We wanted to apply to the Elevate Programme to be able to offer a range of health focused workshops for our members. We wanted workshops to promote participation in physical and mental wellbeing activities and help women build their confidence and self-esteem through becoming more health aware. During workshops we wanted to cover topics such as Women’s health, wellbeing, nutrition, exercise, self-esteem, and healthy ageing. Primarily the project was to promote women’s health and wellbeing and to help them to feel part of the community. Warrenpoint Women’s Group was established in 2022 and as a very new group we were keen to access mentoring support to help us build our confidence and access support and advice from our mentor.
With the help of our mentor, Claire Convery in Clanrye, and with the feedback from the women in the group we decided to run different Health and Wellbeing courses/workshops in the Methodist Hall in Warrenpoint. Claire connected us with Ciaran Corr who ran a Tai Chi course. Normally 18-20 Ladies attended the course. Ladies in the group found Ciaran to be very helpful and supportive for their needs. While the course was Tai Chi he also did a mix of mindfulness and meditation. We found by the end of the course the group had formed quite a close bond and it was lovely to see them open up about different things in their lives and sharing stories within the safe space of a smaller setting than our usual events. In addition to the Tai Chi course, we also organised a Frist Aid Workshop and workshop with Women’s Aid. The Elevate funding also helped us organise regular committee and planning meetings where we were able to plan activities and discuss next steps for the group and explore how we could build on the success of the Project.
The focus of our group is to prevent loneliness and isolation in the community and support local women to build up their confidence and wellbeing, helping them to feel an important and valued member of the community. The ladies who took part in our project found it helped with their mental health and wellbeing. It created a space for ladies to come together and speak about their concerns and worries. It helped them to build their confidence and self-esteem and learn new ways look after their physical and mental health. The project was for a smaller group than what would normally be at the regular coffee mornings and evening events, and we found the ladies engaged more with each other and you could see them opening up more within the group and sharing stories with each other.
We are a very new group; this has been our first year running so we were delighted to be chosen to participate in the Elevate programme. Working with Clanrye Group gave us the confidence to know we could organise and run the group. As well as receiving help and advice on our project, we also received support on how to register for being a charity and some of the group took part in social media training which was very beneficial. We now are more aware of all the services and support available for our group, and we have built up a good relationship with Clanrye Group. This connection will be very useful in the future as we will use some of their speakers possibly for our coffee mornings etc. The main thing about being part of the Elevate programme for us was knowing that we had help and support from our mentor when we needed it which as a new startup group is amazing so thank you very much for all your help.
We are keen to continue to run more workshops as we can see how much of a difference the Project made to the members who participated and the feedback from all the members was amazing.
"We found the Elevate Programme to be amazing for us as a very new group, knowing you have a mentor to help and support you along the way gives you the confidence to get your group going knowing you have a guiding hand for any help and advice you need along the way."
Eilish Breen, Treasurer, Warrenpoint Women’s Group
