Junior Parkrun Dungarvan –  VOLUNTEER INFORMATION EVENING

HELP US BRING PARKRUN TO DUNGARVAN

We have been working in partnership with Waterford City and County Council and Parkrun Ireland to explore the possibility of starting a Junior Parkrun in Walton Park, Abbeyside, Dungarvan. A Junior Parkrun is a weekly 2k run/walk for children aged between 4 and 14 that takes place every Sunday at 9.30am.  Junior Parkruns are open to all, free, and are safe and easy to take part in. The courses are marshalled so that juniors will be in sight of at least one marshal, at all times. This event would provide a fantastic opportunity for young people from Dungarvan and surrounding areas to be physically active in a safe environment.

Parkruns are run by volunteers so, the key for the event to be successful in Dungarvan is the creation of a team of approximately fifteen volunteers who would work on a carousel basis to run the event.

WSP Programme Manager, Peter Jones is coordinating an Information Evening at the Causeway Tennis Club on Wednesday 13^th March from 7.30 to 8.30pm.

If you would be interested in being part of this volunteering group and able to volunteer for roughly one Sunday a month for an hour, please book your FREE place HERE

For more information please call Peter Jones on 087 1015130
or email: pjones@waterfordsportspartnership.ie

Women in Sport Week is fast approaching. We have a range of taster sessions, training and programmes on offer. Registration will open on eventbrite.ie at 9am this Wednesday 14th February. Places are limited so please book early to avoid dissappointment!

BOOKINGS OPEN HERE @9AM ON WEDNESDAY 14th FEB 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Natalia Pocelujko on 086 165 4305 or email npocelujko@waterfordsportspartnership.ie

CONGRATULATION TO SALLY KAVANAGH WHO HAS BEEN NAMED THE 2023 WATERFORD RECIPIENT OF THE FEDERATION OF IRISH SPORT VOLUNTEERS IN SPORT AWARDS SUPPORTED BY THE NATIONAL NETWORK OF 29 LOCAL SPORTS PARTNERSHIPS.

The awards ceremony will take place at The Crowne Plaza Hotel, Blanchardstown on Thursday 29th February 2024

Friday 9th February 2024: The Federation of Irish Sport today announced the County recipients of the 2023 Volunteers in Sport Awards proudly supported by the National Network of 29 Local Sports Partnerships. The Waterford award for 2023 has been awarded to Sally Kavanagh of Waterford Hockey Club.

Recognising the depth and breadth of volunteering in sporting communities nationwide, these dedicated volunteers will be celebrated at a national awards ceremony in Dublin on Thursday 29th February 2024. The invited special guest speaker is Minister Thomas Byrne, Minster of State with responsibility for Sport and Physical Education, which is testament to the commitment at government level to supporting and recognising the vital role of volunteers in advancing sports participation and community development.

The winner of the award for Co. Waterford is Sally Kavanagh of Waterford Hockey Club. Sally has been a club member for over half a century. Having played hockey for UCC and Munster during the 60’s and 70’s, when she arrived in Waterford, the female team was about to disband due to lack of numbers. Sally got the team up and running again and played until 1980, serving as team captain and club captain. During a long-term as club secretary, she introduced the “Floodlit League” to raise much needed funds. In 2012 she was President of the Munster Branch of Hockey Ireland and in 2015 she served as President of Waterford Hockey Club. She is a true advocate for the game and consummate Volunteer in Sport. The economic significance of volunteering in sport cannot be overstated, it has an estimated
value of €1.5 billion annually to the Irish economy. This figure underscores the immense social and economic benefits derived from the invaluable contributions of volunteers across the Irish sporting landscape.

In addition to the county award winners being recognised at the ceremony, anticipation will be high as one exceptional individual will be awarded with the overall Outstanding Volunteer Award. Federation CEO Mary O’Connor commented; “We are looking forward to celebrating the exceptional contributions made by volunteers in sport from all over the country. Working behind the scenes volunteers play a crucial role in fostering community engagement, promoting physical activity, and driving the success of sporting events nationwide, they are truly #DedicatedToTheDedicated.

The awards promise to be yet again another remarkable event acknowledging the time and passion of those involved in sport locally and to say, ‘thank you’ for their dedication.” Commenting on the announcement of the list of recipients, Head of Sport, Louth LSP, Louth
County Council and member of the judging panel Graham Russell stated, “The 2023 Volunteers in Sport Awards serve as a reminder of the power of volunteering in sport, celebrating individuals whose unwavering dedication enriches lives, strengthens communities,
and encourages a culture of active living.”

