Twenty children, a week in Ardgillan and a lot of clay, paint, plants, bats and bicycles make for a very special Sustainable Skerries summer project in August. Now in its third year, the idea behind the nature camp is to give children the chance to get outdoors, get creative and have fun in nature.
Over the course of the week, the children took part in a wide range of activities, like nature walks, tree art, yoga, bird watching and lots more. They learned about bats and the important role they play in our ecosystems. They also had the opportunity to start learning about wildflowers with Zoë Devlin’s fabulous plant ID book, Wildflowers of Ireland. Identifying wild plants is a lovely way for children to start noticing what is growing all around us.
Sustainable Skerries believe there is something really valuable about giving children this kind of experience. Children get to understand nature as somewhere to be creative, discover wildlife, make things with natural materials, relax in and enjoy. Sustainable Skerries also hope that an annual camp can help children build curiosity, develop an appreciation for local biodiversity and understand why looking after our environment matters.
The 20 places were snapped up within minutes, which shows the appetite for opportunities like this in our community.
The week was made possible through very generous support from Fingal County Council, which sponsored the project and provided the permits to use the grounds at Ardgillan. That support is essential to running an event like this.
Amy and Edel from Colour and Art (https://www.colourandart.ie/) led the activities and were inspiring, encouraging and kind while giving the children plenty of room to be themselves. Pauline, Ciara and Breda were the Sustainable Skerries volunteers who organised and helped run the event.
And the week didn’t finish in the usual way. On the last day, the children visited an open orchard with Sabine (Skerries Open Orchard Project / Sustainable Skerries) before heading off on a fun cycle with Michael, Dave and Steve of Skerries Cycling Initiative. They cycled down to South Strand, where they enjoyed being outdoors and got to see some of the other community projects happening in Skerries, including the Community eCargo Bike, the Cycling Without Age Trishaw and the Sustainable Skerries Beach Toy Box.
There is something heartening about seeing a group of young children getting excited about birds, wildflowers, trees, clay, bicycles and the beach. They were learning and discovering all week, but it never felt like school.
If you’d like to be among the first to know about such projects, make sure to subscribe to the Sustainable Skerries Email Newsletter!
Text and photo credit: Sustainable Skerries
![NOTICE is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of The Skerries Community Association CLG (SCA) will be held in the
Little Theatre on Thursday 15 June 2023 at 8 pm to transact the Ordinary Business of the Company, that is to say: –
1. To confirm the Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting
2. To receive and adopt the Directors’ Report and Financial Statements for year ended 31 Dec. 2022
3. To elect Directors to the Board of Skerries Community Association CLG
4. To elect Members to Skerries Community Centre Board of Management
5. To reappoint Dempsey Mullen as Auditors and to authorise the Directors to fix their remuneration
6. To transact any other business proper to an Annual General Meeting of the Company.
Dated this the 22 May 2023, by order of the Board, Secretary.
NOTE 1. No person other than a Director of the Company retiring at the meeting shall, unless recommended by the
Directors, be eligible for election to the office of Director at any general meeting unless, not less than three (i.e. 12 June
2023) nor more than 21 days (i.e. 26 May 2023) before the date appointed for the meeting, there has been left at the
registered office notice in writing, signed by a member duly qualified to attend and vote at the meeting for which notice
is given, of his/her intention to propose such a person for election, and also Notice in writing signed by that person of
his/her willingness to be elected. [Nomination Form below].
NOTE 2. The names of candidates who have consented to stand for election to the Board of Management of the
Community Centre, together with the names of their proposers and seconders, shall be given in writing to the Secretary,
and shall be posted on the Community Centre Notice Board at least three days prior (by 12 June 2023) to the holding
of the Annual General Meeting. [Nomination Form below].
NOTE 3. Copies of the Directors’ Report and Financial Statements will be available to members at the Community Centre
and at www.Skerriesca.com at least seven days prior to the holding of the Annual General Meeting.](https://www.skerriesca.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image.png)