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28 Feb 2023

Supporting Health and Wellbeing at the AONTAS STAR Awards

AONTAS STAR Awards 2023 hashtag STAR Awards 2023

The STAR Awards recognise the very best in adult learning in Ireland. We celebrate and acknowledge the incredible adult learning initiatives going on across the country, in support of learners, as part of the AONTAS Adult Learners’ Festival.

This year, there are 26 fantastic shortlisted initiatives. We’ll announce the winners at a special ceremony in Dublin on Friday 10th March – an exciting event to finish our 2023 Adult Learners’ Festival!

The shortlist is divided into five categories of adult learning initiatives that support people with:

The STAR Awards is judged by an independent panel of educators, policymakers, adult learners, and other adult learning experts. Let’s take a closer look at the shortlisted initiatives for the category of Health and Wellbeing.

This category, which is sponsored by Mental Health Ireland, is open to adult learning initiatives that support increased health and wellbeing for participants, including mental and physical health, recovery from addiction, nutrition, and sports. To reflect the range and high calibre of the shortlisted groups, we have two awards in this category – one for smaller and one for larger initiatives.

 

Here are the nominations for the small/medium-sized initiatives:

 

Poleglass Community Association @ Sally Gardens

Sally Gardens is a grassroots community organisation that delivers frontline services. A four-year employability initiative, ‘Building Your Future’, supports participants to overcome barriers to employment and education. Participants have set up a ‘Walk & Talk’ group to get fit and enjoy some mindfulness, as well as a sewing and knitting group where they encourage each other and share their passions, goals and struggles. A key part of the initiative is Approaches to Wellness, and participants of the initiative have experienced better health and well-being, with many now valued volunteers at Sally Gardens. Some have landed their dream job, and others are now successful entrepreneurs doing what they love.

 

Equine-Assisted Learning

This is a partnership between Rag Tree Equine-Assisted Learning, Sports Active Wexford, and Occupational Therapy in Wexford CAMHS, offering Equine-Assisted Learning to young adults who are out of school completely, on reduced time tables, or in receipt of home tuition. This may be due to anxiety, sensory difficulties, and trauma. Equine-Assisted Learning combines therapeutic interventions with an emphasis on developing communication skills, assertiveness, self-efficacy and more, but with an innovative component involving relationships and activities with horses. Learners are offered accredited modules as well as individual and goal-focused mental health support. The programme is experiential in nature and while engaging in activities with horses, the participants learn about themselves and interpersonal interactions. Learners now meet outside of the programme and have formed a strong social group. They talk to each other about their experiences and issues affecting their lives, and some have started volunteering.

 

Sailing Into Wellness, supported by Waterford Wexford ETB

Sailing Into Wellness uses sailing and the sea to support people in their recovery from addiction and poor mental health. This is an educational, socially-inclusive programme that encourages participants to use their life experience as a platform for growth. Through experiential learning, participants build communication, teamwork, and leadership skills. They are invited to set personal goals, overcome fears, and learn about managing emotions and stressful situations, decision-making, and general resilience. Learners give instruction and feedback, work as a team, take on leadership roles, and learn how to communicate effectively. These skills enable personal development which leads to developing the confidence to take up positions in further education and employment.

 

And here are the nominations for the large-sized initiatives:

 

Arts for Health

Arts for Health is a managed arts education programme for older people in healthcare settings, embedded into community hospitals and day care services. The programme takes place in 11 geographically-dispersed rural locations in West Cork. Introducing arts education into healthcare settings provides learners with cultural access, choice, lifelong learning opportunities and community involvement. The programme is about improving the quality of life of those in residential care. Healthcare staff report specific improvements in participants’ mood, socialisation, and mental and physical capacity. The evidence of this has also had benefits for staff and family members, as well as the learners themselves.

 

Special Olympics Ireland - Health Promotion Programme

Health has a substantial impact on the quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities. It affects each athlete’s ability to effectively train and compete in sports. The Health Promotion Programme with Special Olympics Ireland provides accessible health information to people with an intellectual disability, in their own community. The programme has been running for 14 years and over 100 athletes take part in it annually. A Health Promotion toolkit contains 19 practical health education workshops, supplemented by packs for all participating athletes. Health Promotion Facilitators deliver workshops in community Special Olympics clubs, intellectual disability services or online. Workshops cover topics like nutrition, hydration, mental wellbeing, smoking, and personal hygiene. Research into programme outcomes has shown an increase in athletes’ health knowledge and behaviour change.

 

Start360 Engage Women's Service Recovery Group

Start360 Engage Women's Service supports women connected with the justice system, both in custody and in the community. It particularly focuses on women affected by paramilitarism who face increased risk of community isolation, intimidation, and violence. The service provides one-to-one support to over 100 women annually and develops positive connections with the community through education. The Recovery Group builds participants’ confidence to be part of their own communities and move toward further learning. Recovery is seen as a starting point and learning about health and wellbeing in a supportive and compassionate peer group can bolster participants to achieve their goals. Learning about art, creative writing, and nature supports learners to connect with the world around them and improves their physical and mental wellbeing.

 

Because the STAR Awards ceremony is focussed on the nominees, particularly the learners, it is an invite-only event. But we'll be sharing the ceremony as it happens on our social media, and spotlighting the winners. 

Find us on aontas.com or on TwitterFacebookInstagram and LinkedIN for the latest updates.

#ALF23 

#CreateYourWorld

 

About the Festival

The Adult Learners’ Festival, happening this year from 6th to 10th March, is a nationwide celebration of adult learning. It offers organisations and groups the chance to promote the value and benefits of lifelong learning for communities, families and workplaces. It is a chance for groups to reinforce existing partnerships in the community, and to establish new ones. This year’s theme is Create Your World – because life is not about finding yourself, it’s about creating yourself. Visit this page for more details about the Festival

For more information, contact Charis Hughes, Head of Communications at chughes@aontas.com