Park full of life for National Play Day
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Helen Joyce and her son Sé Joyce.Image 2 of 5
There was great interest in the robotics table.Image 3 of 5
Some of the children in attendance getting ready to join the circus.Image 4 of 5
Margaret Egan, Yvonne Canning, Virginia Goldsberry and Veronica Moran.Image 5 of 5
Khadija Akter and baby, and Walid Hasan enjoying the circus tricks.The laughter from the Mullingar Town Park could be heard clearly on approach last Thursday as families enjoyed a National Play Day organised by Westmeath Community Development and Westmeath County Council.
The sun was out and the grounds were dotted with booths, activities, bouncy castles, fire engines and garda cars which were thronged with children trying on helmets and sitting in the bright red fire engines.
Bubbles flew by on the walk to the Westmeath Community Development tent, beside which, children and their parents were practising circus tricks skilfully spinning plates on sticks and cartwheeling.
Margaret Egan, administrative officer in the Community Development section of Westmeath County Council, explained what National Play Day was about. “We receive funding from the Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth (DCDEIY) every year to provide National Play Day and this year we decided that we would put it on in Mullingar Town Park.
“It’s accessible, it’s central, so we have children from all over Westmeath coming here today.
“And this year we’ve put in more activities, we have circus acts, we have karate, we have ball skills, and we have robotics with Kelly Keogh.”
All the activity areas were busy seemed to grow more popular throughout the day. Morale was high, the sun was shining and the DJ was blaring tunes.
“We have a sensory table that was also funded by DCDEIY as well,” Margaret added.
“We’ve provided play bags and they’ve all run out.”
It was lovely to watch the excitement that is visible in all areas of the park. There were new friendships being formed and children were discovering new-found loves of science, of sport, and art.
“It’s a great way of bringing our community together. We also make sure that we target the disadvantaged areas as well from the Mullingar and Athlone areas.
“So we would have provided transport as well for anyone that was travelling from the far side of Westmeath and Athlone.”
Margaret and the Westmeath County Council collaborated with Westmeath Community Development, Youth Work Midlands Ireland, the Children’s and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSC) Local Authority Integration Team (LAIT) to deliver the event.
Also in attendance were the Westmeath Fire Service, local gardaí, the Civil Defence, and members of the Westmeath Football team with their Leinster Senior Cup.
The National theme was ‘play for all’ and encouraged play for all abilities.