervention team

Trainer & Tutor of Special Needs Assisting

01.2019 - 01.2020
  • With Forus Training
  • I delivered accessible training in Special Needs Assisting in Letterkenny and Ballybofey
  • Covering all aspects of the requirements for the position, including Inclusivity in the classroom, the emergent curriculum implementation, communication, managing challenging behaviour, all aspects of safeguarding and the New Directions Guidelines and the
  • Rogerian Person Centred Approach to inclusion in practice; delivering the classes and marking assignments to a QQI level 6 standard.

Life Skills Tutor & Educator

10.2018 - 01.2019
  • With New Horizons Partnership Donegal;
  • Here I tutored and taught young people and adults with cognitive impairment and autism
  • I supported their development in terms of literacy and numeracy as well accredited programs in child care and other areas of personal development and; Train the Trainer’
  • The work was based on the principles of Rodgers, in that, a person-centered approach is applied at all times, and I tailor the programs to the specific need and goals of each individual.

Director & Producer

01.2014 - 01.2017
  • Bread & Roses Theatre Company - In partnership with my colleague Kathleen McCreery, we established Bread & Roses Theatre Company in 2014
  • We have staged a full production of Dario Fo’s Can’t Pay!! Won’t Pay?
  • As part of the International Earagail Arts Festival, we also toured the production throughout the region with tremendous success
  • We also ran a series of Brecht Workshops and we applied a community development approach in developing our work connecting and involving key stakeholders and allowing their voices to be heard on the Mental Health
  • Project–Waving Not Drowning – The Mental Health Roadshow which is an innovative theatre and writing initiative exploring mental health and well-being
  • We collaborated with 10 writers and actors to weave together a montage of words, movement, and music that resonated with audiences in Donegal and further afield
  • We are passionate about raising awareness and the need for better services for individuals with mental health problems
  • Our goal was the creation of an entertaining and provocative production that will question the status quo, highlight issues, and challenge the stigma that stops people from getting help
  • I committed to staging passionate plays which provoke thought and challenge injustice while providing popular entertainment

Evaluator

01.2013 - 01.2015
  • Of the SEED Project in Sligo The SEED project was an innovative and creative project designed to assist participants back into training, education, and employment in the County Sligo area
  • The course catered for those in receipt of a disability or illness payment between the ages of 18 and 65 living in County
  • Sligo and endeavored to assist their return to employment, through a range of supports to develop their skill sets, self-esteem, and personal progression plans
  • A significant proportion of the participants were people recovering from mental health difficulties
  • I wrote the overall evaluation reports and monitored that the project adhered to the stated aims and objectives.

Co-ordinator

01.2009 - 01.2013
  • The Voice of Older People, Donegal - Based in the Volt
  • House Resource Centre, Raphoe, I maintained the network of groups of local representatives throughout the County, highlighting and advocating on the main issues affecting older people in Donegal
  • Networking and engaging with older people throughout Donegal based on the principle of community development; in that people best placed to determine and prioritise their needs are the people themselves; an alternative view to the traditional 'charity model' where things were 'done for' people' we promoted an empowerment model where the capacity of the individuals and the community was developed to empower people to take part fully and engage in the decision-making process on issues that affected them
  • I was involved with promoting this approach and supporting and maintaining the county-wide network structure, which involved convening regional meetings and teasing out the salient issues and feeding them into the county representative committee; and from there, ensuring the relevant stakeholders addressed them
  • As an organisation, we were also part of the European Reminiscence Theatre Network and had been working with Pam Schweitzer MBE on developing innovative programs for supporting families with people with dementia and Alzheimer's, which culminated in a presentation at dOCUMENTA 13 in 2012 and 2015
  • Another key role was for advocating on behalf of vulnerable older people in terms of the issues about them; I did this through individual interventions and supports, and also through the use of the media
  • I had a regular 'voice' on Highland Radio
  • And I also wrote a regular page on issues pertaining to older people, which was published in the
  • Donegal Democrat
  • I also researched, documented, and reported issues and liaised with groups at a local level, feeding this through to local and national policymakers
  • Issues such as social isolation and health care were at the fore
  • I established a working relationship with the staff at the faculty of gerontology and
  • Occupational Therapy at Western Michigan University (WMU)
  • I have hosted students and staff as part of an international studies program, where students from WMU came to
  • Ireland to learn about our elder health care system
  • This is a highly innovative program where there is considerable learning for all involved
  • I have supported the development of a range of story-sharing programs with older people throughout the region on both sides of the sectarian divide; which have developed from workshops into touring performance pieces
  • I have collaborated with the Regional Cultural Centre, in Letterkenny, on devising and developing a Visual Arts –Skills Sharing Training Programme for staff working in Day
  • Centres throughout the region
  • I taught and supported final year students at the University of Ulster to complete their
  • Performing Communities Module, in this capacity, I delivered lectures in a range of
  • Participatory arts methodologies that could be applied and facilitated establishing a connection between the theoretical framework to the real-world issues and planned conversations that enhanced their performance work

