Athy families enjoy memorable trip to Dublin Zoo
33 children and 18 adults off to the Zoo with thanks to Athy Community Family Resource Centre and Athy Lions Club. Photo: Aisling Hyland
Thanks to the support of Athy Lions Club, 13 local families (over 50 people) had an opportunity to experience the wonders of Dublin Zoo.
Organised by Athy Community Family Resource Centre, the group of 18 adults and 32 kids undertook their highly-anticipated outing on Monday 12 August. For many, this was not only their first trip up to the Zoo but also their first time on a train – twice the excitement!
“We were blessed with the weather, thank God,” said Centre Manager Colm McNamee, who added that they walked from Heuston Station into the Phoenix Park and down to the Zoo.
“Got everyone in and we had just over two hours for people to do their own thing and then we were able to see all the animals, the Zoo is well set up for kids,” he said.
The trip was made possible thanks to Athy Lions Club, who reached out to a staff member saying they wanted to make a donation of €1,000 to support families on a day out.
After a thoroughly enjoyable experience at the Zoo, the sightseers returned to Heuston Station and there was enough left in the kitty for a meal from Supermac’s on the way home – one of Colm’s many talents is squeezing money until it squeals!
Speaking to the Kildare Nationalist, Colm spoke of the “informal interaction between the families as well, that maybe mightn't have met each other outside of the Centre or hadn't had that opportunity, and just seeing the buzzing of friendships between such diverse groups of, you know, new community and established community was just so beautiful to see and it just – it put a smile on my face for the rest of the week.”
Colm took the opportunity to thank the Lions Club, staff and the families.
“The kids were so well-behaved and everyone just seemed to really enjoy themselves,” he said. “For me it was just – it was a real pleasure to be any way involved with it and delighted to be able to facilitate it and hopefully we'll be able to do many more with future community support.” Anyone that would like to support the activities of the Family Resource Centre can contact Colm on 085 8059464 or colm@athycfrc.ie.
