Kids Summer Scheme 2022

25 Jul

Lakeland Community Care returned this summer with the kick off of the “Kids Summer Scheme”. Students aged 9 - 11 (Primary 5 - Primary 7) took part in the scheme across two venues, Derrygonnelly Community Centre and Belcoo Healthy Living Centre with over 90 participants.

LCC were given the opportunity to run this program, supported by the National Lottery, and it achieved highly fantastic reviews from both parents and kids.

Having experience running this local program, led by Adrian McGurn, he remarked: “It all started in 2020 when I organised a Summer School/Scheme during the pandemic, children had missed out on education for months and so I tried to bridge this gap and it turned out to be a great success. It gave the children the opportunity to get back together and learning again. Due to this success I decided to give it another go last year but this time with a different angle and targeting teenagers. We worked between two venues last year; Derrygonnelly and Belcoo and had over 100 participants between both venues which was amazing. It was a cross community project and was great to see all the schools mixing and making friends. As part of the funding from the Education Authority we had a focus on mental health and well being, nutrition, arts and crafts, online safety and much much more.

Fast forward two years and I'm back organising a Kids Summer Scheme for primary 5, 6 & 7 in the academic year 2021/22. Once again we have over 75 participants between the two venues which is amazing. It has been a fantastic week full of fun and activities including sports: (i.e. rounders, football, dodgeball, volleyball), yoga, tie-dye, mental health and well-being talks. We also went on two day trips to Share Discovery Village (raft building, canoeing, orienteering and bush craft) and Johnny Rocko's (bowling and soft play).

As a primary school teacher myself in Abu Dhabi, it is fantastic to see the kids out and about enjoying their peers' company in a relaxed and fun environment over the summer. We have a range of students from different age groups and backgrounds and it is a pleasure to see them integrate. We have a great group of leaders who helped out across both weeks to facilitate the enjoyment of all participants. Thanks also goes to Frances who has been a great help behind the scenes. I would like to thank the National Lottery for helping part fund this scheme along with Lakeland Community Care who have been the driver behind the project. I'd like to thank my Dad, Pat for all his support and for allowing us to host the summer scheme. I hope this summer scheme will make a major difference to our children's lives and help with their physical, mental health and well-being.

Chief Executive Officer Pat McGurn commented that “we as a company feel that the Kids Summer Scheme 2022 benefited a generation of people who needed it most”. It is hoped that the opportunity to meet and socialise/play with their own age group, outside of the school setting, will provide huge benefits both for physical and mental health.

We had a great group of leaders who helped out across the week to facilitate the enjoyment of all participants. A massive thanks goes to our leaders Caolin, Ciara, Alex, Sinead, Frances and Stephen for facilitating the scheme which was very well received from parents and students.