Youth Citizenship Awards celebrate achievement of five local Foróige groups

South Westmeath was well represented at the recent permanent tsb Foróige Youth Citizenship Regional Awards in the Tullamore Court Hotel. The generosity, ingenuity and innovation of young people from the county who are active in their communities were honoured for their work as active citizens at the ceremony. The awards intend to reward young people who have chosen to become involved in making a difference in their local areas and have taken positive steps to benefit their locality. As part of the event, a diverse range of community initiatives undertaken by the young people were showcased. Some of the projects on display included that of Moate Senior Foroige Club, who produced a quarterly newsletter for young people in their area on activities, news and clubs available in the locality. The Chara Special Interest Foroige put on a show with the international Foroige Club in Athlone to raise funds for the Tony Parker Memorial Fund who were buying defibrillators for the local community. They raised €1,300. They also ran an Easter party for the younger children in the community. Tubberclair Foróige Club was approached by Westmeath County Library to participate in a pilot outreach programme to link the library to people who are house bound. The young people now bring a book to the users every two weeks This project is ongoing with 30 members of the community using the facility. Rosemount Foroige Club carried out research in the community see what services they could provide. After lengthy discussion they decided that they would go for the fun element and host an Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday and a cake sale. They raised a total of €535 from the venture. Moate Junior Foróige Club held an Easter fun day for children with special needs. They invited a play therapist who works with children with special needs in to the club to advise them on suitable activities.. Guests at the event were very impressed with the quality and nature of the endeavours and took time to view the work of and mingle with awards winners. After the project viewing the official awards ceremony commenced with young people taking to the stage to represent their group and tell guests about their active citizenship endeavours. Each club/project was presented with a specially commissioned Recognition Certificate for their efforts. The awards were attended by members of Foróige and independent youth clubs and groups from Westmeath, Offaly, Longford, Laois and Cavan and their multitude of supporters. Four Regional Recognition Events are being held across the country over the next two weeks. A select number of projects from the regional competition deemed to meet the criteria of outstanding examples of youth citizenship will go forward to the National Awards being held in Dublin in October. Further information is available at www.youthcitizenship.ie.