Summerhill Guide leader receives prestigious award
A member of a Wexford Girl Guide group has been chosen to accept a prestigious award on behalf of the Catholic Guides of Ireland (CGI).
Nicola Toughey, who is a Ranger Leader at Summerhill Guides, received the Gold Standard Health Quality Mark (HQM) at a special event held in the Osprey Hotel in Naas, Co. Kildare.
The award was recognition of the work done by the CGI in the area of health promotion for young people in local communities throughout the country.
‘CGI through it’s CHOICES programme encourages young people to engage in a healthy and active lifestyle,’ said Nicola. ‘Receiving the Health Quality Mark gold standard is recognition of the work of CGI and we are delighted to have this work acknowledged, as we continue on our journey as a youth health promoting organisation.’
Presenting the award, Lisa Harold, from the NYCI National Youth Health Programme said, ‘This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all at Catholic Guides of Ireland. ‘They are committed to the highest quality standards in health promotion and it is clear that ensuring a healthy and safe place for young people and staff is a key priority here.’
And Nicola, who combines her work in Summerhill with a role as Health Promoter for the CGI and has a Specialist Certificate in Youth Health Promotion, believes the girl guides are as popular as ever. ‘Guiding in the South East is thriving at the moment. We have 529 members altogther, 419 of these being youth members and 110 adult volunteers.’
Offering her congratulations to all at CGI, Ms Harold said, ‘The great work carried out at CGI supports the national healthy Ireland campaign, which is about increasing our focus on prevention and supporting young people to improve their own health and wellbeing.’