Dance, Sing and Quiz in Seaforde

Two activities are restarting after the summer break in Seaforde.

On Wednesday 6th September the ever-popular dance classes recommence at 7.30pm in the Young Farmers’ Hall. Neither a partner nor experience is needed – just a willingness to learn something new and have some fun. Jive is always on the menu, along with a choice of waltz, cha-cha-cha, quickstep and many others. For more information call Heather on (028) 44 811878.

On Thursday 7th September the newly formed women’s choir, Harmonic Progression, start rehearsing for the new season. Choir director, Carolyn Ross has prepared a whole new repertoire for the ladies. New members will be made most welcome – no experience is needed. For more information call Carolyn on 07741 494 082.

Seaforde and District Community Association run a number of events during the year and, while they are largely self-funding, the Association needs monies to cover incidental running costs such as insurance and in an effort to raise funds a Table Quiz is being held in the Lakeside Inn on Friday 8 September at 8pm. Join them for a fun night at the Lakeside Inn including a Quiz, raffle and light supper. Local teams of up to 6 welcome – contact Margaret at the Lakeside 07789 208 859 or Julie on 07734 776 241 to book your table. Smaller group sizes, couples and individuals welcome, we’ll help you find a winning team.

For more information on local events in Seaforde find us on Facebook @SeafordeAndDistrictCommunityAssociation, or via our website www.seaforde.org.uk.

Putting Seaforde on the Play Strategy Map

One of the priorities for the Seaforde and District Community Association in 2017 is the progression of plans for a Children’s play area in Seaforde Village. This project is in the early stages and we are currently researching the feasibility of financial assistance from local government funding allocations.

In a recent development on the 9th March 2017 Newry, Mourne and Down District Council released their Play Strategy . Unfortunately the strategy does not favor Seaforde as a focal area  within the Slieve Croob DEA for council funding in the near term. We simply do not meet the qualifying criteria in terms of density of resident children.

In the three areas identified by the Strategy as potential gaps areas for the Slieve Croob DEA the analysis of household pointer data, settlement spread and the radial catchments associated with existing fixed play areas indicates that current provision is sufficient. The Strategy  recommends that no new fixed play development is required at present in the Slieve Croob area.

What the Strategy does recommend is investment in specific Play areas in our district which are in need of renovation and improvement. This is of course very positive for local children in these catchment areas and offers younger residents in the Seaforde and District area with better options for Play in the immediate vicinity.

Although this is an interesting development in this project, it does not, in the immediate term, offer us any assistance in achieving the objectives of our community Vision. As a community association we must now consider our options in light of this new information and come up with a new plan of action for our immediate area, something that is firmly on the Agenda for our next meeting!

(As with all our Blog posts, we’d really value your opinions and ideas on our ongoing projects. You can comment publicly on our blog posts or contact us directly at contact@seaforde.org.uk)