Margaret Doyle’s end-of-year Health & Wellbeing report is ready!
Health & Wellbeing Report (October 2019)
Assummer has gone and we enter the latter end of 2019 our club continues to gofrom strength to strength with many of our Dancers, Footballers and Handballersparticipating in competitions many returning with successful outcomes.
Handballis a sport that continues to grow in our club and fair play to all involved inhosting The Munster One Wall Championships in June. The Chairman Tadhg OSullivan and his committee continue to work to promote Handball at an underagelevel but all are welcome to try out this growing activity within our club.
Welldone to all involved in making the SPA Review happen again this year a lot ofwork goes into bringing this Magazine to Print and distribution among the clubby already very busy people in our club.
OurClub Fun-day on September 28th was a huge success in showcasing ourclub and enjoyable evening despite the weather.
Wecontinue to host events on a social level as well throughout the year with aclimb of Stricken Mountain on July 27th to many walks, more recentlyon October 5th down around Ross island and Copper-mines. Theseevents along with being Health and Wellbeing have an Educational element tothem as well.
Inmy July Report I mentioned that there is always room on the “Health andWell-being bus” and that as the Clubs Health and Well-being Officer I am alwaysopen to ideas for Autumn/Winter .
Onesuch Event is happening at the end of our ABC and under age academy year end. OnOctober 19th when we host a Coffee morning from 10am to 12 noon.This is in conjunction with the Irish Cancer Society and to give back to theirexcellent palliative care teams who care for so many and support their familiesat this extremely difficult time.
Ourclub is at present grieving the loss of many members whose contribution to ourclub is deeply appreciated and we will continue to support their families inwhatever way we can and hold their loved ones memory within the club goingforward.
Socome along on this special morning in our club and show your appreciation. Home-bakingwill be welcome.
Ifyou feel you have an idea that would be of interest to your club or team, whynot let me know and I will make every effort to facilitate on the clubcalendar.
Thanksagain to all who strive to make our great club an even better club goingforward.
Margaret Doyle, Health and Well-being Officer.
Health & Wellbeing: July Report
As we begin the summer holidays, weather wise the sun is not shining as brightly as we would like it.
But the sun continues to shine within our club with many members busy organising some fantastic events over the last member of months.
Having had a fantastic response to Operation Transformation earlier this year.
Our ladies committee came up trumps again this year with another successful Lily of Killarney event. Congratulations to 2019 Lily Shauna Goggin.
We continue to be very successful with dancers returning from every event with accolades galore, more recently from Fleadh Cheoil Ciarrai held in Milltown with a total of 13 gold and 4 silver medals .Best of luck in Ennis at Munster Fleadh and continued success to you all who are so lucky to have such dedicated dance teachers as Triona Mangan and Mairead Mangan.
Our Footballers at all grades from ABC academy on Saturdays to our seniors, both men and ladies continue to compete in various competitions with many successful results. Congratulations to our senior men on their successful campaign in the county league, more recently their win to Dr.Crokes-a super game, and the ladies on their success against Milltown/Listry.
June the 8th was when our young footballers and their families went for a nature walk meeting at Muckross house which was very well attended. Well done to Coiste na og Chairman Seamus Moynihan and his Saturdays morning mentors for organising this event.
Another successful team in our locality to be congratulated are Lissivigeen National School who were the overall winners of the Killarney Garda National School 7-a-side Football Blitz, with 18 teams taking part .This was the 15th year and was originally organised by retired Garda Detective Pat Kelleher and Garda Eddie Walsh.
Garda Walsh continues to organise this very successful community event each year.
Our club continues to be successful but more importantly our club and community continue to be hugely involved in all grades in activity both within and outside of the club.
All of which can only be a positive for Mental as well Physical wellbeing.
It’s great as Health and Wellbeing officer to see our club and community so committed to organising events and being competitive, and the years not over yet.
We are always open to new ideas especially for Autumn /Winter whether it be social or educational .Just because it is holiday time doesn’t mean we are not open to ideas, as Wexford Manager Davy Fitzgerald said after their win over the Cats last weekend “If you get a crowd to stick with you, you have a great chance of doing something”.
