The Healthy Club project is a GAA partnership in conjunction with Healthy Ireland, the HSE, the National Office for Suicide Prevention, the Public Healthy Agency, and Irish Life. It is designed to increase GAA clubs’ ability to support healthier lifestyles, and in doing so enhance the positive influence that they have in their communities.
Given Good Counsel GAA & Camogie Club has a ‘Healthy Club’ status, we as a Club have an obligation to our membership and community wherever possible to drive initiatives that will support their general health and well being well beyond sporting activities. Popular areas of focus include healthy eating; becoming a smoke-free club; physical activity for non-playing members; engaging older members of the community; emotional well being; gambling, drug, and alcohol awareness; and inclusion and integration (opening our games and clubs to non- traditional GAA members).
As a club we continue to focus on initiatives that drive inclusion across our community and we are opening up our club to all Drimnagh residents to join us and take part in ‘Ireland Lights Up/Get Ireland Walking.
We started Thursday January 16th and will run for another three consecutive Thursday nights (Jan 23rd, Jan 30th and Feb 6th) from 19:00 to 21:00 (approx.).
We are working by the following schedule:
- Our walkers (young and old) arrive at the club for 19:00 each Thursday and register with us in our clubhouse. All taking part, fill in the sign in sheet as we’ve to record the name/contact details of all walkers which is to be passed to RTE’s Operation Transformation, ‘Get Ireland Walking’ because of the insurance and the GAA as part of ‘Ireland Lights Up’
- Graeme (our Gym Instructor) runs an age appropriate warm up for the walkers at 19:10
- All taking part then leave the club at 19:15 for our 3km leisurely paced walk under the watchful eye of a number of adult/club members, members of the Order of Malta providing first aid support and local Gardai ComPol members (see route below)
- Upon arriving back in the club at about 20:00 we will lay on hot chocolate/treats for the walkers and finish up by around 21:00
- RTE will be covering some of the clubs.