Come and visit the Christmas Wonderland at Edenvilla Park, Portadown from Tuesday 3rd December 2019 until Sunday 5th January 2020.
Opening times Monday to Friday 9am – 4.30pm and Saturday and Sunday 10am to 4.30pm (Closed on 24th, 25th, 26th Dec and 1st Jan).
FREE OF CHARGE to visit but you can make a donation to the Lord Mayor’s Charity which is Cancer Fund for Children.
FREE Tai Chi classes will be taking place in Banbridge Leisure Centre starting on Monday 6th January until Monday 23rd March 2020 from 2.30pm -3.30pm.
Tai Chi for health is a series of relaxed, gentle movements that can improve fitness, muscle strength, flexibility, balance and reduce the risk of falling.
Tai Chi for Health is particularly beneficial for people with arthritis, however anyone can enjoy the health benefits of the programme.
To book a place please contact Cathy Devlin on Tel: 028 3831 2533 or email
Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment
Nominations are now being accepted for the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Senior Sports Awards sponsored by Rushmere Shopping Centre.
Organised by the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Sports Forum in association with Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, these annual awards recognise the wealth of sporting talent in the borough and celebrate the achievements of those who have excelled in their chosen sport, as well as recognising the invaluable contribution from our coaches and volunteers.
The awards, which are being held on Thursday 19 March in Craigavon Civic and Conference Centre, were recently launched at Rushmere Shopping Centre, Craigavon by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Mealla Campbell, the Headline Sponsor, Martin Walsh from Rushmere Shopping Centre, along with Edith Jamison, Chair of the Sports Forum and Denise Watson, compere for the awards.
Speaking at the launch the Lord Mayor commented, “I am delighted to officially launch the Senior Sports Awards 2020 for the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough. The event provides a fantastic opportunity for us as a council to acknowledge and reward the success of our athletes, teams, coaches, clubs and volunteers who deserve the recognition for all their hard work. I am also delighted that Rushmere Shopping Centre are once again headline sponsor for this event and look forward to another night of celebrating the exceptional talent in our Borough.”
Martin Walsh, Manager of Rushmere Shopping Centre said ‘We are proud to sponsor the Senior Sports Awards that acknowledge and support the achievements of those who dedicate their talent and enthusiasm to sport. We are committed to our local communities and it is hugely encouraging to see such a multitude of sporting disciplines and activities represented by so many people across the towns, villages and rural communities of an area so highly regarded for its passion and sporting heritage. By sharing our success stories, these awards can only serve to encourage others to follow in their footsteps and we are excited for what the future holds.’
Nominations are sought in the eight categories of Sports Person with a Disability, Sportswoman, Sportsman, Senior Team, Club Coach, Service to Sport, Volunteer and Club of the Year. Nominees should be competing at County/Regional level or above for achievements between January – December 2019 and must be over 18 at the time of competition. Specific details for each category can be found on the nomination form.
Nomination forms are now available from all council leisure and community facilities across the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area. The nomination form can also be downloaded at the following link, SSA Nomination Form 2020
The Sport Forum also offer financial support to help athletes, coaches and sports clubs from the Borough to attain their full potential. Athletes who are competing at provincial level and above can apply for assistance to assist with the costs associated with training and competing. Clubs can apply for financial assistance towards Clubmark Accreditation, Volunteer Development, Grant Aid for Coaches & Umpires/Referees and Representative Sporting Clubs. Criteria applies to all of the grants offered and forms can be downloaded from the getactiveabc website at www.getactiveabc.com.
Completed forms must be returned to Anne Benson, Senior Sports Awards, Lough Neagh Discovery Centre, Oxford Island National Nature Reserve, Lurgan BT66 6NJ before 12 noon on Friday 3 January 2020.
For further information contact the Sports Development Department on T: 028 3752 9636 (Armagh) T: 028 4066 0637 (Banbridge) and T: 028 3831 1693 (Craigavon).
