Batter up! Cricket and painting helps inclusion in Limerick village

A CRICKET match and a helping hand on a community project: those were the components of Volunteer Week 2018 at the Manor Fields complex in Adare.

The Limerick Volunteer Centre and West Limerick Resources joined forces to complete a number of painting tasks at the Adare community playground and cricket oval, which resulted in a unique event built around social inclusion and integration.

Residents from the Mount Trenchard direct provision centre volunteered, along with employees from General Motors, to complete the painting of fences and buildings within the community development. Nine different nationalities worked together on the project.

The volunteers then took to the cricket field for an international friendly match, with support from Limerick Cricket Club.

“This project is one example of the strong community spirit in West Limerick and one which we believe can be built on by supporting and increasing the social inclusion aspect in the community – linking individuals to community, connecting community groups to businesses through volunteering, and also, in this instance, sport,” said Dearbhla Conlon Ahern, who works on West Limerick Resources’ Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP).

SICAP 2018-2022 is funded by the Irish Government and co-funded by the European Social Fund under an employability and inclusion programme.