There is always room on the Health and Wellbeing Bus, we need to stick together and get this club the recognition it deserves as an Active and Health conscious club.
Wishing all our footballers, dancers, hand ballers and everyone who strives to make our club a better and inclusive place to be, a wonderful summer.
Margaret Doyle
Health and Wellbeing Officer
Health & Wellbeing Report
Report by Margaret Doyle, the Health & Wellbeing Officer
On January 28th, a training night of Health and Wellbeing Officers was held at the County Board Buildings in Tralee. As Health and Wellbeing Officer to Spa G.A.A. Club, I attended.
It was led by Collette Cody who is based in Croke Park, but travels around the country to give this training. She was assisted on the night by County Health and Wellbeing Secretary Aine Ni Suilleabhain.
There were other speakers on the night; namely, County Board Health and Wellbeing Chairperson Bernie Reen. It was evident that key to a successful Healthy Club is people power. It was pointed out on the night that a Health and Wellbeing Officer will not drive Health and Wellbeing within a club on their own.
I am fortunate to be the Spa Officer as we seem to have a club bustling with ideas, more recently Operation Transformation Walks. Well Done to all who organised and participated in the 6 week programme and because of this continue on a Thursday night lights on 7 to 9 pm. This is a true testament that we can and should be more willing to try new events within the club.
If I can be of assistance in promoting any event: please let me know. It would be great if a few people could meet with a view to setting up events that would involve others in the community that might not be of a sporty nature.
The Health and Wellbeing Officer has been supplied with a "Healthy Club Manual". I would really like to be able to enter the club to qualify for Healthy Club status. The next opportunity for this for this is 2020, so this gives us time to gear ourselves and cover the relevant criteria.
Margaret Doyle,
Health & Wellbeing Officer
Operation Transformation: Ireland Lights Up
Spa GAA Club will be taking part in the Operation Transformation "Ireland Lights Up" walking challenge - every Thursday night from the 17th of January, until the 21st of February.
There will be a 1KM walking track set up within the club grounds for everyone to come along and walk at their own pace. Registration is free, and you can come and register from 19:00 to 19:30.
The track will be lit up every Thursday from 19:00 to 21:00, and refreshments will be provided afterwards. This walking challenge is available to everyone, but please note that we don't allow dogs on the grounds.
Health & Wellbeing: Launch Report
By Margaret Doyle, our Health & Wellbeing OfficerOn October the 12th, after many months of trying, we finally launched the health and wellbeing aspect of our club - with Finnian Fitzgerald present and our event aired on Kerry GAA TV! Many thanks to everyone that turned up on the night, especially all of our speakers:
- Pat O'Brien (Kerry Mental Health Assoc.) enlightened us to the importance of being able to talk with and listen to those with mental health issues, in the same open-minded way we would approach someone with a phystical ailment.
- Eileen Buckley (Kerry County Board: Gambling, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Officer) outlined the importance of being able to deal with the real societal issues presented when it comes to gambling, drugs and alcohol abuse, and talked about the services available that we can use to help to deal with those issues.
- Jimmy Mulligan (Southwest Counselling Services) presented a talk around the services that are available to sufferers of mental illnesses, and how under-pressure they are to provide these services.
- Ian O'Connell (our guest speaker), who made it to our event to present on mental health - despite all the challenges of the day.
Many thanks to the following for their additional help:
- Deirdre (our secretary), for her help as we approached the launch
- Anne Holland, for her help with the event and her superb photos
- Cait, for her tea and hospitality on the night
Thank you everyone - your presence was very much appreciated. These talks helped to being home how necessary it is that we, as a club, are able to help our members to deal with any issues that present themselves.I, as Health & Wellbeing Officer, would love to collect feedback from members on this new facet of our club. How interested are you in being there for another? If there is interest in training programmes to provide the necessary skills to help someone out, or for anything else, please feel free to contact me on 087 918 1970.Health and wellbeing is now well-established within the GAA and it is important that we embrace this together, as a club. We're all very good at doing, but it's taking pride in what we do and finding our positives that really make a difference.If we all work together, we can turn our excellent club into an even greater one.