Adekanmi Recognised at Mayor’s Community Awards 2020

Adekanmi Recognised at Mayor’s Community Awards 2020

13 March 2020

Adekanmi Abayomi was recognised at the 2020 Mayor’s Community Awards by the Mayor of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, Councillor Alan Givan, as an opportunity to acknowledge his selflessness and outstanding voluntary contribution to the development of the Lisburn Castlereagh area.
The Mayor’s Community Awards 2020 Gala Event took place at Lagan Valley Island on the 12 March 2020 and the Mayor of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, Councillor Alan Givan, proudly awarded Adekanmi Abayomi the Runner Up of the Brian McDowell Volunteer of the Year Award for partnering with the Council to encourage diverse communities to use leisure and parks activities to promote inclusivity.
Mayor Givan said: “It is important that as a Council we publicly recognise the valuable work of volunteers, paid workers, and community-based organisations across our communities. They work selflessly to create a new, better society for the future. The dedication of these individuals and groups is the lifeblood of Lisburn Castlereagh, resulting in very successful outcomes for local residents of all ages.
“These awards deliver a strong message about the value of helping others and how it helps to strengthen the Lisburn Castlereagh area – to connect residents and communities, reinforce community spirit and create a more cohesive and inclusive society for everyone.
According to Adekanmi, it is inspiring to receive this recognition at this glamorous event because it will keep reminding me that I am on the right path, playing my part in our community.

Sport NI’s Volunteer of the Year Feb 2019

Sport NI’s Volunteer of the Year Feb 2019

Our Founder nets Sport NI’s Volunteer of the Year 2019

25 February 2020

 

Sport Northern Ireland, as the leading public body for the development of sport in Northern Ireland, used another edition of its Sport Maker Awards to pay tribute to the amazing work of Northern Ireland’s sports coaches, officials, volunteers, and clubs at a heartwarming ceremony at Titanic Belfast on Monday evening (Monday 24 February 2020).

It is an annual event where Sport Northern Ireland seeks to recognise coaches, officials, volunteers, and projects who are helping people to enjoy and benefit from the power of sport.

Left to right: George Lucas – Chair, Sport NI, Adekanmi Abayomi (Volunteer of the Year 2019 Winner), Deirdre Hargey (Minister, Dept for Communities), Antoinette McKeown (CEO, Sport NI)

Minister for Communities, Deirdre Hargey MLA, opened the night by welcoming all winners and guests, commenting: “These awards provide the opportunity to reward the vital and integral role that coaches, volunteers and officials play encouraging people to realise the power of sport. Those recognised are all exceptional people in their own right. The hours of selfless dedication, support, and encouragement they have given to their sports have made a very real difference to the athletes and players they have worked with from grassroots participants up to those performing at the highest level.”

 

EMSONI Hosted its first ‘New Start Swimming Taster’ Programme

EMSONI Hosted its first ‘New Start Swimming Taster’ Programme

18 March 2019

EMSONI successfully hosted its first ‘New Start Swimming Taster’ initiative, which was funded by Active Belfast at DW Sports on Boucher Road Belfast for 6 weeks. It started on 30 January 2019 and ended with a family fun day on 17 March 2019 with 42 participants.

An initiative aimed at improving access and creating opportunities for new learners and newcomers to learn new swimming skills as a pathway to grow activeness through swimming in our community.

According to one of the participants, I never knew I could learn swimming that fast because I have this fear for water, but this project greatly helped build my water confidence. I am now comfortable in the water which enables my fast learning. Thank you to our instructors and the other volunteers for their help and encouragement.”

Our policy officer, Funmi Abayomi, said, “we were glad to welcome dozens of diverse women on what was the first taster session of its kind for them since their arrival in Belfast. The project was built to develop their confidence and skills as a starting point of a competitive swimming journey, with a view to encouraging them to join swimming clubs in town and then progress into a fully inclusive swimming club strategic structure.”

“It is important to offer such taster sessions to show our ladies that they have a place in the sporting community and can benefit from all the great things swimming can offer.”

“We are already looking forward to see this project up and running again in November 2019 for another 8 weeks to grow swimming at the ethnic minority level in Northern Ireland to address disparity and to encourage and support those women get along in their swimming journey to promote a healthy community in Belfast.”

“Thank you to all the participants, our volunteers, instructors, and funders for making this project a huge success.”

EMSONI held its first Special Meeting.

EMSONI held its first Special Meeting.

Ethnic Minority Sports Organization Northern Ireland (EMSONI) held its first special meeting on the 12th October 2018 at the QUB Student Union Building with 18 members in attendance.

Our members used the meeting to adopt the constitution of the organisation and elected six trustees to manage the affairs of the organisation. The following persons were elected as trustees by the members at the meeting: Adekanmi Abayomi, Mohamed Chendali, Deborah Kahubire, Faisal Kadiri, Robert Steward, and Mothusi Diteko.

On behalf of the newly constituted organisation, new Chair, Adekanmi Abayomi commented: “I am delighted to have been elected as Chair of EMSONI and I also want to congratulate my colleagues for the opportunity to serve this newly established organisation as trustees. I am glad to see this organisation becoming a reality today and it is a big achievement for all of us. As we look forward to the future of this organisation, I want to implore us to see this platform as an opportunity for us to serve our community and humanity”.

“I cannot wait to start working with this amazing and dedicated group of individuals who are highly ambitious to help develop and progress the work of EMSONI. He thanked every member and guest that attended this important meeting and special appreciation also goes to the Student Union of QUB for supporting us with a spacious room to host the meeting.”

The List of the Newly Elected Trustees:

Adekanmi Abayomi (Founder/Chair)
Mohamed Chendali (Secretary)
Deborah Kahubire (Treasurer)
Faisal Kadiri (Trustee)
Robert Steward (Trustee)
Mothusi Diteko (Trustee)