Bunbrosna mother and toddler group celebrate their first year
The Bunbrosna mother and toddler group celebrated their first anniversary last week with a bouncy castle, ice cream van, and music.
Held at the local GAA club on the morning of Friday, August 23, it was attended by more than 20 local children and their mothers.
The group aim to create a sense of community among parents and children in Bunbrosna and the surrounding villages and towns, many of whom may have originated from outside the area.
Founding member Kate Donnelly said the group is a great way for parents to meet up. “In rural areas, there aren’t many social supports; they’re clustered in towns and other areas,” she said.
“I think there is a big need in rural areas to have support for families, especially when babies are so young, and getting out and about for parents is really hard.
“It’s hard physically getting to those places, whereas this is local to many people from Bunbrosna, Multyfarnham, Rathowen, and we even get some in from Mullingar now.”
Fellow founder Danielle Giblin said the group has grown from strength to strength in the last year.
“We have a good organising group of about five or six of us now, which is great, and Bunbrosna GAA has also been a massive help in that,” she said.
“It’s evolved and evolved, and we’ve all become good friends.
“Some of the kids here are Covid babies; they wouldn’t have been used to socialising that much, and the mothers are seeing huge benefits of it in their kids.”
They singled out local man John Tormey for particular praise in helping the group prosper, as he arrives before their meetings to turn on the heating and wipe rain off the swings and slides in the children’s playground.
The Bunbrosna mother and toddler group meet every Friday at the GAA club between 10.30am and 11.30am.
It caters to children from newborn to preschool age, and a donation of €1 is all that’s asked for to contribute towards milk, tea, and coffee.
They have also organised group outings in the past, such as to Mullingar Fire Station, and plan on holding further outings and buggy walks in the coming months.