Thousands of secondary school pupils across the county are benefitting from the Lidl Northern Ireland Sport for Good Schools Programme, a dedicated mental health athlete mentorship programme delivered by Lidl Northern Ireland as part of the retailer’s established Sport for Good campaign which aims to tackle youth mental health head on.
The programme, developed in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust, first launched in 2021 and has since supported more than 5,200 secondary school pupils across Northern Ireland. Survey feedback from last year’s programme revealed that 83% of participants felt Lidl Northern Ireland’s programme boosted their overall confidence and 100% of teachers committed to changing the mental health support programmes in their schools as a result.
Sporting heroes from across Northern Ireland have been specially trained by Youth Sport Trust to deliver workshops that help students to proactively manage their mental health as they progress into adulthood through the vehicle of sport and physical activity. The mentors provide students with the tools and encouragement they need to support themselves and their peers in school, at home and in their wider communities.
Students at Strabane Academy, in Strabane, Co. Tyrone, received a series of dedicated series of mental health mentorship workshops, delivered Olympian and women’s field hockey international Shirley McCay MBE.
Hailing from Drumquin in County Tyrone, Shirley began her sporting career at the tender age of thirteen whilst studying at Omagh Academy and training at Omagh Hockey Club. Now, Ireland’s most capped sportswoman is passing on her wealth of knowledge to pupils across the county as part of Lidl Northern Ireland’s flagship Community Works initiative, Sport for Good.
Commenting on the workshops, Shirley McCay MBE said:
“When I was a pupil at Omagh Academy, my passion for hockey helped me through a lot of the challenges that many students face. Whether I was dealing with the pressure of exams or issues in my personal life, sport was always an escape for me.
“Lidl Northern Ireland’s Sport for Good initiative has been a hugely exciting opportunity for me to get involved with local communities and supporting youth sport. In delivering the workshops, I want to show these young adults that there is more to sport than the physical benefits. From gaining confidence in your abilities and building resilience when things don’t go to plan on game day, these are vital skills that will transfer to their everyday lives.”
Established in 2019, Lidl Northern Ireland’s Sport for Good initiative has supported more than 100 schools and sports clubs, providing over £320,000 in funding to encourage more young people into sport.
Throughout the 2022/2023 programme, the retailer announced 25 winning schools – hailing from every county across the region – who were selected for the Sport for Good Schools Programme following a call out for competition entries, nominated by local shoppers. Each winning school also received £1,000 worth of brand-new sports equipment.
Strabane Academy was one of three schools in the County Tyrone region participating in the programme along with Omagh Academy Grammar School and St Joseph’s Grammar School, Donaghmore.
The sessions were led by a stellar line up of leading local athletes including four-time Paralympic athletics champion Michael McKillop, hockey hero Eugene Magee and Olympic steeplechase athlete Kerry O’Flaherty while it is also supported by programme ambassadors, World Champion gymnast, Rhys McClenaghan, Paralympic champion swimmer, Bethany Firth OBE, and European and Commonwealth Games 1,500m silver medalist, Ciara Mageean.
Niall McDonnell, Head of Sport at Strabane Academy said:
“Mental health is an important part of our curriculum, and we are actively engaged as a community in supporting initiatives to break down mental health stigmas and in promoting education to better manage mental health challenges.
“This initiative has given our pupils a fresh perspective in showing them that there is so much more to sport than the physical benefits and has provided invaluable life tools to manage challenges they may face as they grow and develop.
“On behalf of the entire school community, we would like to express our thanks to the parents and local Lidl shoppers who voted for Strabane Academy. I would also like to thank Lidl Northern Ireland and Youth Sport Trust for investing in our community and to their mentor Shirley for delivering this vital programme to help support our pupils with skills for life.”
For more information, please go to lidl-ni.co.uk/lidl-community-works