Carndonagh scouts get top community award

Carndonagh scouts have been recognised for their huge contribution to their local community and at their recent investiture were presented with the Donegal Volunteer Centre ME4U Award.

ME4U is an annual award that recognises groups significantly contributing to their local communities.

There is no shortage of competition for the award in Donegal as the county is blessed with groups dedicated to serving the community.

“We are absolutely delighted that our hard work resuming scouting post-pandemic has been acknowledged in this way,” Ailish Tully, the leader of the Carndonagh Scouts group said.

“It’s nice to get that bit of recognition and it gives us motivation to keep driving forward.”
Ailish has been with the 8th Donegal Scouts Carndonagh scouts since its establishment 46 years ago, joining as a youth member in 1976.

The Carn scouts were closed for 18 months during the covid 19 pandemic, but the leaders were determined to use this time wisely. They secured the old GAA building behind Colgan Hall and spent the hiatus developing plans and securing funding to renovate the derelict property.

This year the scouts undertook a variety of tasks including hiking, camping and even music making with Lorna McLaughlin of the Henry Girls.

When they began to “put the ‘out’ back in ‘scout’” and return to normality they received a huge boost from the scouts’ parents and guardians.

“We had all these new leaders who required training and it is extensive as you can be responsible for the children and there’s very strict requirements with Garda vetting. So we actually had to include all the parents last year to supervise their own children so we could provide scouting.

“They came in their dozens and dozens every week. It was just incredible. They didn’t just sign the child up, they signed themselves up.”

“Now that everyone is trained we don’t require that support but there were over 100 people at almost every activity.”

Ailish thanked the parents for their incredible show of support.

She thanked the 28 scouters (leaders) for their enthusiasm, commitment, hard work and generosity with their time. The 103 youth members for their sense of fun and adventure which inspire sand motivates the leaders to continue to put in the hard work.

She also thanked the community and the funding bodies, in particular Donegal County Council and IDP.

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