Newry and Mourne Carers Venture out onto the waters of Strangford Lough...
On Thursday 6th May, the Newry and Mourne Carers group ventured out onto the waters of Strangford Lough. The group explored Irelands best kept secrets along the Irish coastline onboard a comfortable, modern 12 seat RIB boat organised by Clearsky Adventure Centre (www.clearsky-adventure.com). This was just one of the exciting outdoor activity sessions that the group have taken part in over the last couple of weeks. Other activities included orienteering trails around Kilbroney Forest Park, Target Archery and laser clay pigeon shooting at Kilbroney, Rock climbing and Abseiling at Altnadua Quarry.
These outdoor activity ‘taster sessions’ have been put in place by the Venture Outdoors - Creating Healthy Communities project with the aim to help those from disabled, minority ethnic and disadvantaged communities all over Northern Ireland access the outdoors, encourage them to take part in outdoor activities and also learn about where they can get involved in outdoor activities in their local area.
Offering the taster sessions is the first step to achieving this goal. The Newry and Mourne Carers Group is 1 of 40 groups across Northern Ireland receiving these taster sessions. Sharon Donnelly, Venture Outdoors Development Officer, commented that; “This is a fantastic opportunity for the group to enjoy getting outdoors and help in terms of raising awareness of all outdoor activities that are available within their locality.”
Maeve Curran, Venture Outdoors Marketing Officer, highlighted, “CAAN has great hopes for the ‘Venture Outdoors – creating healthy communities’ project and the role it will play in engaging with disabled, minority ethnic and disadvantaged communities in outdoor recreation.”
This 3 year project is an initiative of the Countryside Access and Activities Network and has been provided with a grant of £470,000 from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities Programme and Ulster Gardens Villages.
For more information on the Venture Outdoors – Creating Healthy Communities Project contact Maeve Curran 02890 303 939 maeve@countrysiderecreation.com