Co-ordinator

National, Blue Drum
01.2005 - 01.2008
  • The Arts Specialist Support Agency
  • In this role was I responsible for managing a specialist support organisation funded by the
  • Irish Child and Family Agency - www.tusla.ie for the promotion of best practices in
  • Community Arts within the Family Resource Centre and Community Development Project and family support in Ireland
  • The project evolved from the work of the Combat Poverty
  • Agency in the mid-1990s, which saw the value in utilising inclusive person-centered, creative, and artistic methods as 'tools' for Community Development; it was an ‘instrumental’ use of Arts practices as opposed to simply ‘aesthetic’ practice
  • The arts were used to encourage participation, develop self and community esteem and provide a cultural identity for communities who were socially excluded
  • My role was to promote and develop this practice with the Family Resource Centres (FRCs) and Community
  • Development Projects (CDPs) and also advocating for sustainable artwork in poorer areas and with socially excluded 'at risk' families and communities whose development of their forms of expression and culture is a sign and hope of resilience
  • I advised support and documented the work of over 300 community development projects and FRCs throughout Ireland
  • Addressing social exclusion in Irish society and promoting social inclusion is a central tenant of the Agency, and endeavoring to attain these goals in innovative and creative ways
  • We established the Agency as a response to the growing involvement of the community development and anti-poverty sector in utilising arts-based methodologies and to address issues faced by families and communities
  • We worked from the principle that participation in the arts and creative activity is fundamental to the well-being, mental health, and development of individuals, groups, communities, and the wider society
  • This ethos underpins all my work
  • I presented and facilitated working sessions on the use of reminiscence theatre in Dementia at dOCUMENTA 13 in Kassel, Germany
  • I also presented workshops in Forum Theatre at the international ‘Rustbelt to Artsbelt
  • Conference convened by the City Arts Commission of St
  • Louis.

Co-ordinator

Balor Developmental Community Arts Group Ltd
01.1999 - 01.2005
  • With the board of management and other group and key stakeholders, I created a participatory art project based on the principles of community development and research by the
  • Combat Poverty Agency, which has led the way in Developmental Community Arts
  • Practice (The use of 'arts' for Community Development aims and proposes) and theatre in education within the region and beyond
  • I worked with a range of sectoral groups, including people with disabilities, older people, youth groups, Irish Travellers, cross-community and cross-border, mental health, and disability groups
  • In partnership with the groups, I developed implemented, and evaluated a series of Peace funded projects throughout the region and also coordinated training programs on the application of Forum Theatre, group facilitation, developmental community arts, and child protection working within an interagency way in partnership and collaboration
  • The model we advocated was the application of the principles of community development and enabling people to engage with the creative process that best served them, a bottom-up approach as opposed to the top-down model
  • I was also responsible for developing highly successful theatre-in-education programs that have been delivered in secondary schools and the informal education sector throughout the Region
  • I designed and delivered an in-service training program for primary and secondary teachers on the application of drama as a means of engagement with social issues
  • I ensured the sustainability of the project by securing funding to enable the Company's program of activities to develop and grow
  • I was also responsible for ensuring that accounting and reporting procedures met the funders
  • I have developed an extensive network of working contacts within a broad range of agencies and bodies operating in the region

Lecturer

of Ulster
01.1997 - 01.1999
  • Magee College, Derry
  • In this capacity, I lectured in Biopsychology, personality & Intelligence, and psychometrics
  • I developed lecture programs and set and marked coursework and examinations
  • I also introduced students to SPSS, the fundamentals of research methods, the proper construction of questionnaires, and validity and reliability analysis
  • I was engaged as a Part-Time lecturer in participatory Arts & drama at the University of
  • Ulster, Magee College, Derry, Northern Ireland
  • Teaching the Performing Communities
  • Module
  • Whilst employed at the University of Ulster, Magee College, I taught several subjects
  • These have included research methods, Personality & Individual Differences
  • Psychometrics, and occupational health
  • However, the focus of my teaching interests relates to the areas of biopsychology and health psychology, and the related areas of individual differences and social psychology
  • In terms of biopsychology, whilst at the University of Ulster, I researched, developed, and delivered this entire module
  • This included setting and marking assignments and exam papers, as well as developing and delivering all lectures and conducting seminar groups
  • I also set and marked assignments for psychometrics and
  • Occupational Health modules
  • Students and peers consistently rated extremely highly me in appraisals of my work
  • I was the assessor on the Change a Little - Change a Lot program - a community award scheme aimed at getting businesses in the region to adopt a more inclusive approach to disability and creating greater awareness of the concept of inclusivity
  • Got an Honorarium from the University of Montana, Missoula & Butte, USA to present a comprehensive, intensive lecture program on we can apply how participatory arts and theatre in a range of social and community contexts
  • I developed and delivered the Applied Psychology Course, Fetac Level 6, at Rossan
  • College, Letterkenny
  • Guest Lecturer on the BA in Community Work course at the Letterkenny Institute of
  • Technology
  • Delivered lectures on Process-based drama as part of the International summer school run by the Education Department of Trinity College Dublin
  • In 2014, I co-presented a paper on the application of creative approaches to Arts in
  • Health training at the University of Greenwich

