Welcome to the latest activity bulletin from the team at Westmeath Sports Partnership and our edition of 2023.
Winter truly is here, but the activities of the Westmeath Sports Partnership have not slowed down despite the darker evenings.
We supported lots of activities in November and December in various parts of Co. Westmeath led and supported by the team at Westmeath Sports Partnership.
Below you will find just a sample of some of the work we have been doing in the last number of weeks with communities and groups throughout the county.
Football For All in Raharney
We had a wonderful response to the first block of ‘Football 4 All’ in Raharney which kicked off in early November.
The programme gives players with disabilities from the age of 6 upwards the opportunity to attend regular football training through a local FAI Club in the community.
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Ride Leader Training
County Westmeath is lucky to have several wonderful safe and accessible greenways and paths to enjoy cycling on. We’d love to see more people taking up cycling, or leading cycles in their clubs and communities.
In an effort to encourage more people out on two wheels, in association with Cycling Ireland, we were pleased to be able to facilitate Ride Leader training on a Saturday at Westmeath County Council offices in November.
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Fishing for Youngsters at Cara Phort
It’s not just greenways that Co. Westmeath can boast of for outdoor leisure pursuits, but the Lake County also enjoys some of the best water quality in the entire country.
It makes sense that fishing would be a natural outdoor recreation option, and we were delighted to have the support of Inland Fisheries Ireland to show some youngsters linked in with Cara Phort Family Resource centre to show them the basics at the harbour in the village of Ballynacarrrgy.
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Good 2 Go Training in Mount Temple and Clonkill
A key mandate of the WSP is to provide sporting and recreation opportunities for people of all abilities and ages.
We were delighted to offer three weeks’ of training for people interested in learning how to plan and lead periods of sociable, health-enhancing physical activity for older adults and adults with a disability.
We ran two courses – in Mount Temple and in Clonkill GAA Centre across three consecutive Mondays’ and the response was fantastic.
Frank Fahy from Fit Walk Ireland led the training and we hope to see many more activities and communities planning events and programmes next year.
Schools Olympic Handball
Earlier this year the WSP ran a special training course for teachers in schools all across Co. Westmeath to encourage them to develop Olympic Handball among pupils.
On foot of the success of the training conducted in association with Olympic Handball Ireland, all roads led to Loughegar Community Centre in early December for a multi-school tournament.
The day was fantastic success and we look forward to another event in January as we hope to crown a county champion to represent Westmeath in the Leinster series.
Safeguarding
We were also delighted to provide several dozen people with safeguarding in late November and early December.
The courses in the final month of the year wrapped up a very successful year of educating people in sports clubs and organisations on all aspects and regulations surrounding child safety.
Happy Christmas!
That’s a wrap from us for 2023 and we hope you all enjoy a wonderful Christmas break and a peaceful and calm New year.
We might be taking some much deserved rest but we will be beck in January with sevral more community-based programmes.
Of course we are also linked in with Operation Transformation and we look forward to the ad-break challenges being filmed across Co. Westmeath in the coming weeks.
As always, the best place to keep up to date with all the information is right here on the Westmeath Sports Partnership website, or through our social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Alternatively, you can always email us at info@westmeathsports.ie.
Have a wonderful Christmas and we will be back in early march with our next Activity Bulletin.