NEWSLETTER

Lions, Tigers, Horses and Zebras
were just a taste of some
of the animals who boarded
‘Noah’s Ark’ and made their
odyssey from Youthreach
Carlow to the Carlow Childcare
Crèche as part of the
Youthreach Carlow summer
programme 2015. As part of
the programme our students
were given the opportunity of
refurbishing some beautiful
murals which had felt the
effects of time over the past
A Colourful Odyssey in Carlow
number of years. Originally
these murals had been created
by the Senior Travelling
Training Centre which had
been a part of the Carlow VEC
educational vista a number of
years previous. The members
of that programme under
the guidance of Seamus O’
Rourke (RIP) created these
beautiful murals depicting
the story of Noah’s Ark.
Youthreach students were
invited by the Crèche to view
the murals and quickly began
to re-imagine ways in which
they could restore the murals
to their former glory. Over the
month of June the students
began to revamp the murals
as all manner of animals,
clouds, etc. were drawn
(with not a Unicorn in sight!).
Throughout the process the
students demonstrated a
vast array of artistic skills,
bundles of commitment and
high levels of motivation to
recreate a wonderful panorama
for the children who
attend the Crèche on the
Kilkenny Road. It really was a
case of remembering the old
rhyme ‘Well there was green
alligators and long necked
geese, some humpty backed
camels and some chimpanzees...’
as the final murals
proved to be amazing. Huge
credit must go to the students
of Youthreach Carlow and
their art teacher Lisa Gordon
who worked tirelessly on this
project. A special mention
must go to the Youthreach
Carlow Centre Co-ordinator
Martina Osborne who had
the foresight and vision to
make this project happen. A
big thanks also to Niall Moran
and the Carlow Childcare
Centre for giving our students
the medium to showcase
and display their talents and
as the title states it sure has
been a colourful odyssey for
all involved with plenty of
rainbows insight.
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Pictured (left to right): Tina Berney, Chloe Hopkins, Aisling Mannion, Leigh Mannion, Johnny O’Leary and Jamie Moran.