LOCAL FOCUS
it’s a knockout! 353 sign up for Bawnogue’s newest club
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BEN PANTER REPORTS
hree-hundred people attended the official opening of Bawnogue Boxing Club on May 23 - “a phenomenal success”, according to club secretary Shane Lynch. “Then three-hundred and fifty-three young people turned up to our first training session the following Monday night,” he said. The opening day had all the fun of the fair as face painting, bouncy castles and music kept families amused. According to Shane, clubs like this are vital to a communities wellbeing: “The club offers an alternative to anti-social behaviour and substance misuse. It gives kids the opportunity to get off the streets for one hour three days a week. “Our ethos is to be open to everyone and be affordable; our target group is from what would be considered disadvantaged areas so we offer good family rates. “I’m from a Traveller background so I have an understanding of how people can be excluded.” The boxing club was head coach Patrick Jennings’s idea; he asked Shane who works with the Clondalkin Traveller Development Group for help getting the project off the ground. A committee was established to secure premises, obtain funding and make sure the right people had the right coaching qualifications. In total the club was set-up at a cost €2,700, which it received from South Dublin Council and the local credit union: “We equipped the whole club for that - talk about value for money,” said Shane. “The ACE enterprise centre in Bawnogue gave us use of their premises for nominal rent, the money saved will help us get a ring in future as we had to borrow one for a while and that is the most important piece of equipment for a boxing club.” The club is open three evenings a week to start with (Mon, Tues & Thurs) and is fully Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) accredited. Fees are €8 for one child, €6 each for two and €5 each after that. If you wish to join - or to find out how to set up a boxing club on a tight budget in a short time - contact Patrick Jennings on 085-7440543 (after 5pm). Also check out the Club’s Facebook page.
It’s a knockout!
COMMUNITY-FOCUSED MEDIA SKILLS TRAINING
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Two media skills workshops were recently facilitated by ‘Changing Ireland’ in conjunction with South Dublin County Partnership. In Tallaght (above) the group was joined by guest speaker David Kennedy (top-left) owner of the Echo newspaper group. Allen Meagher is pictured bottom-left. Forest cover in India and China has increased by more than
hanging Ireland Community Media Ltd has provided professional and affordable media skills training, tailored for community staff and volunteers since 2001. We run half-day, one-day and longer-duration courses in the following, including masterclass workshops featuring three of the following in one day: • Writing news and press releases (print/broadcast). • Interview skills/Preparing for radio. • Producing Social Media. • Publishing Community News (eg newsletters). • Handling the media and negative publicity. We tailor our delivery to the needs and capacity of any given group and enjoy diversity. Training is provided by editor Allen Meagher who 19 years ago began tutoring and teaching working journalists in The Gambia. He co-ordinated for three years a City & Guilds diploma-level journalism course and has taught in UL, UCC and Mary I. Training has in the past been delivered in conjunction with Family Resource Centres, Local Development Companies and Local Authorities. Workshops have been held in Galway, Dublin, Donegal, Cork, Longford and Wexford and beyond. Feedback is consistently high. Limited number of workshops per annum. For more information, email: editor@changingireland.ie or phone 061-458011.
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