Athlone IWA's Sarah honourd with gold at Gaisce awards

The Athlone branch of the Irish Wheelchair Association was celebrating last week (Monday, December 15) when young member Sarah Malone was the proud recipient of the Gaisce Gold Award from President Catherine Connolly at a ceremony in Royal Kilmainham Hospital, Dublin.

Sarah, aged 24 and a long-time member of the Athlone IWA, is a native of Belmont in Offaly, and was among 50 young people celebrated at the event for their personal development and community impact. Sarah was joined at the Awards' ceremony by her mentor and IWA Programme Assistant, Maureen Lee from Athlone, who herself recently received two Gaisce honours – the Appreciation Award and the Civil Merit Award – for her work as a President's Award Leader to Sarah.

For over 40 years the Gaisce Awards have empowered participants to cultivate essential life skills and foster a sense of responsibility and resilience through a nationally and internationally recognised non-formal education framework, building confidence, a sense of purpose, resilience and life skills.

In Sarah's case, she excelled in several different areas ranging from recreational and community involvement to explorational activity, when she visited numerous castles in and around the midlands region. As part of her community activities, Sarah engaged in valuable work experience at Atjlone Community Radio, particularly excelling in social media output, and made such an impact that the station invited her back to work one day a week.

Sarah, whose parents are Martina and Ken Malone, said after the awards: “Completing my Gaisce Gold Award has been a deeply meaningful journey. It pushed me, helped me discover my strengths, and allow me to grow through my personal and recreational skills, and my work experience with Athlone Community Radio. I am grateful for the opportunity the IWA and Gaisce has given me and hope my experience encoiurages other young people with disabilities to highlight their abilities by seeing what they can achieve.”

Sarah's mentor at Athlone IWA, Maureen Lee, said everyone at the centre is 'extremely proud' of her progress over the years and that the award is completely deserved. Sarah began her journey with Athlone IWA as a nine year-old and remains very much a popular figure at the centre as part of the School Leavers' Project.

Speaking at the event, President Connoll said that the Gaisce Gold Award celebrates its recipients dedication, resilience and spirit, and that “every one of these young people have given up their time, energy and talents in service of their communities, and in the name of personal development, and to show what it means to act with purpose”.

This year’s awardees dedicated themselves to a wide range of skills and challenges including learning the harp, carpentry, researching cancer cells, participating in and volunteering at park runs, volunteering in care homes, conservation initiatives, and sports coaching, finding adventure through hiking Irish and international tracks and trails, as well as exploring their leadership and relationship. Building abilities across all aspects of their award experiences.

Awardees came from a diverse group of organisations who deliver the Award including young people from Northern Ireland (through the Joint Award Initiative), Scouting Ireland, Volunteer Centres, Disability Youth Services, Youth Diversion Projects, Youth Justice Services, Third level Institutions, Education Training Boards, Community Services and Schools.