3 minute read
HER Outdoors Week
By Alannah O'Callaghan
Spending time in the outdoors and bringing nature into your life on a daily basis has benefits for both your physical and mental health. Some of the benefits of being outside include improving your mood, reducing feelings of stress, anxiety and anger, it also helps you to connect with nature and your local community, and getting more active. Girls and women of all ages tend to spend less time outside and are linkely to engage in less physical activity than their male peers from as young as being in primary school. For this reason, it is important to provide women and girls with meaningful outdoor experiences and encourage them to get outside and/or engage in some sort of physical activity more often.
This year Sports Ireland in partnership with sporting National Governing Bodys (NGB) and Local Sports Partnerships, are hosting the annual HER Outdoors Week from August 14th – 23rd. The aim of this week is to encourage and celebrate more females to get outside and enjoy the benefits of being outdoors while also bringing visibility to the opportunities for women to get involved in outdoor physical activity. For the week there will be opportunities for women and girls across the country to get outside and try something new! These activities are only made possible due to the support that Sport Ireland gets from the initiative through clubs, NGGs, Local Development Companies and Sport Partnerships around the country. If you have an interest in checking out what activities are on offer nearby, look up your local sports partnership website and you will find a list of all activities there. There is something for everyone and with the majority of activities offered being free or offered at minimal cost there is no reason not to get involved this year.
As part of the week this year IRD Duhallow, in partnership with Mountaineering Ireland, is running and introduction to navigation event in Millstreet on Friday August 18th from 10am – 2pm. This event is all about building your confidence on the hills and trying something new. The activity is focused on introducing participants to navigation and is ideal for women who want to have an introduction to navigation and
gain confidence on the hills. No previous navigation experience is necessary! The activity will be run by a qualified instructor and is a fantastic opportunity for women in the area to link in with peers and develop your own personal skills. Spaces are limited so it is recommended that you book early to avoid disappointment, to book you can find the information on the events page on the IRD Duhallow website. For further information you can contact Alannah on 02960633.
Other activities that are taking place in Cork throughout the week include sea swims, running, walking groups, kayaking, equine therapy, rowing, cycling and so much more. To find out exactly what’s on look up your local sports partnership’s website.
