We have recently been joined on Saturday mornings by a transition year student. Here is her story……
Hi I am Lauren Malone I am 15 and am currently attending Loreto Secondary School in Balbriggan. As part of our Transition year course we have the option to participate in Gaisce. It is an award in which we participate in 3 categories
The first is community involvement, this is anywhere from local gaa club coaching, to a life safety course, partaking in meals on wheels or in my instance tidy towns. I do it every saturday morning from 10 until 11. Our duties include things such as litter picking, gardening and cleaning anything that will help the area look respectable. For the past few weeks I have been working on gardening, cutting back hedges that are overgrown, getting rid of weeds and dead plants. We intend to plant new flowers across from the train station .
The next categories are personal skills So this is taking up a new hobby or further developing a personal skill such as reading, baking, swimming or cycling. And finally physical recreation.
Each challenge is to be completed for 1 hour a week for 13 weeks and 1 to be kept on for 26 weeks. It is a really convenient opportunity to not only get involved in your local community but to also to expand and advance your own interests. At the end of the course we achieve an award from the president and go on an adventure trip with all the other participants from our school from starting tidy towns. I have gotten to no more people in my community. So far I have enjoyed the experience and have a new appreciation for the work everyone puts into the area.
In other news, the work on the new car park is almost complete, and as you can see it looks really well!
The one way system should make access to spaces much easier.
The new site for the bottle banks is also completed, and looks equally well! A one way system is also in place here!
Hopefully it will stay that way when the units are in place!
The Christmas tree is up in Laytown. Sadly there was no ceremony attached this year due to the pandemic, but seeing it in all its grandeur brings the Christmas spirit to the village.
As always, thanks are due to Thomas Behan and Gilna’s for this.
Wishing you all a very happy and healthy New Year! See you in 2021!