College Vale kids’ fame on Tiktok grows

A group of Mullingar kids and teens have won midlands awards for their TikTok videos and performances as the ‘College Valers’.

The College Valers are a group of local kids from the ages of five to 14 who have set up their own TikTok account to choreograph and perform dance routines and more.

The group consists of Dylan Casserly, Hayley, Ryan and Hollie Doyle, Andrea and Oscar Muldoon, and Maddie and Lillie Nolan, all living in the College Vale estate in Mullingar.

They got together during the lockdown in 2020 and have won local awards for some of their videos.

The eldest of the group, Maddie (14), came in first place at the Youth Work Midlands awards last May for a short video she did about mental health, while the rest of the group entered together and came in second place in their category.

“We were waiting for a few days for the results, and we couldn’t stop talking about it. And when we heard, we were delighted we both won,” Maddie said.

With their prize money, the College Valers decided to do something they could all have fun with together.

“We spend it on a bouncy castle for the weekend for us all, we only ordered it for the two days, but it was left there for an extra two days so it was great,” Maddie said.

Maddie’s mother, Donna, expressed how enjoyable the group’s energy has been for all the neighbourhood.

“For us as neighbours, it was lovely to be able to go outside and have enjoyment. It has been great for the kids’ mental health, and they have stuck together,” Donna said.

“It’s been so lovely for them; they’re having a ball. They’ve learned different things, they had to give things up, but they gained other things too.”

Donna also explained how they perform for the estate for occasions like St Patrick’s Day and Hallowe’en, and they even organised a small celebration for her birthday.

The group formed and started performing with the help of Ray Dolan and his bus sessions, where he sings and streams on Facebook Live for over a year now.

“It started when my husband asked Ray to wish Lillie a happy birthday during his sessions, and that’s how it all kicked off,” Donna said.

“They’ve flowered since. Ray has encouraged them and brought them out of their shell,” Donna said.

Ray has enjoyed guiding and supporting the group and said they have shown great teamwork: “It was great to see them work together as a team, to plan and organise and deliver. We made deadlines and I only gave feedback,” Ray told the Westmeath Examiner.

“It’s great for them to do this as their schooling had been affected by the lockdowns but they were still very eager to learn and these social skills is something they will carry with them for life.”

Maddie said that it was Ray that inspired them to set up the TikTok account in the first place.

“We saw Ray’s account and thought it was really trendy and it’d be a really good idea so we could get noticed on the app,” Maddie said.

Maddie told the Westmeath Examiner that they have a performance coming up on Tuesday February 1 at 5pm.

“It’s a culture evening and it’ll be streamed on Ray’s Facebook and posted on YouTube and it’s going to be a surprise of what it’s going to be exactly,” Maddie said.

You can keep up to date with the College Valers on their TikTok account @collegevalers and keep an eye for them on Ray’s page: www.facebook.com/raydolanlive.