Karyn Gavin (far left) - one of our Community Development Officers pictured with members of Ballinasloe Craft Group supported through SICAP

Check out our Jobs Bulletin HERE

We are delighted to support and fund Ballinasloe Social Services and Meals on Wheels under our SICAP Programme. The funding supports the purchase of goods for Christmas Hampers for service users, which are beautifully put together and presented by the team. This initiative, especially at this time of the year, brings great delight and happiness, helping to combat isolation and loneliness, an act of kindness that is greatly appreciated. The Meals on Wheel team will distribute the hampers and we would like to acknowledge the great work of Kay and her team and Teresa and Mandy at Ballinasloe Social Services. 

Huge CONGRATULATIONS to all who successfully completed the 6-week 'Driver Theory Practice' training at the Ard Ri House Hotel, Tuam which was funded through SICAP - The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme. Thanks to our Training Officer Martin Mac for bringing some festive cheer to the proceedings!
Pictured are Paul Hession, Colm Moloney, Holly Farrell, Claire Long, Libby O'Brien, Martin Macdonald (GRD), Aoife Boyle and Seamus McLoughlin. Well done on your great achievement.

Galway Rural Development and the SICAP programme want to help combat Climate Change at Community level! Many thanks to Newbridge Tidy Towns for hosting the recent Horticulture Class. We can't wait to see how the plants and veg turn out!

Well done to the Kiltullagh Killimordaly Community Care group who received a SICAP grant to upgrade facilities, which will allow the group to run activities and workshops and provide a safe space for community connections and events. Thank you to the group for their kind hospitality during our site visit. L-R Back Row - Noreen Lawless, Eamon Burke, Maureen Mulvey, Thomas Molloy, Mike Furey L-R Front Row -PJ Mitchell, Ann Walsh Chairperson, Kathleen Cannon, Agnes Mannion

Thank you so much to Amy and Walter from Group 8 who facilitated 3 workshops on ceramics with members of the Ballinasloe Traveller Women's group here in our Ballinasloe office. Group 8 were awarded funding from Creative Ireland and we were delighted when they offered to work with SICAP and facilitate the workshops. Creativity and hidden talents were showcased by the Ballinasloe Traveller Women's Group, friendships were formed and loads of fun was had! We look forward to future projects with the wonderful Group 8 and thank them again.

The Ballinasloe Care and Repair team continue to do their wonderful work around Ballinasloe. They are busy purchasing food items for this year's Christmas Befriending Project packs . The befriending project helps to lessen the burden of loneliness and isolation. This support is particularly welcome to older people who live alone or are vulnerable due to mental and physical health concerns. The packs are distributed respectfully, and the team has seen the numbers they support rise in the last year. Over 100 packs will be delivered around Ballinasloe and SICAP are delighted to help support and fund this project

Carepack Support

Galway Rural Development has been confirmed as sponsors of Carepack.ie, the organisation which provides gifts, letters, cards and artwork to residents in Nursing Home residents as part of a Christmas kindness campaign. Carepack is free for residents to sign up, and it is free for volunteers to connect with a resident. 

Check out Geraldine’s interview on RTE describing what is is all about HERE

Pictured are Geraldine Monaghan (Carepack founder), Jane McNamara (Greenpark Nursing Home), Steve Dolan (CEO of Galway Rural Development), Anne Cassidy (SICAP Team Leader), and Cllr Pete Roche (Chairperson of GRD). 

Thank You for Making Positive Ageing Week Local Heroes Exhibition 2024 a Success! A heartfelt #THANKYOU to everyone who contributed to the 2024 Positive Ageing Week Local Heroes Exhibition, which was launched at the Galway City Museum last October. Your support, nominations, and hard work made this event a true celebration of the incredible contributions of older people in our communities.

We're grateful to everyone who submitted nominations, and who helped arrange and host the exhibition. Together, we were able to showcase the remarkable stories of our local heroes who inspire us with their resilience, generosity and commitment to making Galway a better community for everyone.

This event will be an annual celebration, and we can’t wait to continue spotlighting the amazing older individuals who make a difference. If you know someone who deserves recognition for their contribution to the community, be sure to nominate them for the 2025 exhibition!

Let’s keep celebrating and honouring those who are helping to create a positive, age-friendly Galway!

Read the stories of the 2024 Local Ageing Heroes - https://bit.ly/PositiveAgeingHeroes

Listen to a podcast conversation with 4 of the 2024 local heroes - https://bit.ly/PAW2024Podcast

Watch a short video of all the 2024 Local Ageing Heroes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhJA4OquczE

#PleaseShare any of the above content as widely as possible so others can be inspired on their ageing journeys!

To nominate a local hero for 2025 or for more information, please call 086 021 1110.

A very big THANK YOU to everyone who helped make our Health and Wellbeing events in Athenry and Ballinasloe such a great success. Well done to all the groups and exhibitors present and to all the people who came along to learn more about the supports available to help them improve their health and wellbeing.

We were delighted to collaborate with Croí Heart and Stroke Charity. Croí provided FREE blood pressure and heart health checks at the Glenamaddy Agriculture Show on Sunday.  Pictured are nurses Yvonne and Caroline from Croí and SICAP Development Officer Emily Hughes.

We had a fabulous day out at our Positive Aging Event in the Loughrea Hotel & Spa funded through the SICAP Programme. Thanks to everyone who attended, the various information stands and our colleagues in Gort FRC, Loughrea FRC and Solas FRC (Ballygar and Headford) and Healthy Galway County for helping to fund this event. Over 100 people attended from Headford, Ballygar, Gort and Loughrea!!

'Make the Link' is a series of FREE Education, Training and Information events that took place in Tuam, Loughrea, Gort and Ballinasloe this year. Galway Rural Development Galway and Roscommon ETB and Department of Social Protection worked together with other service providers to bring information on training courses, education opportunities, supports available, welfare entitlements, CE, Tús and Rural Social Schemes.

This year, we are marking our 30th anniversary and it has been an incredible journey so far. Today, GRD has more than 70 staff across six offices managing a dozen different programmes. For more, visit https://www.grd.ie/ or check us out on https://www.youtube.com/@galwayruraldevelopment or https://www.tiktok.com/@galwayruraldevelopment .

Pictured above are some of the folk from Ability West Brooklodge who came to help us celebrate our 30th anniversary!