For more information, please visit www.volunteersinsport.ie

Waterford Sports Partnership, on behalf of the PACC initiative, invites submissions from suitably experienced individuals, agencies or multi-disciplinary teams to facilitate a learning and development process that will include elements of research, facilitation and evaluation.

Physical Activity for People with Chronic Conditions (PACC)
The PACC initiative involves a multi-stakeholder collaboration that was initiated in 2021 by the Carlow, Waterford and Westmeath Sports Partnerships with initial funding secured under the 2020 Dormant Accounts Innovation Fund, managed by Sport Ireland.  Key stakeholders involved in the strategic direction and oversight of PACC are the aforementioned Local Sports Partnerships, the HSE and Higher Education Institutions, specifically the South East Technological University (SETU), Carlow and Waterford and the Technological University of the Shannon (TÚS) in Athlone.  The PACC core stakeholders aspire to an Ireland in which people with chronic conditions have equal opportunity to access regular, appropriate, supported  and high quality physical activity in accordance with their needs and interests.  Consequently, PACC has set out to understand and address systemic barriers to the participation of people with chronic conditions in physical activity through the creation of a replicable, multisectoral, evidence-informed, collaborative initiative that generates learning and builds on evidenced practice.

Community-based Information and Signposting Towards Physical Activity:
Overview of Project
Community-based Information and Signposting Towards Physical Activity is a pilot project of PACC. The project is premised on the understanding that ongoing effective information flow is as an important vehicle in promoting partnership between health and exercise professionals, and is critical in building the confidence and capacity of people living with chronic conditions to participate in community-based physical activity programme.

Consequently, the pilot project set out to develop a formalised engagement process between healthcare professionals, social prescribers and community-based physical activity providers, and to test that engagement in Waterford city and county.  The project works towards the following outcomes:

• increased information-flow, linkage and collaboration between Waterford Sports Partnership and i) Waterford Social Prescribing Service  and ii) Waterford Chronic Disease Hub;
• people living well with chronic conditions in Waterford city and county have i) increased knowledge of community-based physical activity opportunities and ii) increased confidence to participate in community-based programmes; and
• increased participation of people living well with chronic conditions in the programmes of WSP.

In the longer term, the project is also working towards the establishment of an evidence-informed, collaborative, community-based information and signposting process that, via evaluation, will be identified as an innovative and replicable good practice model in contributing to the participation of people with chronic conditions in physical activity.

The project is delivered by a multi-stakeholder working group, comprising representatives of Waterford Sports Partnership; HSE Chronic Disease Hub, Waterford; HSE Healthy Eating and Active Living Programme; HSE Self Help Management, CHO5; Technological University of the Shannon (TÚS) and the Waterford Social Prescribing Service (City and County). The group is supported by the PACC Programme Facilitator.

Consultancy
The Pilot Project Working Group finds itself at an important juncture at the beginning of 2024. There is a strong commitment within the Working Group to the independent evaluation of its work, particularly in terms of its impact on the participation of people living well with chronic conditions in community-based exercise programmes of WSP. And there is an equally strong commitment to capturing learning from programme implementation that will have value to similar efforts that are evolving, and will continue to evolve, in other communities.

However, there is also a shared recognition within the Working Group that more needs to be done to strengthen the delivery and impact of the project  in Waterford.  The Group recognises that, to date, it has developed its own approach to information-sharing and signposting. In other words, it has ploughed its own furrow without reference to other models in operation or without reference to national/international evidence of what works in this space.

The Pilot Project Working Group therefore not only wants to access external expertise to conduct independent evaluation, it also wishes to access expertise that will facilitate all stakeholders in this initiative to  work strategically towards improved signposting, improved participation of people with chronic conditions and an impactful model for dissemination and replication.

A full Terms of Reference for the consultancy is provided HERE

Tender Closing Date: 5p.m. on Monday 26th February, 2024.

Contact details for applicants: 
Any queries relating to the proposed consultancy should be directed by email to Neil Haran, PACC Facilitator and operating on behalf of Waterford Sports Partnership at njharan1968@gmail.com. Closing date for receipt of queries will be 5pm on Wednesday 21st February 2024.

Contact details for tender submission: 
Completed tender documents should be submitted electronically by 5pm on Monday 26th February, 2024 to Rosarie Kealy, Coordinator, Waterford Sports Partnership at rkealy@waterfordsportspartnership.ie. Please mark Tender Submission: Learning and Development Consultancy in Support of Waterford Community-based Information and Signposting Pilot Initiative in the subject line.