Boolavogue and Askamore youths make their mark
BOOLAVOGUE Foroige Club won a bronze star award in the Aldi Foróige Youth Citizenship Awards recently.
204 groups took part in the awards showcasing their work in the community with projects covering topics such as equality; homelessness; mental health; culture and much more.
Boolavogue Foróige Club won a bronze star award while Askamore Foróige Club also participated.
The Boolavogue Foróige Club project focused on helping young children locally to attain essential life skills and create a sense of belonging for them within the community. The Foróige Club ran a six week program for children aged 3-8 years in the Boolavogue Community Centre, each Friday evening in April from 6.30-7.30pm and for the first two weeks in May. The initiative was a great success.
Askamore Foróige Club saw that the local community centre was in dire condition and that refurbishments that were necessary. By working alongside other groups in the area they staged a lip-sync battle event. This community based venture sought that each group participating raise €1,000 to have their act involved. The organisation of this event and its outcomes strengthened the member’s sense of community and the group raised just under €3,000 of the total €32,000 raised by the community organised event for the community centre.
Sean Campbell, CEO of Foróige said ‘with the support of Aldi the Youth Citizenship Programme has gone from strength to strength. This programme empowers young people to make positive change in the world through examining their local community, coming up with a way to make it a better place and then working hard to make it happen.’
The event was opened by Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Helen McEntee. DJ Jenny Greene MC’d the awards ceremony and played DJ sets throughout the day and music was provided by bands Seo Linn and The Strypes.