The following people have been nominated for positions on the 2018 Board of Aldi Community Games: 

President
Gerard Davenport
 
 Deputy President
Tony Lee, Gerry McGuinness, Paul Doogue
 
General Vice-President
Joe Fox, Eileen Doherty, Michael Sheahan, Tony Lee
 
Secretary
Jude Feehan, Paul Doogue, Joe Fox
 
 Treasurer
Janice Cooper
  
Activities Director
Michael Sheehan, Ruairi Heaney, Tony Lee, Antoin Fitzsimons, Tanya Kelly, Gary Wilmott
 
PR and Marketing Director
Bernie Brennan
  
Security Director
Clifford Kelly, Lesley Weldon
  
Youth Director
Lisamarie McCooey, Fiona Gilmore
 
 NEAC
Shirley Maloney, Clifford Kelly, Kathleen Cross, Ruairi Heaney, Tony McCarry, Michael Sheahan, Jane Walsh, Seamus Hogan, Fiona Kelly-Shannon, Patricia Keegan, Paul Doogue, Gerry McGuinness, Eileen Doherty, Andy Griffin, Lesley Weldon, Breda Reid, Joe Fox, Joe Oakley, Michelle Power, Anthony Fitzsimons, Pauline Martin O’Rourke, Bernie Brennan, Kieran d’Arcy, Neilus Collins, Tom Sheridan, Anne Keane, Mary Brett Kelly, Gary Wilmott
 

December 11th 2017 has been announced, by the Minister for Children, as the date for the commencement of the remaining articles of the Children First Act 2015. Under this legislation, all organisations working with children and vulnerable adults will have a responsibility to safeguard the children involved in their organisation. As part of this, all National Governing Bodies and its clubs/Areas will have to produce and display a Safeguarding Statement. This will be developed by the National Children’s Officer and will be emailed to all Area and County Children’s Officers in early 2018. Instructions on how to display the statement will also be provided.
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Please note that all your Area Officers and Coaches should attend Safeguarding 1 training, provided through your Local Sports Partnership. Alternatively, if two or more Areas or a County have more than 12 people wishing to attend the training, the National Children’s Officer can deliver this. All Children’s Officers/Designated Liaison Person’s must also attend Safeguarding 2 and 3.

• Safeguarding 1- Child Protection and Basic Awareness Course
• Safeguarding 2- Club Children’s Officer Course
• Safeguarding 3- Club Designated Liaison Person

 
Safeguarding 1 Online Refresher Course (only for those who have attended the face to face Safeguarding 1 course) is available from the Sport Ireland website:  http://elearning.sportireland.ie/login/index.php

In 2017 the town of Ballaghderreen in Co. Roscommon welcomed children and adults, mostly from Syria as they seek to obtain refugee status. The people of Ballaghderreen have been working effortlessly over the past number of months to ensure that the new residents feel included and that they are given every opportunity to integrate into Irish society. With the arrival of the Syrian families to the town, the Committee of Ballaghaderreen Community Games was determined to play their part in helping their newest residents become acquainted with the wide programme of activities that are available.

The Ballaghaderreen Committee organised various Integration events for the Syrian children staying in the Direct Provision centre. These events ranged from "Family Fun/Integration Athletics Day", a "Gymnastics for Beginners" morning, "Art/Paint for beginners" afternoon and Skittles trainings sessions. The Family Fun day included a number of Community Games events as well as a number of novelty/fun events.

These events were organised free of charge and were open to everyone living in the Community. Transport to and from the Direct Provisions Centre was organised and provided without charge by a local bus company. Notice of these events were translated into Arabic by one of the Youth staying at the Direct Provision Centre, who also attended all events to help with translations & running of the events. 
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Additionally, all the children present took part in the creation of a Special Community Games mural of their hand-prints. The Theme circled around “Ballaghaderreen Community Games - Our Children/ Our Future”.

