As you are aware of Ballinderreen GAA started it's Healthy Club Project two years ago. We decided to focus on Player and Personnel Development and Community Development through Social Inclusion. Throughout our process we have had a number of activities in these categories but our most successful has been our partnership with our Local National School , Cope and Blake Manor Nursing Home.
We identified that in our community we had a number of people who suffer Social Isolation and set out to change this.
We decided to form a monthly Lunch Club in our Local Community Centre. We have our meals supplied from Cope and charge those in attendance a nominal fee of five euro per person. For this they get a main course and dessert tea coffee and cake. Cope's meals are fantastic in meeting all dietary requirements. After Lunch we have a free game or two of bingo. The Club covers the excess cost of the meals bingo prizes and tea/coffee. On average we have between 30 to 36 people who attend. These are older people within our community, resident's of Blake Manor Nursing Home and people in residential care homes from the Brothers of Charity who live locally. What is special about our Lunch Club is the number of volunteers we have on average 15 people who help but we have 4 transition year students who hate to miss it and they are the highlight of the Club. Our local national school students give a Christmas concert and are another highlight of the Club.