St Nathy’s inspire
ST Nathy’s GAA Club are really bringing the south Sligo communities together with their participation in Lidl’s One Good Club programme.
St Nathy’s PRO, Kathleen Coleman, said it’s been a terrific initiative for everyone in the club and further afield to get involved.
Young and old have really embraced the activities and challenges that the club has been running and the whole community has really benefitted, Kathleen told The Sligo Champion.
“We have had an action packed few days for the first week of the theme Take Notice.
“Our Steering Group have been bouncing around ideas for quite a while for this theme and they truly knocked it out of the park.
“In a time where we cannot meet up with our neighbours or connect with our teammates, they managed to bring South Sligo communities together for an Easter Egg Hunt like no other.
“In this fantastic weather, families have been out for walks together taking in the scenery and enjoying the fresh air, all while adhering to public health guidelines and remaining socially distanced.
“We hid hand painted rocks with a message on the back in different locations all within a 5k radius of all our members’ homes, as well as neighbouring clubs.
“A video was released on Wednesday night that sparked quite an interest on social media, where we saw 3 Bunnies giving us hints on where to go find the rocks.
“Some unable to wait until morning, heading out in their pyjamas for a look that night.
“We couldn’t wait to get out and look, the excitement in the house was crazy.
“Rocks were discovered by our eager families in Bunninadden Village and Community Centre, Coolaney River Walk, Tubbercurry Forest Walk, Ballymote Park, and on top of Knocknashee.
“We would like to thank the committees and groups behind these locations including Bunninadden Tidy Towns and Tubbercurry Tidy Towns, for helping us prepare the locations for the hunt.
“Once they sent us a photograph of their discovery there was an Easter Egg on the way. Over 140 Easter
Eggs were distributed over the 4 day Easter Egg hunt, leaving a lot of smiles on little faces.
“It was fantastic, good old fashioned fun. Finding hand-painted rocks to win an Easter egg, genius,people said.
“It was a wonderful initiative and the club cannot praise the committee enough for the work that went into it.
“We have received so many amazing messages from families, describing the excitement it created in households.
“It was so exciting going to the village to look for them, we were not coming home until we found one, the kids said.
“We are thrilled that it was such a success. We have had such a fantastic week getting in touch with the families and seeing their photographs in blue skies. It was the most exciting thing to happen since Christmas”.
Kathleen said giving back to the community is an integral factor in the One Good Club initiative, with St Nathy’s the only club in Sligo being selected to take part.
“It’s great to give back to the kids and the community. They have been so active these past few weeks, keeping connected with their friends and team-mates”.
There have been so many comments on the Facebook posts too, including;
“Well done St Nathys, Lovely idea”
“Well done to everyone who got behind this. Huge work and time in writing letters, painting crests on stones and organising the hunt. It’s brilliant for the younger members to see such great role models in senior club members. Thank you”.
“Fantastic, it was great seeing all the children out and about in Coolaney today searching for them, well done to all the bunnies”.
“Fantastic role models and definitely ‘One Good Club’.”
“My two had a brilliant time searching the Tubbercurry Forest Trail this morning. We met a few little explorers on our way, it’s great to see the excitement on little faces especially with the times that are in it. “Thank you to all involved.”
Kathleen added: “But the fun does not stop there. “While you are out on your walks, keep an eye out for our ‘Take Notice’ posters along the way.
“The idea focuses on mindfulness and taking time to notice what is around us, embracing our senses and appreciating the little things. These can be spotted in all the locations visited during our Easter Egg Hunt.
“We are also running a photography competition for ‘Take Notice’, encouraging everybody to get out and see what they think is worthy of a photograph. “We cannot wait to see what our photographers come up with.”
IT’S BRILLIANT FOR THE YOUNGER MEMBERS TO SEE SUCH GREAT ROLE MODELS IN SENIOR CLUB MEMBERS.