Ulster Presidents Awards – Saturday night proved to be another great night for the Club with us winning the overall Ulster GAA Presidents Award for our work completed in conjunction with the Club Màith initiative. The Club Màith accreditation is a scheme which allows clubs to benchmark themselves against best practice which is seen as something similar to the ISO Trade Quality mark for GAA Clubs. In doing so, it encourages clubs to aim for excellence in the core areas of GAA club activity, i.e. governance, duty of care, community enhancement, culture & heritage, and coaching & games development. Clubs are then given a level of accreditation, which acts as a quality mark for them. Currently the Castleblayney Faughs along with Warrenpoint are the only holders of the prestigious Platinum award. The submission for the Ulster GAA Presidents Awards was made under the Duty of Care category which is part of the overall Club Màith programme, but club officials were delighted when were were announced as the overall Winner of the top award. This is our second consecutive Ulster GAA Presidents Award, with the Club last year winning second place overall for its Juvenile Coaching. Well done to all in the club, we are making real steady progress, let’s keeping working hard on these building blocks for an even more successful future.
Senior team – Next Sunday the 16th of November see the senior team make the eight mile trip to Ballybay to play the Pearse Brothers in the Semi-final of this year’s Senior League. Ballybay will start as firm favourites, with two big wins over the Faughs already this year although the Faughs have improved considerably as the season progressed. Throw in time is 2pm and can we ask as many of the Club supporters to travel over to support the team. Best of Luck to the players and management.
Faughs Juvenile Winter Programme –Numbers were very strong this week despite the heavy rain and wind but as they often say it’s only the parents who worry about the rain as the children laughed and played for over an hour. Training is at the usual times this week again and we encourage all new parents and children to attend. Further details on training times and locations can be found on our website www.CastleblayneyFaughs.com or on the Club Facebook www.facebook.com/BlayneyFaughs.
Mc Mahon Supervalu 5 K – Plans are well underway for this year’s Mc Mahon Supervalu Castleblayney 5K which happens on Sunday the 30th of November at 2pm. We are currently looking for as many people to complete the 5K either by walking or by running and would ask that as many club members play some part on such a great community day. The event which has now become part of the calendar of the Castleblayney area, has developed each year with an increased number of people competing in the event. This year we will have fitness guru Pat Divilly from Galway joining us for the very popular “question and answer” session directly after the Race in the Glencarn Hotel. Pat who is one of Ireland’s leading fitness and nutrition experts, will be on hand to discuss fitness programmes as well as signing copies of his new nutrition book “The Naked Paleo” which looks at the impact of food on weight loss and longer living. Pat who had heard about our 5K through the National media is really excited about the event and indeed is taking a bus full of runners from Galway for the day. So dust down those runners and let’s get moving. Registration is available online at www.castleblayneyfaughs.com or www.Runireland.com or you can give your money to any committee member.
National promotional Video – The Mc Mahon Supervalu Castleblayney 5K has been chosen by the National Health and Wellness committee as their promotional video for all the County and National Conventions. At a National GAA Level, the 5K Run and Operation TransFAUGHSmation have really captured the imagination of everyone in Croke Park, the promotional video will take a behind the scenes look at the event, how it all comes together and what are the views of the people who participate. This is yet another great honour for the club and shows that the work being undertaken by the Club is at the leading edge of GAA development in the local community.
Operation TransFAUGHSmation –It was great to see the numbers really back up this week after the mid-term break, we had a great Zumba class last Friday night with Charlene Casey and on Sunday the field was yet again full with beginner runners/walkers. Tuesday night we have the normal circuits class before Boxercise on Friday. With only a couple of weeks to go, we would like everyone to give a big push for the last few sessions. We will also do a trial run on Sunday the 16th of the actual circuit for the McMahons Supervalu Castleblayney 5K. Let’s make sure we are all up for the challenge over the next few weeks.
Health & Wellbeing Conference – The Club have received great praise for their presentation at Saturdays Ulster Council’s Health & Wellbeing Conference ‘Sláinte is Táinte – Health is Wealth’ in Belfast. Club Secretary Melissa Conlon and Club PRO and OPTFM Leader Louisa O’Brien addressed two large crowds for forty minutes at a time during two scheduled workshops, on the background surrounding Operation TransFAUGHSmation, how it operates and how successful it has actually become. Indeed the ladies were answering questions for some time on the information they presented after the original presentation was completed. Well done ladies.
Well done – This week’s well done goes out again to all the people who took part in the OPTFM Cycle, it was with great pleasure that the Club were able to present two cheques this week to Castleblayney Cancer Society and St Marys Hospital. The event raised €3,233 which was split between both charities. A huge well done to everyone who took part and a huge thank you to everyone who donated.
Lotto – There was no winner of this week’s lotto jackpot which now stands at €6300. The numbers drawn were 6, 9, 16 and 25. The two lucky dip winners were Bev Butcher, C/o Sarah Mackin and Joan Hanratty, Cairde. Next weeks’ draw will take place in Tavey’s Bar. Best of luck to everyone and many thanks for your continued support.