NEWS FROM THE BRIDGE CLUBS myles.buchanan@peoplenews.ie Silver and gold awards for three local groups
WICKLOW SUCCESS AT ALL IRELAND COMMUNITY AND COUNCIL AWARDS
second Joe Kelly and Leonard Murphy, third Michael and Nell O’Gorman.
Wednesday, February 12 in the Blue Room, first overall Berni Hamilton and Gay Conroy, second Pam Byrne and Claire Salley, third Elaine Cassidy and Geraldine Kane. On the same night in the Red Room, first overall Michael O’Gorman and Tony Diviney, second Heather Sheane and Jane Bradshaw, third Joe Kelly and Leonard Murphy.
Thursday, February 13, North/South first Jack McElhinney and Eileen Kavanagh, second Robert Downes and Brendan Blake. East/West first Jane Sheeran Purcell and Nora Dunne. second Gerard McHugh and Sylvie Ruault. Friday, February 14, North/ South first Teresa Ghalaieny and Ann McCoy, second Carmel Cullen and Eileen Sheehan, East/West first Leonard Murphy and Edward Kilcoyne, second Eric and Dorothy Levingstone.
THREE groups were celebrating this week following success in the All Ireland Community and Council Awards.
Ray of Sunshine Morning and Afterschool Ltd won a gold award while silver awards were presented to Brittas Bay Biodiversity Project and Wicklow RFC Warriors at the gala awards ceremony at Croke Park Stadium.
Ray of Sunshine Morning and After School Ltd won the Best Business Working with the Community category.
Ray of Sunshine works onsite in primary schools offering affordable care and includes all types of families, no matter their financial situation. Ray of Sunshine believes a profitable business can still operate in a community orientated manner. Last year Ray of Sunshine won a silver award in the same category.
The group provides onsite child-care facilities within the school environment in Wicklow town and the greater Wicklow area, where parents and carers can book in on a weekly ad-hoc basis for as little as one hour to full time care in the school holidays. They also provide breakfast clubs, after-school clubs, drop-off services, school holiday clubs and summer camps.
Wicklow County Council won a silver medal for the Brittas Bay Biodiversity Project in the ‘Best Environmental/Ecological Project/Initiative’ category.
Initiated in 2019, the project is co-ordinated through the council’s heritage office in partnership with staff at Wicklow Municipal District. It seeks to roll out a practical programme of actions to enhance the biodiversity of the council-owned land and habitats between the North and South Beach car parks, and to raise public awareness of the rich flora and fauna of the area.
As part of the project a number of actions have been undertaken, namely the drafting of conservation management prescriptions; mowing, monitoring and botanical survey of grassland trial plots to inform a future grazing regime; and community events, including an onsite workshop whereby volunteers walked and mapped the extent of invasive Sea Buckthorn and other non-native species in the dunes.
The project is ongoing with further practical management actions and community engagement planned for this year. An ‘Explore the Shore’ workshop in association the National Biodiversity Data Centre is planned for Saturday, March 21.
Anyone who would like more information, should contact the council’s heritage officer Deirdre Burns at dburns@ wicklowcoco.ie.
Wicklow RFC Warriors won a silver award in the ‘Best Community Sports Team/Club’ category.
Wicklow RFC Warriors is an inclusive rugby team that runs alongside all other teams in the club, giving families the opportunity to have siblings play alongside each other no matter what their abilities.
The team has an age range of five to 50 and includes players with intellectual disabilities and special needs.
The team was formed from an Easter Camp in March 2018 that was funded by Healthy Ireland and run by Wicklow Sports and Recreation Partnership, Wicklow RFC and Leinster Rugby Coaches. Leinster, Ireland and former-Wicklow RFC player Josh Van De Flier is the ambassador for the Warriors and often visits training sessions and matches and is a keen supporter of the team.
They train every Thursday at 6.30 p.m. If anyone would like to find out more about getting involved, they can contact head coach James Keating on 086 8152141 or wicklowrfcwarriors@gmail.com. The team will start back for the new season on Thursday, March 5.
In total, eight projects from Wicklow County Council made the shortlist for the All-Ireland Community and Council Awards 2020.
The others were the Glen Beach Cliff Walk in the Best Community Health Initiative category; Wicklow through the Ages in the Best Heritage Project category; Bray Sailing Club Inclusion in Sport Programme 2019 in the Best Disability Access and Inclusion Initiative category; The Big Chiseller 2019 – Enniskerry’s Inaugural Festival of Wood Sculpture in the Best Arts/Culture (incl. festivals and events) category; Wicklow County Library Community Literacy Supports in the Education/Training Initiative category; and Ecotrail Wicklow in the Best Tourism Initiative category.