Issue 222 - East Down BT24 • BT30 • BT31 • BT33
POSITIVE AGEING MONTH Newry, Mourne and Down District
Council alongside the Southern Health and Social Care Trust is encouraging local groups to get involved online as part of Positive Ageing Month.
Little Acorns Pre-School pupils Ezra Boyd and Evie Alexander with Michael Magill, Energy for Children Charitable Trust and Dr Judith Harper, Little Acorns Management Committee, at the new ‘Jolly Friendship’ pirate play ship which has been funded by the Energy for Children Charitable Trust.
PLAIN SAILING AT LITTLE ACORNS WITH ENERGY FOR CHILDREN FUNDING BOOST
The children at Little Acorns Cross Community Pre-School, situated on the grounds of Derryboy Primary School near Crossgar, have been learning the ropes of their new outdoor pirate play ship, ‘The Jolly Friendship’, which has been provided by funding from the Energy for Children Charitable Trust to help boost the schools’ outdoor play equipment. Little Acorns is a selffunded pre-school which was established in 2019 to provide a play based learning environment for local children. The pre-school supports 16 children from across Crossgar, Saintfield and Killyleagh, accessible to children and families across all sections of the
local community. With imaginative play critical for creative development and wellbeing, Little Acorns has been working to grow their outdoor facilities to enhance the learning experience and opportunities for the children attending, but needed a funding boost to
get the project started. As Michelle Mullan from the Little Acorns Pre-School Management Committee explains: “Outdoor play is so important for young children in their personal development as well as their educational experience, it encourages them to explore,
get active, use their imagination and stimulate their senses through touching, hearing, seeing and feeling, something which has been more important than ever over the last 18 months.
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The purpose of this month is to recognise, highlight, celebrate and promote the many positive aspects of growing old and the very valuable contribution that the over 50s continue to make within our community. Due to COVID-19 restrictions the celebrations for this year’s event will take place in the virtual world with many events taking place via Zoom or similar online applications. Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Deputy Chairperson, Councillor Oonagh Magennis, said she was pleased with the Council’s commitment to developing and promoting the Age Friendly initiative and events such as Positive Ageing Month. “As people live longer, we all need to consider how best to support the older generation in our community – but also how
best to celebrate them,” she said. “Positive Ageing Month offers opportunities for a range of events, activities and programmes to be held which celebrate the contribution older people make to their communities.” Positive Ageing Month has a wide range of free online sessions for older people to attend, covering topics such as cyber safety, online privacy and security, eat well and cookery demos, health workshops including dementia and Bowel Cancer awareness, money and energy saving advice and virtual singa-longs and reminiscence sessions. For more information on the events taking place for Positive Ageing Month and to download the Calendar of Events please visit https://www. newrymournedown.org/ health-and-wellbeing.