COMMUNITY PAGE

SESKINORE RURAL COMMUNITY GROUP - A HISTORY

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Rural Group

 
Seskinore Rural Community Group – 2021 – 2022
 
In the past year Seskinore Rural Community Group has picked up from the great work and foundations laid by the original community group which served Seskinore and  the surrounding local areas since the year 2000.
 
The objective of the group is to improve the quality of life for the local community  by liaising with statutory authorities, voluntary organisations in a common effort to advance education, to encourage regeneration/investment opportunities & to ensure the continued growth of our vibrant community in Seskinore.
 
Activities and achievements the Group has been involved with in 2021 – 2021

  • Last July 2021 the Group went to visit Knockmany Forest Park to see at first-hand how a Community Lead project can reach its potential. This was a useful learning experience for the Group.
  • August 2021 & 22nd June – The Group organised Historical Walking Tours starting at the Primary School, taking in many noteworthy landmarks through the village and Forest. The Tours were lead by Local Historian and school Principal Sam Dennison.  It was agreed they were very educational and enjoyable evenings. Sam’s talk focused on the use of the Forest as an American army base during World War II and McClintock Estate.

  • During the year the Group lead by committee member Mark McLaughlin have organised litter picks on Saturday 11th September and Saturday 26th March. Both litter picks were well attended with lots of volunteers giving their time to help out. These events are not only beneficial by improving the local environment but also social events with refreshments provided at the end, helping to bring people together especially over the lockdown period.

  • In October last year, the Group supported the Macmillian Charity Coffee Morning in Seskinore Presbyterian Church which raised £2000. Also, in October vice Chairman Hugh McAleer ran the Belfast Marathon and raised £1500 for the Group. 
     
  • In November 2021 the Group held a meeting in the Forest with Councillors from five parties and members of the MLA Agriculture Committee. This was a positive meeting and all local representatives said they would be pleased to lobby for the Forest project.
     
  • In December vice- Treasurer William Howard organised a Christmas Tree and very impressive Christmas lights round the Primary School, which was funded by the Community Group, it was agreed that this was a great success in lighting up Seskinore over the Christmas period. Thanks to William & everyone else for all their help.
     
  • In February this year there was a large turnout for a presentation on the history of Seskinore by Pat McCusker, a local historian. Pat’s talk was wide ranging and included details on the size of the McClintock estate and its break up and sale in the early years of the last century. There was a great deal of interaction during the presentation and there was an opportunity for further questions at the end. On the night Anthony McGuigan, Landscape Architect also gave a presentation after Pats talk to update the audience on the Group’s plans for the proposed development of Seskinore Forest. Anthony  advised that the Group’s aim was to ensure that the Forest would be upgraded and handed on to the next generation in an improved state for their use and enjoyment.
     
  • On Saturday 7th May the group hosted Seskinore Forest 5k Run & Walk with over 450 people taking part. The 5k was open to all abilities and ages with runners, walkers and families all enjoying the 5k route which started and finished in the Forest and took in side roads round the forest, through the village and finished with refreshments & food in the old courtyard. The event was primarily organised to make everyone aware of the forest. There were over 50 volunteers helping , different teams set up to ensure everything ran smoothly on the day – Road Marshalls, Car Parking Marshalls, First Aiders, the Registration Team, Catering and BJ Toal/Balloo Hire/logistical team of people who helped set up the race route and the Forest site, working weeks before the event including Road Service repairing race route. As well the race would not have been possible without local companies who were very generous in their sponsorship. So a massive thank you on behalf of the committee to everyone who helped contribute towards the success of the First Seskinore Forest 5k Run and Walk, especially when you consider the very limited facilities we have on site. It was very pleasing to see all sides of the community pulling together to make the event work. We have already set a date for next year’s 5k Run and Walk which is the Saturday 6th May 2023.
     
  • The Group now   have an email address and a social Media presence with a Facebook page set up with over 600 followers, this is a good channel to keep the community updated with everything that’s going on. It was very useful when conducting our Forest Survey with over 600 survey submissions.
     
  • There is also ongoing work on the Seskinore Community Group Website. This will contain a lot of information and photos on Seskinore past and present and should be good promotion for the Seskinore Area, so keep an eye out for that.
     
  • The Group achieved Charity Status a few months ago, this was not a straightforward process, thank you to Collette for her help with the paper work. Seskinore Rural Community Group is now registered with Charity number 108476. The Group also became a member of Omagh Forum for Rural Associations during the past 12 months.
     
  • Recently the Group have sown wild flowers in the triangle area in front of the School, so hopefully they will brighten up the area in the months ahead.  The Group will continue to work on projects like this to help improve the appearance of the village.
     
  • Throughout the last year the Group have been working continuously on a Project to improve the facilities in Seskinore Forest’ , this was one of the reasons the group came together over the lockdown period, everyone can agree how lucky we are too have such a beautiful natural resource on our doorsteps with such a diverse ecosystem of Flora and Fauna and which is steeped in history with the WW2 American army base and history stretching back hundreds of years with the McClintock and Perry estates.  
     
  • So despite being curtailed with the Lockdown over a lot of the past 12 months the Group have been active in the local area by hosting various event and helping to improve the life for the community in Seskinore and we hope to continue our work in the year ahead.