NI sporting stars team up to tackle youth mental health with Lidl Northern Ireland’s Sport For Good Schools Programme
![Pictured (left to right) are; Youth Sport Trust Development Manager Louise Gray, World Champion gymnast Rhys McClenaghan, European Championship 1500 metre silver medallist Ciara Mageean, six-time Paralympic gold medallist swimmer Bethany Firth OBE, and Lidl Northern Ireland Sales Operations Director Gordon Cruikshanks.](https://www.newsletter.co.uk/webimg/b25lY21zOjYyZDk0MDA1LWRmZGYtNDA4My1iYTVjLWNjNjBlNzNkMDFlMjo2YzQzYTgzOS03N2U5LTQwZDUtYjFhNC1iNmVjYzZhNmI2ZjM=.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65&enable=upscale)
![Pictured (left to right) are; Youth Sport Trust Development Manager Louise Gray, World Champion gymnast Rhys McClenaghan, European Championship 1500 metre silver medallist Ciara Mageean, six-time Paralympic gold medallist swimmer Bethany Firth OBE, and Lidl Northern Ireland Sales Operations Director Gordon Cruikshanks.](/img/placeholder.png)
Six-time Paralympic gold medallist swimmer Bethany Firth OBE, European Championship 1500 metre silver medallist Ciara Mageean, and World Champion gymnast Rhys McClenaghan launched Lidl Northern Ireland’s Sport for Good Schools Programme, in partnership with the UK’s leading children’s charity the Youth Sport Trust at a special event at Queen’s University Malone Playing Fields in Belfast.
Nominations are now open for the 2023/24 programme which will see 25 secondary schools across the region receive £1,000 in funding for new sports equipment and delivery of a series of mental health workshops, led by the Youth Sport Trust’s specially trained athlete mentors.
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Hide AdThe esteemed group of athlete mentors help young people to think like an athlete to tackle declining emotional wellbeing and resilience, and attitudes to learning. The team, which includes Paralympics athletics champion Michael McKillop MBE, Olympic hockey hero Shirley McCay MBE, and Olympic steeplechaser Kerry O’Flaherty, joined the programme’s ambassadors to launch this year’s initiative.
Speaking at the launch of the 2023/24 programme, Lidl Northern Ireland Sport for Good ambassador, Rhys McClenaghan said: “Empowering our young people to manage their mental health is more important than ever, and I’m honoured to continue being an ambassador for a mental health initiative that delivers such real benefits to local school students as the Lidl Northern Ireland Sport for Good programme.
“After winning the pommel horse gold medal at the 2023 European Gymnastics Championships and now training for the 2023 World Championship, I know how important it is to have a healthy mindset as well as a healthy body. Sports participation can be truly life-changing in building confidence, developing resilience and managing mental health challenges and I hope my experience can inspire students right across Northern Ireland to get into sport.”
Martin Moreland, principal at Mercy College in Belfast, who participated in the programme last year, said: “I encourage every school to nominate themselves for this exceptional programme which has had a truly lasting impact on our students and will set them up with the skills they need to manage mental health challenges well into the future.”
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Hide AdLouise Gray, development manager at Youth Sport Trust said: “We’re proud to be working with Lidl Northern Ireland, athletes and schools to take preventative action and ensure this generation grow up healthy and happy. We must turn the tide on the increasing number of children who are feeling lower levels of happiness, life satisfaction and worthwhileness.”
Since 2019, the Sport for Good programme has supported more than 120 sports clubs and schools across Northern Ireland and provided more than £400,000 in funding and equipment to encourage more children to connect with sport.
Joe Mooney, senior partnerships manager for Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland said;
“Supporting young people within our communities is something we are passionate about at Lidl Northern Ireland so it gives me great pleasure to launch this year’s Sport for Good Schools Programme alongside our ambassadors Ciara, Bethany and Rhys and our fantastic athlete mentors Michael, Shirley and Kerry. They truly represent the best of Northern Irish sport and they have been instrumental in delivering this programme to more than 5,200 pupils to date across the region. "
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Hide AdLidl Northern Ireland shoppers can nominate their local secondary school to win a place on the Sport for Good programme, as well as £1,000 worth of brand-new sports equipment, by visiting their local Lidl store and making a purchase using the Lidl Plus Rewards App to receive a qualifying Lidl receipt containing a 10-digit code. Receipt codes must be submitted online along with the secondary school nomination for a chance to win. Entries can be made via the dedicated Sport for Good online entry form at lidl-ni.co.uk/lidl-community-works. The competition is open now until Sunday, June 25 2023.
For more information, please visit www.lidl-ni.co.uk/lidl-community-works.