Education

Degree -

07.1996

B.Sc. (Hon) Occupational - Psychology

University of Ulster
01.1996

Diploma conferred -

07.1994

Diploma - Combined Social & Behavioural Science

University of Ulster
01.1994

Skills

  • Online Instruction
  • Course Development
  • Lesson Planning
  • Materials Preparation
  • Community advocate
  • Community meetings
  • Community program development
  • Community involvement
  • Community support
  • Community outreach

Accomplishments

  • I have been fortunate to have worked on various projects over the years, and these have all required an increasing degree of financial administration
  • I have worked on several
  • European Peace and Erasmus projects and had to adhere to the most stringent accounting and procurement procedures
  • Projects I have been working on have been subject to successful Category 4 European audits and have had no difficulties
  • Over the years, I have become adept at securing financial resources to undertake planned work
  • 889-892
  • The Depression-Happiness Scale: Test-Retest
  • Data Over Two Weeks
  • C
  • A
  • Lewis & M
  • McCollum
  • Conducted extensive research & compiled a report into Developmental Community
  • Arts in the North West published March 1997, funded by Peace & Reconciliation
  • (Cited) Handbook of Social Work With Groups, 2004, The Guilford Press, contributed to
  • Chapter 19, Participatory Research, Popular Education & Popular Theatre, 333 -341
  • C.D
  • Garvin et al
  • (editors)
  • Conducted research into cerebral dominance and the processing of music, and presented a paper at a University conference based on this work
  • ADMINISTRATION
  • Successfully coordinated and managed 16 European Funded Cross-border projects
  • Managed a team of 5 full-time staff and 10 associate freelance workers, as well as 15 workers on a community Employment Programme
  • Developed and implemented all required policies
  • Developed, implemented, and evaluated many schools based mental health programs
  • Co-ordinated a range of projects on social and community issues within the region
  • Established the Balor Developmental Community Arts Group Ltd
  • As a leading center of Community Arts activity in the Country and beyond
  • MEMBERSHIPS & BOARDS
  • AFBPsS–Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society
  • Certified Trainer in RYCT Dementia Care - Recognised throughout the EU
  • Founder member of the Gartan Outdoor Swimmers
  • Founder member and Director of the Balor Developmental Community Arts Group
  • Elected member of the Donegal County Community Forum
  • Director of the Board of Blue Drum - The Arts Specialist Support Agency
  • Founder member of the Mind Matters Mental Health Steering Group
  • ACHIEVEMENTS
  • Have established a working relationship with the Faculty of Social Work at Western
  • Michigan University, and hosted their international studies program in Ireland
  • Developed and commissioned several highly successful and innovative youth theatre productions dealing with a range of social issues
  • Presented papers on artistic community participation at the Rustbelt to Artist Belt: At the Crossroads Conference at St
  • Louis
  • Developed a series of Creative workshops and videos as part of the Bealtaine Festival of Creativity in Older People
  • Devised and toured community plays addressing issues such as mental health bullying, domestic violence, teenage pregnancy & relationships, carers issues, and adult education
  • Developed a training program for Drama in Education
  • Completed Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
  • International Cardiac Athlete

References

REFERENCES Dr. Peter Kearns Project Co-ordinator ONSIDE Project Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI) Carmichael House North Brunswick Street Dublin Email: peterkearns@ilmi.ie 087 349 7674 Prof. Maureen Mickus, Ph.D., MSG Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy Western Michigan University (WMU) 1903 W. Michigan Ave. Kalamazoo MI 49008 5333 Tel: (269) 275-0494 Email: Maureen.mickus@wmich.edu Mr. John Gallagher Secretary Voice of Older People, Donegal Cloghan Co. Donegal Tel: 086 829 5268 Email: jh.gallagher@yahoo.ie

Work Availability

monday
tuesday
wednesday
thursday
friday
saturday
sunday
morning
afternoon
evening
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Timeline

Training Development Officer

01.2023 - 01.2023

Trainer and tutor

08.2022 - Current

Community Navigator

Movement
06.2020 - Current

Autism Support Officer

Autism NI
01.2020 - 06.2020

Trainer & Tutor of Special Needs Assisting

01.2019 - 01.2020

Life Skills Tutor & Educator

10.2018 - 01.2019

Director & Producer

01.2014 - 01.2017

Evaluator

01.2013 - 01.2015

Co-ordinator

01.2009 - 01.2013

Co-ordinator

National, Blue Drum
01.2005 - 01.2008

Co-ordinator

Balor Developmental Community Arts Group Ltd
01.1999 - 01.2005

Lecturer

of Ulster
01.1997 - 01.1999

Degree -

B.Sc. (Hon) Occupational - Psychology

University of Ulster

Diploma conferred -

Diploma - Combined Social & Behavioural Science

University of Ulster

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Mark McCollum