Over 350 people attended Thursday night’s Health & Wellbeing Event, hosted by the Finn Valley Community Health Forum (FVCHF), which was a big success.
Attendees from across Donegal benefited from the advice and support of 80 exhibitors with stands ranging from healthy eating, HSE self-management to hobbies and holistic health. There truly was something for everyone in the Finn Valley Centre, Stranorlar.
This free event is in its fourth year. Monica Ramsey from the FVCHF says, “We’d like to say a special thank you to Patsy McGonagle and the Finn Valley Centre for offering the venue for free and supporting us year on year. We couldn’t host this event, which has grown from 17 stands in 2014, to six times its size tonight, without the support of the Centre. The annual event is now the biggest and most successful of it’s kind in the North West, and perhaps even in Ireland.”
The night involved talks and demonstrations from a wide range of exhibitors including An Garda Siochana, Three Rivers Beekeeping Association, Mental Health Ireland, Smoking Cessation and many more.
Charlene Logue from the FVCHF wants to say thank you to the exhibitors ‘It’s truly fantastic that all of these exhibitors come here for free and give up their time to offer expertise, advice and support to our community. We see every year in the Finn Valley the desire to work together to build a better community for everyone.
‘I’d like to thank the members of the committee who give up their time on a voluntary basis to organise this huge event. And thank you to the exhibitors for donating amazing prizes to our raffle which raised €700 on the night so support the costs of the event.’
Many businesses from the Finn Valley took part, and it was fully supported by Ballybofey & Stranorlar Chamber of Commerce. Free food tasters and healthy eating advice were offered by providers such as Yes Chef Catering, Supervalu, Bodyfuel & Co, McConnells Meat, and Discover Juice. And of course, the event wouldn’t be the same without the wonderful support of The Hatter Tea Room providing free tea and coffee to all attendees.
Leah Fairman from Ballybofey & Stranorlar Chamber of Commerce said on the night ‘It’s been our pleasure to support this leading event in the Finn Valley. It’s the biggest event of it’s kind in the North West, and it shows what can happen when businesses and community groups work together. We’re proud to have a strong tradition of this in the Twin Towns, as we look forward to supporting the event next year.’
The FVCHF was set up in 2006 as part of the National re-organisation of local Health Services Executive (HSE) primary care services.
Its vision is ‘To ensure a fair, equal and inclusive primary care system in the Finn Valley’.
It encompasses the geographical areas of a Cloghan, Stranorlar, Ballybofey, Convoy, Drumkeen and Killygordon. The forum receives a small amount of grant aid from the HSE under Social Inclusion, with additional funding being secured from other agencies to ensure quality provision for voluntary agencies, organisations and groups to come together to work on Health & Social issues affecting people across the Finn Valley area.
If you are interested in finding out more, want to add to the event or wish to join the FVCHF please contact finnvalleyhealthforum@outlook.com