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A SENSORY GARDEN designed and assembled by a group of young people from a Waterford community group will be shown at next year’s Bloom festival – and we’ll be taking them there.
We are delighted to announce the first winner in the Irish Rail partnership with TheJournal.ie to provide free rail trips for deserving community groups is the Pact project from the Pact project from Waterford city.
Pact focuses its work on children from underprivileged areas and recently won a garden show with their imaginative design. The prize was to see their garden presented at Ireland’s largest garden festival next summer and they applied to the Irish Rail Journeys with TheJournal.ie programme to make it to Dublin to see their hard work recreated.
The project caters for about 40 children aged 12 to 18 at two locations, Manor Street and Ferrybank, with volunteer coordinator Brian Cuddihy explaining that its aim is to prevent children getting involved in anti-social behaviour.
Recently, another volunteer suggested they enter a garden design in the Waterford Harvest Festival.
“It’s something that the young people on the project – and we have about 40 of them here – could all contribute to,” Cuddihy says.
We could construct it on the day and we could get all the ideas from the young people. Some would have brothers and sisters who have disabilities or would be on the autistic spectrum, so they knew about sensory gardens and generally a fun garden for kids to play in and interact with.
The garden was built over the course of about six weeks and is designed to be a fun area for children, especially for children who may have a disability.
Included in the garden is a chalkboard which the group describes as their ‘Waterford Words’, a nod to Waterford Walls art project in the city.
The garden was first assembled at Pact’s Ferrybank centre before it was taken apart and reassembled at the Waterford Harvest Festival.
The Pact project won at the festival and the reward for their win included a place at Bloom 2017 and a small cash prize.
Cuddihy explains that the young people in the group were also consulted about how they should spend their winnings.
“We were delighted obviously for the children,” he says.
There was a little bit of prize money which we decided beforehand that if we won we’d keep a bit to do up our own garden at the back of our centre in Ferrybank. The other half; we could do with a few wetsuits for when we go out on the water.
The spot at Bloom next June, however, is the main part of the prize and the children of the Pact project will be working with the Brothers of Charity disability services group on the final garden.
The garden will also be professionally finished with the teenagers at the group also learning from the experience.
Cuddihy adds that he’s also recently been informed that the entire Pact group will be provided with transport to Bloom as part of Irish Rail’s Journeys with TheJournal.ie partnership.
“This prize has given us the opportunity to bring everybody on the project up there for a day and to see the garden and to see Bloom. The young people we work with from disadvantaged area would never have considered something like Bloom,” Cuddihy says.
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Matt a nice guy but he is the establishment and has a D4 bias. Read his vitirol against McGregor yet relatively silent on his mate Hook.
Yates comes from privilege as stated himself in his book. Privately educated the silver cutlery set from his mouth not just the spoon.
Banks good, unions bad, we have to pay for water ah sure give the government a chance….. same same same……. Social media will thrive with this insiders at the helm pontificating.
@John Stafford: Considering Cooper from Cork he done well for himself if he has embedded him in the D4 establishment.
@mickmc: reread my comment. You are extracting meaning where there is none.
The McGregor/ Hook difference is only one example where he suits a story to fit a ideology.
I have met Matt on numerous occasions he is a nice guy but he is full of bias. He defends power and often he defends the indefensible as he is a hack lacking journalistic integrity.
This problem is not confined to Matt and is not supposed to be a personal tirade just the awful state of journalism in this country.
Yates counts DOB as his personal friend.
Dead cat show.
To cut a long story short : you will not get debate here. You will get bias, propaganda and misdirection.
I am being too harsh here. I am sure TV3 are environment conscious and reckon that they can reduce their carbon footprint by asking fellow ” I want your land” Pat Kenny to give the lads a lift home after rehearsals.
Sure they live in the same direction, eat in the same restaurant s and covert in the same bankrupt circles.
Doing their bit for the environment.
@John Stafford: I will be giving this a miss. Don’t like either of them. They definitely won’t be filling Vincent’s boots.
Jobs for the boys as usual! What is News?
@Bernadette Purcell: How dare they get jobs jist because theyre popular and experienced.
@Neal Ireland Hello.: they are yawn material.
@Neal Ireland Hello.: Agree whole-heartedly. If you are in the national spotlight, you will have as many haters as supporters. Bernadette would prefer some long-time Dole mule to get the job, despite the fact they dont want to work.
@Larry Fitzwell: I’d say your surname refers to how well your lower orifice accommodates your head.
It will be a pile of S@$te no doubt, pretty much like every tabloidish tripe that comes out of TV3, the only successful programme ever made on this ghastly station was tonight with Vincent Browne. Matt and Ivan are no Vincent’s , it will be a train wreck, Matt probing the nicetees of his guests, Ivan trying to concut conspiracies/ controversies even from the most mundane guests.
@Joseph Dempsey: What is the point of you? Writing something off before you have seen 1 minute of it!!! Must be hard to live with all that bitterness inside you?
@Larry Fitzwell: god bless you Larry, is that it, is this all you can contribute? It would normally take 10 seconds of my time to respond to anything TV3 has to offer but I was busy warming my redibrex. As an aside perhaps you could name a single production of quality that has come out of this station? It’s nothing but a cheap advertising bill board. Your final inference re living with bitterness has a disturbing undertone so doesn’t merit comment but I can assure you I live a deliriously happy life.
Life is far to short to spend even ten seconds listening to them two posh boys.
I’m expecting a cringe fest
Let’s hope they stick to the current affairs and it doesn’t become a quasi sports affair…there is enough of that on st the weekend.
It sounds awful. Iwouldn’t be bothered watching. Two DOB employees, one an ex-Fine Gael minister.
For the love of god, does everything have to be called “Today” or “Tonight” or The Daily Tonight Show” or some combination of the above!
As someone who get up early in the morning I can’t see myself getting to see too much of it if it’s starting at 11pm
It’s on too late. Why do both RTE and TV3 schedule current affairs programs when most people are heading off for a night’s sleep. Why aren’t these programs shown earlier in the evening instead of feckin Frock Finders and other similar dross.
POLL:
Will you be watching? Come on predictable journal
Mick Clifford : the only man for he job,This pair it will be all cosy and chummy with a few insider barbs exchanged,well that’s showbiz folks.
Will Enda be the first Guest
They are obviously not targetting the workimg audience, the people who get out of bed early have to be in bed by 11
Hope you’re opinionated and as bullish as ever Ivan,not a watered down version
It is an American approach, with 2 questioners of different view points, the purpose of which is to create an entertaining polarisation of outlook.
It is current affairs as light, very light, entertainment.
Who will do the nasty old guff and blather, refelecting the voice of prejudice and anti rationality?
How about discussing the witch hunt that was George Hook where you can’t even voice your opinion on the radio.
I’m not a fan of either of them, I can’t even listen to them on the radio but I’ll have a look at the show and see how it goes.
Better that than “a table with four walking legs,” like I experienced at a seance one night. Straight up. I announced I wasn’t convinced and the whole thing was a scam. A few minutes later I felt the pressure of (heavy) wood nudging me. No pulleys or other devices were in evidence…
have your say