A recent summer scheme organised by a local teacher has been hailed a success, with the scheme, organised by Adrian McGurn, focusing primarily on physical health, mental health and wellbeing.

Adrian, from Derrygonnelly, is based in Abu Dhabi during term time, but this summer – as in the previous two years – he focused on a summer scheme for the children of his home area.

The summer scheme took place over two weeks in the villages of Derrygonnelly and Belcoo, hosted in Derrygonnelly Community Centre and the Healthy Living Centre, Belcoo respectively.

Discussing the project, Adrian said: “It was a cross-community project and it was great to see all the schoolchildren mixing and making friends.

“As part of the funding from the Education Authority, we had a focus on mental health and wellbeing, nutrition, arts and crafts, online safety and much more.”

Key activities

One of the key activities for the summer scheme was the visit of Action Mental Health to facilitate workshops on mental health and wellness for the children.

Adrian said: “They really responded well to it. The leader was Rosie Maguire, and she gave them different scenarios to make them think about feelings and identify their feeling.

“She had them acting out their feelings at one point, based on a card, so that the children could see the feeling and recognise what it looks like.”

This year’s summer scheme focused on those from Primary 5, 6 and 7 classes, like the first summer scheme organised by Adrian back in 2020.

Speaking about the scheme, Adrian said: “We had up to 100 participants between the two venues, which is amazing. It was a fantastic week full of fun and activities, including sports such as rounders, football, dodgeball, and volleyball.

“There were other activities, such as yoga, mental health and wellbeing talks. We also went on two day trips to Share Discovery Village and Johnny Rocko’s.”

Organised

Reflecting on previous summer schemes he had organised, Adrian said: “I first organised a summer schools scheme during the pandemic.

“Children had missed out on education for months, and so I tried to bridge this gap and it turned out to be a great success.

“It gave the children the opportunity to get back together and learning again.”

He added: “Due to this success I decided to give it another go in 2021, but this time with a different angle and targeting teenagers.

“We worked between the two venues last year, and had more than 100 participants between both venues.

“We have a great group of leaders – Caolin, Ciara, Alex, Sinead and Stephen – as well as countless other people who helped out behind the scenes.”

Adrian wished to thank the National Lottery for helping part fund this scheme, along with Lakeland Community Care, who have been the driver behind the project.

He added: “I hope this summer scheme makes a major difference to our children’s lives and help with their physical, mental health and wellbeing.”