Orchard Leisure Centre
23rd December – 9.15am – 5.00pm
24-26th December – Closed
27 December – 9:15am – 5:00pm
28-29th December – Normal hours
30th-31st December – 9.15am – 5.00pm
1st January – Closed
Cascades Leisure Complex
23rd December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
24-26th December – Closed
27th December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
28th December – 10.00am – 4.00pm
29th December – Closed
30th-31st December – 9.00am -5.00pm
1st January – Closed
Craigavon Leisure Centre
23rd December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
24-26th December – Closed
27th December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
28th December – 9:00am – 4pm
29th December – 2.00pm – 5.00pm
30th-31st December – 9.00am – 5.00pm
1st January – Closed
Waves Leisure Complex
23rd December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
24-26th December – Closed
27th December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
28th December – 8:30am – 4:30pm
29th December – Closed
30th-31st December – 9.00am – 5.00pm
1st January – Closed
Banbridge Leisure Centre
20th December – 7:00am – 9:00am & 5.30pm – 10:00pm
21st-22nd December – Normal Hours
23rd December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
24-26th December – Closed
27th December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
28-29th December – Normal Hours
30th-31st December – 9.00am – 5.00pm
1st January – Closed
Craigavon Golf & Ski Centre
23rd December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
24-26th December – Closed
27th-31st December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
1st January – Closed
Lough Neagh Discovery Centre
23rd December – 10:00am – 5:00pm
24-26th December – Closed
27th-31st December – 10:00am – 5:00pm
1st January – Closed
Kinnego Marina Office
23rd December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
24-26th December – Closed
27th-31st December – 9.00am – 5.00pm
1st January – Closed
Oxford Island Site
23rd-24th December – 8.00am -5.00pm
25th December – Closed
26th December-1st January – 8.00am – 5.00pm
Tannaghmore Farm
23rd-24th December – 10.00am – 4.00pm
25th December – Closed
26th December-1st January – 10.00am – 4.00pm
Ardmore & Cathedral Road Recreation Centre
23rd December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
24-26th December – Closed
27-29th December – Normal hours
30th December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
31st December – Normal hours
1st January – Closed
Keady & Tandragee Recreation Centres
23rd December – 9.00am – 5.00pm
24-26th December – Closed
27-28th December – 9.00am – 5.00pm
30th-31st December – 9.00am – 5.00pm
1st January – Closed
Dromore Community Centre
23rd December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
24-26th December – Closed
27th December – 9.00am – 5.00pm
28-29th December – Normal Hours
30th-31st December – 9.00am – 5.00pm
1st January – Closed
Rathfriland Community Centre
23rd December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
24-26th December – Closed
27th December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
28th December – Normal Hours
30th-31st December – 9.00am – 5.00pm
1st January – Closed
Gilford Community Centre
23rd December – 9:00am – 5:00pm
24-26th December – Closed
27th December – 9.00am – 5.00pm
28-29th December – Normal Hours
30th-31st December – 9.00am – 5.00pm
1st January – Closed
Richhill Recreation Centre
23rd December – Normal hours
24-26th December – Closed
27th-31st December – Normal hours
1st January – Closed
Public Parks - Craigavon area
24th-31st December – 7.00am – 6.00pm
1st January – 7.00am – 6.00pm
Navan Centre
23rd-31st December – Closed
1st January – Closed
Loughgall Country Park
23rd December – Normal hours
24-26th December – Closed
27th-31st December – Normal hours
1st January – Open
Gosford Forest Park
24th-31st December: Open
1st January: Open
The Christmas countdown is underway and excitement is building at the Orchard Leisure Centre ahead of welcoming Santa and his elves. Children across the borough will have the opportunity to visit Santa’s Magical Grotto from Friday 13 December until Sunday 22 December.
