Newsletter 21 December 2024

Sunday Morning

On Sunday morning we had 36 volunteers plus 11 Transition Year Students out for our Last “Official” Litter Pick of 2024.

We covered a big area and gave everywhere a deep clean. Pat collected 14 bags of general litter plus a bag of glass. Three of these bags were collected during the week from daily litter picks.

Pat took everything to HQ in his trusty jeep for segregation on Monday.

We thank each and every single one of our amazing volunteers for their continued dedication during the past year. They give tirelessly of their time to ensure Ballincollig looks clean. They get nothing from this except Pride.

Thankfully the volume of litter we collect continues to decrease and we are very grateful to people who continually use the many bins throughout Ballincollig.

Gum and Butt Bins

This year we increased the number of Cigarette Butt and Gum Bins throughout Ballincollig’s streets and back streets.

Every Sunday Denis empties these bins and each Sunday we get a photo into the diary of the bag after the collection and the great news is that the bag is getting fuller every week. Denis does an amazing job on this project every week.

Unfortunately there are some businesses that their employees and customers constantly throw their butts on the ground. If our volunteers didn’t pick them up it would be a different story. Clearly they don’t have the same Pride in their Community.

Ballincollig FET Centre

From January Ballincollig FET are starting some new computers courses, for Beginners and Improvers.

They will have a Level 3 Art & Design class and a new course ‘Living Your Best Life!’ (QQI L3 Personal Effectiveness) and an introductory course in Environmental Sustainability Awareness, Eco Awareness.

They are also bringing back some of our popular 6-week ‘taster’ courses, in

• Creative Writing,

• Driver Theory Test Preparation,

• Make Up Application, (followed by Nail Application course)

• Arts & Crafts

in addition to their slightly longer introductory courses in Conversational Irish and Irish and Modern History.

In the Springtime they are aiming to have courses in Smartphone Content Creation, Getting the most out of your mobile, Houseplant Care, Horticulture and sewing.

Santa Visit

On Sunday morning in the Plaza we had arranged some lovely Christmas Treats for our volunteers including the Plaza’s famous Mulled Wine. We were delighted that Santa took time out of his busy schedule to join us and to continue BTT on their success. He was very generous and gave each of our Transition Year students a voucher for 4 Star Pizza and each of our volunteers received a box of chocolates.

Before Santa left to head back to the North Pole he got everyone singing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

Our sincere thanks to Mary and the amazing Team at The Plaza for their hospitality week in week out. The Cuppa at The Plaza is more important than our work. Friendships have been made at The Cuppa and the chat every week says it all.

Civic Reception

On Tuesday evening Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor Dan Boyle hosted a civic reception in honour of Ballincollig Tidy Towns to celebrate Ballincollig being named as the overall winner of this year’s SuperValu Tidy Towns Competition. Ballincollig was also named Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban Centre 2024 and a 12th time Gold Medal winner.

Ballincollig Tidy Towns has a long and distinguished history with the national competition. Since it first took part in 1965, the voluntary organisation has become deeply ingrained in the ‘village’ and has made a significant impact on the local community.

Speaking at the awards, Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor Dan Boyle said: “This award is so well deserved. Ballincollig Tidy Towns is a shining example of community spirit, collaboration, perseverance, and civic pride. They have done fantastic work around greening, fostering biodiversity and are trailblazers in terms of community climate action. Their success is testament to the efforts of an army of volunteers who work week-in, week-out on litter picks, environmental projects, floral and landscaping projects and much, much more”.

Cork City Council Director of Services Rebecca Loughry, also offered her congratulations to everyone involved in Ballincollig Tidy Towns, saying: “This award and their success over many years is testament to their fantastic community spirit and great pride of place which is evident for all to see in Ballincollig. Cork City Council is very proud to support and appreciates the dedication and volunteer effort that goes into winning such a prestigious award. I also want to thank our teams in City Hall, who work with and support those voluntary efforts.”

The judges’ report of their visit said “Ballincollig is something special” and commended all those involved for “bringing together all that is good in a community to create a town that future generations can be proud of”.

Pics: Brian Lougheed.

Westgate Cake

On Sunday morning we were treated to another delicious cake from the fabulous Catering Team at Westgate Foundation. We are extremely grateful to Julie and the Team at Westgate.

Scoil Barra Visit

On Wednesday 3 of our volunteers were given an amazing welcome by the Staff and Pupils of Scoil Barra. We met them all in the Church of Christ Our Light as they practiced for their Christmas concert. We were greeted by the Green School’s Committee and we are very grateful to Principal Ms Barry for her kind words of congratulations. The students then asked a lot of excellent questions of our Chairman. We were then treated to a fantastic Christmas Melody and the students and teachers. They certainly raised the roof with their enthusiasm. Well done to everyone.

Winter Planters

This week the last of our Winter Planters were put in place. Our thanks to John and Anne for arranging these and they will enhance our streets during the winter months. Our thanks to our supervisors for putting them in place.

Crann Centre Visit

On Wednesday morning following a kind introduction from Crann Centre CEO Padraig Mallon a number of our volunteers visited the incredible facilities at The Crann Centre at Classis.

Padraig congratulated BTT on our success and before providing us with lovely refreshments he brought us on a guided tour of the magnificent facilities. The work that they do is amazing and over 600 families are utilising their facilities. Every single part of the facility is dedicated to providing life long solutions for people and families with neuro physical disabilities

We were very grateful for the invitation and the opportunity to see first hand the amazing work and facilities at The Crann Centre.

Thank You

As we come to the end of 2024 we would like to Thank everyone who has been a part of our work this year and for many years. We are extremely grateful to everyone who has contributed in any way.

We want to especially thank our amazing Committee and volunteers, Cork City Council staff both locally and in City Hall, our supervisors and the CE / TUS staff. Without the support of our sponsors we would not be able to continue so a sincere thank you to all of them and we encourage you all to Shop Local wherever possible.

We are so proud of what we have achieved this year and we are very thankful to everyone who has sent messages, cards, letters to congratulate us. Ballincollig is a fantastic community and we can we very proud of the place we call home.

Wishing everyone a very happy and peaceful Christmas and every good wish for 2025.

Please watch this slide show created from the pictures of the weekly newsletters HERE