Aldi Community Games has been working in partnership with the HSE, Health Promotion & Improvement for the past number of years, to develop the “Steps to Health” which is a community-led health promotion initiative. Volunteers and their areas (clubs) are awarded and recognised for their contribution to promoting health within their communities. They each work towards achieving a set of standards ranging from nutrition and mental health to child protection and youth empowerment. Community Games aim to make 2018 the best year yet for the Steps to Health with a new online portal and revised incentives including monetary rewards and significant points towards the Area Awards. ​

Minister Catherine Byrne said on the day: “Community development is one of my priorities as Minister for Health Promotion. The Steps to Health initiative, supported by the HSE, plays a really effective part in achieving the aims of Healthy Ireland, by promoting and encouraging community participation in a fun, active and healthy environment within local communities.

I am confident that the new additions to the programme in 2018 such as an online portal, new incentives and a new logo will only enhance the success of this initiative and encourage an even greater take up across the 500 Community Games Areas.
I would also like to commend the work of all the volunteers and Community Games Areas for the valuable roles they play in community health promotion."

The Steps to Health initiative is an opportunity for Aldi Community Games, in association with HSE, Health Promotion & Improvement, to highlight the valuable contribution made by volunteers and participants towards improving the health and well-being of all members of the community. It is based on promoting the following within a Community Games Area:

• Physical Activity
• Mental Health and Well-being 
• Substance Misuse 
• Nutrition
• Sun Safety

 
Many Community Games volunteers are already working on health promotion initiatives and ‘Steps to Health’ has been developed to recognise and reward this work ."
 
Areas can achieve a Gold, Silver or Bronze standard. The ‘Steps to Health’ can be displayed on all Area promotional materials, letterheads, social media, etc. to highlight the achievement. In addition, it will to contribute significantly towards the points allocation for the National Area Awards, which are held each November.  As well as free annual affiliation there are monetary incentives for standards awarded. This initiative aims to recognise the immense contribution of volunteers and reward areas who wholeheartedly embrace the values of Aldi Community Games.

Fergal Fox, General Manager, HSE, Health Promotion and Improvement, Dublin Mid-Leinster added:  “The HSE Health Promotion & Improvement unit is delighted to support the Community Games Steps to Health initiative. One of our core priorities is to support the Healthy Ireland framework, which aims to promote and encourage all communities to adopt healthier lifestyles. This includes, what we eat and drink; how we exercise; and of course our mental health. Our hope is to see as many volunteers and areas getting involved in this programme and in turn getting recognition for the wonderful work they are doing introducing children in their areas to the benefits of healthy living.”

Over 4,000 children participated over the weekend with many going home with a medal - and if they didn't get a medal we hope they had fun meeting old friends and making new ones ;-)

Results are now fully available for you all to view and download.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS


​Community Games wishes to express its sympathies to the family and friends of Joe Harrison, father of Pauline Egan, Kildare Community Games Secretary. 
 
Funeral arrangements: Reposing at his residence on Saturday from 6 o'clock until 8 o'clock and from 4 o'clock on Sunday with prayers at 8.30 o'clock. Removal on Monday morning at 10.30 o'clock to arrive at St. Brigid's Church, The Curragh for Mass at 11 o'clock. Funeral afterwards to St. Conleth's Cemetery, Newbridge. Family flowers only please. Donations, if desired, to St. Brigid's Hospice, Moore Abbey. Donations box in the Church.

Our National Area, Volunteer and Media Awards take place this year in the Johnstown House Estate in Co. Meath on Saturday 25th November. 

The 2017 Area Awards Scoring Sheet can be downloaded here.

When booking accommodation, mention Community Games to get the following rate:
80 bedrooms in house available for this booking @
€120 bed and breakfast single occupancy
€130 bed and breakfast double occupancy

Aldi Community Games were thrilled to be invited to feature on The Late Late Show to celebrate 50 years of being part of the fabric of Irish Society. 

Niall Quinn, Tommy Bowe and Olive Loughnane talked about their experiences (including poor Tommy's defeat by a bearded 10 year old!) in Community Games. 

Gerry Davenport, our President, spoke from the audience about Community Games' humble beginnings with the late great Joe Connolly and a team of volunteers back in Walkinstown in 1967.   He also talked about where Community Games stands today and the fantastic awareness campaign being run around Ireland by Aldi, our new title sponsors!

Looking forward to the next 50 years! ​

Congratulations to the thousands of children who took part on 6th May at the National Sports Campus. 

Take a look at our little video condensing most of the goings on to 4 minutes.

All of the Individual and Team results can be found by clicking here.  For Swimming results please click here.