Children will be able to write their letter to Santa and post it in Santa’s special post box which he will be personally taking back to the North Pole. They will then visit Santa in the Magical Grotto, share their Christmas wishes with Santa, receive a selection box and spend one hour playing in Gulliver’s soft play area.
Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Councillor Mealla Campbell said, “Christmas is a magical time especially for children, a visit to Santa is the perfect way to start the festive season. It’s fantastic Santa and his elves are taking time out of their busy schedule to visit the Orchard leisure Centre.”
Santa’s Grotto is £5 per child. Weekday morning sessions are available for groups and schools, please telephone 028 37515920 for availability. Friday, Saturday and Sunday are open to the public, booking is essential BOOK NOW
The Orchard Leisure Centre and Tandragee Recreation Centre kick started their 4 week FIT MAS Challenge yesterday, giving members and non members the opportunity to get fit and compete on a points based system for taking part in activity classes, gym sessions and swimming.
The challenge will run from Monday 18 November until Sunday 15 December, each week a male and female actively participating in the challenge will be randomly selected to win a Linwoods goody bag with an overall male and female winner receiving a luxury Linwoods Hamper box and a getactiveabc All Inclusive membership.
Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Councillor Mealla Campbell is delighted with the uptake in the challenge, “Best of luck to everyone who registered to take on the challenge, your motivation in the run up to Christmas is admirable and I hope you enjoy getting fit in a fun and competitive way”.
The winners of the challenges will be announced week commencing 16 December.
£75,000 investment for new outdoor games area in Drumsill Park, Longstone
Lord Mayor Mealla Campbell along with the local community at Longstone formally unveiled the new multi-use games area (MUGA) on Tuesday 12 November.
The new £75,000 outdoor games area will enhance the local area encouraging participation and interaction within the community. The MUGA features a floodlit tarmac surface with built-in goal post units to facilitate various sports and games for the local community.
Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Councillor Mealla Campbell said,
“I am thrilled to officially open this fantastic new development at Longstone. Key to the success of this project has been the partnership approach of the local community who have worked together with the council.
“This really is a brilliant example of partnership working and I want to pay tribute to the community association for what they have achieved for their local community. This will be a facility that will be enjoyed by all for years to come.”
Under a service level agreement the proactive community association will be responsible for the opening and closing of the facility.
Paul Cartmill from Longstone Community Association, said,
“We are delighted with the new facility, it has taken us a while but we got there to provide this for our children and young people to enjoy. We would like to thank all those who were involved in making this happen.”
The £75,000 investment is part of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council’s £4.75m Play Strategy 2018-2026. The eight-year strategy puts ABC Council at the forefront of health, recreation and leisure in Northern Ireland, actively championing play to help improve understanding of its critical importance to children and young people.
Farrans were the lead contractor for the works while sub-contractor Garden Escapes a specialist playground equipment company supplied and installed the equipment.
Farrans welcomes up to 20 apprentices to help develop new local construction leaders.
Up to 20 apprentices are experiencing first class on-the-job training as part of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council’s stunning new £35 million leisure complex in Craigavon.
On track for completion next year, construction of the new leisure centre is being led by local construction and engineering firm Farrans.
The dedicated programme to provide a new and exciting range of opportunities for young people keen on progressing a career in the construction sector started last year and up to 20 apprentices are being deployed across a range of roles.
Once complete, the leisure centre, which will create 500 construction jobs during its development, will be home to world class facilities including a 50-metre swimming pool, Northern Ireland’s largest gym at over 1,000 square metres, an eight-court sports hall and an extensive outdoor water-sports provision.
Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Councillor Mealla Campbell, said:
“Skills development is a key priority in helping to drive, support and grow a successful local economy and we’re delighted that working with Farrans on our largest capital project investment to date, has created so many opportunities for work-based learning and training have been created. Our apprentices are ambassadors for our Council and we’re really proud of the work they do and the contribution they make.”
