Bringingpeopletogether
THE Wicklow Sports & Recreation Partnership was involved in a huge range of activities across the county last year ranging from education & training, disability inclusion and the Arklow junior duck pond park run to women in sport, mental health intervention to community events.
The partnership was established in 2008, made up of representatives from a variety of groups involved in sport, physical activity, outdoor recreation and community development.
They provide information, training and implementation around sport and physical activity.
Denise O’Shea, Community Sports Development Officer, Wicklow Sport & Recreation Partnership, said they have had many successful programmes in 2019.
‘One that stands out is the Power for Parkinson’s,’ she said. ‘Power for Parkinson’s is an exercise programme that incorporates both physical and cognitive activity for people living with Parkinson’s. The programme was set up in two separate towns in County Wicklow, Arklow and Wicklow Town. The aim of the programme is that participants will learn the exercises and develop the skill to perform them at home.’
The initiatives delivered by the partnership didn’t end there.
They ran 32 safeguarding courses over the year with 414 participants.
Inclusive projects included autism in sport courses, inclusive leisure centre training, learn to cycle training for tutors and much more.
Around 128 people each week attend the Arklow junior duck pond park run, a new addition for 2019. There are other extremely popular park runs in Avondale, Bray and Russborough.
A number of initiatives have been rolled out with a specific target on older adults, namely, Power for Parkinsons, Activator poles workshop, Aquafit 55+ and numerous exercise classes focused on COPD groups.
Also for older adults was Go for Life in Laragh and an eight-week PALs course.
In August 2019 the Sports & Recreation partnership hired a Sports Inclusion Disability officer, funded through Sport Ireland.
Initiatives for women in sport included buggyfit, women only boxercise, learn to swim for Tavellers, Moms on the Move, and an International Women’s Day boxercise blitz.
Wicklow Sports and Recreation Partnership delivered two programmes in the direct provision centre in Wicklow town in 2019, including a six-week ‘Walk and Talk’ programme. Over 10 people took part in the walking programme and now have formed a small running group out of it.
The summer swim programme was aimed at children aged four to twelve living in the direct provision centre in Wicklow Town. The swim programme was five days a week for one week in August taking place in Coral Leisure Wicklow Town. Each child got a Swim Ireland bag, goggles and hat.
For mental health intervention, a 10 week reintroduction to physical activity was rolled out in Shoreline Greystones in conjunction with the occupational therapist in Newcastle hospital.
Community events included Operation Transformation walks in Bray, Blessington and Baltinglass, as well as the Colour Run in conjunction with Wicklow Hospice.
Wicklow Sports & Wicklow Partnership hosted one of five flagship events in Ireland for the European week of sport on Bray Seafront on September 28.
Night time events took place all over Europe at the same time to mark the culmination of a host of activities to celebrate the European week of Sport. The #BEACTIVE Night culminated in a 3km neon family run along Bray seafront with over 250 participants braving the elements on the night. Participants received neon t-shirts and neon face painting before the start of the run where they ran through the blackout tunnel to get the full effect of their bright colours. Other events on the night included a series of Rows at Dusk, Yoga drop in sessions before the race and a POUND fitness class on the Bandstand.
The One Million Step Challenge was completed in over 20 schools with 1500 children taking part.
Young people also took part in basketball blitzes in Shoreline Greystones and Scoil Chonglais, Baltinglass.
Three blitz days were held with Tug of War Ireland in 2019. The venues were; Russborough House, Blessington with over 300 children taking part, Shoreline leisure Greystones with over 120 children participating and St. Kevin’s Community College in Dunlavin with more than 140 children taking part.
Wicklow Sports & Recreation Partnership received funding from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport for Bike Week. Applications were invited to apply for grants to those hosting a bike event. 19 schools participated and benefited from Bike Week funding which promoted cycle safety, skills and maintenance along with 7 community events were also supported by Wicklow SRP these included:
Over 70 people took part in this mountain bike event to launch a new MTB club in Wicklow. Participants ranged in ages from 7 to 71 with leaders taking the bikers out on the trails of varying skills and levels.
A free community mountain biking taster session held on Thursday 27th June in Ballinastoe Mountain Bike Trails, Co. Wicklow. This event was fully booked with 20 participants in each session.
Dunlavin & District Forum participated in Bike Week 2019 for the first time with both younger and older members getting involved throughout the week. There was a poster competition for the younger children and a photography competition for the older children with prizes for both competitions. Wicklow Sports & Recreation Partnership ran a Balance Bike
Workshop and the obstacle course was the big attraction on the day of the event. Reservoir Cogs cycling club also joined and gave a very informative talk on the benefits of cycling for all ages
Two fully booked evenings of free workshops were held in Wicklow Town during bike week. These were aimed at helping cyclists learn how to manage and fix small repairs on the bikes such as puncture repairs, how to change tubes, take wheels on and off quickly as well as tips on how to keep a bike running smoothly.
The partnership designed a learn to cycle programme for the members of Triple A Wicklow as part of their second Family Fun Day. Triple A Alliance was founded in 2002 and supports families, provides information, training and appropriate activities for children and adults living with Autism, Asperger Syndrome and A.D.H.D. Over 80 members participated in the cycle track laid out on the grass with a range of bikes used including balance bikes, bikes with stabilizers and pedal bikes.
The Wicklow Sports & Recreation Partnership is looking forward to organising even more for the people of all ages in the county over the coming year.