A new year of fun and healthy activities is about to get underway at Clare libraries.
Healthy Ireland, a Government-led initiative, is the national strategy to improve health and wellbeing, placing a focus on prevention, individual awareness and keeping people healthy for longer.
Clare County Library delivers the nationwide ‘Healthy Ireland at Your Library programme’, that aims to establish libraries as a valuable source within the community for health information.
A packed programme of events are delivered throughout Clare between January and December.
Frances Pender, Clare libraries healthy Ireland coordinator, says a wide range of classes, workshops and concerts are planned for the year ahead.
“Libraries have changed so much in recent years. They are no longer just quiet places you go to borrow books. They are community hubs. You have learning in all these different forms”, Frances explains,
And the healthy Ireland programme is very much at the forefront of that new form of learning.
Each year, hundreds of people of all ages take part in the programme organised by Frances and her colleagues.
Whether it’s tai-chi, chair yoga, mindfulness or getting tips and advice from guest speakers and experts, the healthy Ireland programme aims to deliver something for everybody.
Frances says, “We cater for all age groups. We have worked with primary schoolchildren. We had mindfulness workshops that were rolled out across the county. Play therapy for children under the age of 10 was also very popular”.
“We do all forms of yoga including chair yoga which is about doing a range of exercises from your chair. Over the last few years we did a lot of Zoom classes for nursing homes and there was a really good take up for that. At the moment, we are planning those classes again for January and February. We also ran a mindfulness workshop at the direct provision centre in north Clare. During coved we delivered an awful lot of events”.
The end of covid era restrictions means many classes can take place in person but Frances says a number of “hybrid” healthy Ireland events will also take place.
She explains, “For older people and nursing home residents, we still organise a lot of activities online, through Zoom. We have so many people taking part and its been brilliant. We’ve had Zoom concerts and they were so well received that we’ve put on a few of them in different nursing homes around the county”.
Local libraries, school and bodies such as Clare Sports Partnership all contribute to a diverse programme that offers something for all ages.
Each year, the programme also features guest speakers and experts.
Frances says, “They have been very popular and we get a great response. In recent years we have had talks from Dr Mary O’Kane who held workshops on parenting; Clare Flynn who works in the area of mental health; Pius Murray gave a talk on walking and wellbeing and the pilgrim pathways of Ireland.
“And also we have a really good collection of healthy Ireland books and literature in the libraries for anyone looking to learn more. Library membership is free”.
Frances is encouraging anyone interested in taking part in heathy Ireland events to keep an eye on the Clare County Library website and social media accounts.