The innovative build, which is advancing fast and is on course for completion in 2020, will also feature an indoor children’s soft play area and innovative new ‘Pool Pod’ platform lifts, designed to improve pool access for people with disabilities and for those less mobile.
Felim Blaney, Contracts Manager, Farrans Construction, said:
“Our success is built on the skills and talent of our team and we’re keen to drive recruitment numbers across all areas of our business and across the wider sector, producing a motivated ‘talent pipeline’ of keen and motivated people who will be our future leaders.
“Working with Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, we’re delighted to be offering up to 20 people the opportunity to come and work with us to help us create an inspiring destination and a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help positively shape the health and well being of everyone in the locality”.
“Apprentices are vitally important for the local and wider economy and for providing on-the-job prospects in real-life scenarios. They also help to build skills and confidence and can help dramatically accelerate careers.”
The construction phase alone is expected to deliver an estimated £6.5 million in direct wages to the economy, and the 500 jobs directly created are in addition to the staff that will run the new leisure facility.
Apprentice engineer and a competitive swimmer at Banbridge Amateur Swimming Club, Kealan McCambridge said his experience working on the new leisure centre was unbeatable.
“When the opportunity arose to move to the leisure centre site, which is also close to home, I was ecstatic. I’ve been able to quickly advance my skill set and improve my knowledge as an engineer for the future. Working on this project has also enabled me to greatly understand the functionality of large-scale buildings, which will aid me in my experience and knowledge as I drive towards finishing my degree in Civil engineering.
“I look forward to the new centre opening in 2020 and I will take great pride in knowing that I contributed to this flagship project. I’m also looking forward to the further opportunities it will continue to bring to the local area for many years to come.”
As part of ABC Council’s commitment to high levels of spend within the local market and small to medium-sized enterprises, it commissioned Farrans Construction through the Scape Procure National Construction – Major Works England and Northern Ireland framework to build the new leisure centre.
Scape’s collaborative ethos involves engaging with approved local businesses, sub-contractors and suppliers, ensuring that the Craigavon project will provide significant employment opportunities for local residents and businesses.
For more information on the new South Lake Leisure centre, click HERE.
It’s a monster mash of ghostly goings-on and fantastically frightening fun at our Halloween Extravaganza on Thursday 31st October.
The spooky spectacular gets underway at Rushmere Shoping Centre with a creepy collection of colourful characters, face painters, temporary tattooists, dancing and music from 3pm.
To set the scene for the main event, a spooky parade will leave Rushmere at 7.30 pm and set a course to Craigavon Lakes for the fabulous firework display which will light up the night sky at 8pm.
This year’s show will feature over 3000 shells and effects, plus to accommodate the viewing restrictions created by the new South Lake Leisure Centre build, will include a host of high aerial fireworks, including Golden Spiders, Gold Tail Silver Falling Leaves and Crackling Spider with Silver Tails, Silver Dragons and Green Strobes that can be viewed from right across the entire area!
A spectacular evening not to be missed!!
The second phase completion of the £250,000 Gilford Riverside Trail project has transformed a derelict and underutilised section of the river corridor into a quality multi-use walking and cycling trail, and provided a new first-class outdoor recreational amenity that will help improve the health and wellbeing of local people.
Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Councillor Mealla Campbell welcomed members of Gilford Community Forum, teachers and pupils from Gilford PS (Craigavon) and St. John’s PS, Bannvale Special Education Centre service users and staff, funding body representatives from DAERA and SOAR along with elected members to the official opening of this new section of the trail today (23rd October).
She praised the efforts of all those who had played a part in bringing this project to fruition and acknowledged that its completion has the potential to transform lives, commenting:
“This new amenity will be a game changer for the local community, and will hopefully motivate more individuals who lead sedentary lifestyles to increase their physical activity level and enjoy the health benefits that regular exercise brings.
It’s long been our ambition to see this section of riverside trail extended and enhanced so that the recreational value of this wonderful environmental asset can be fully appreciated.
Creating a riverside trail was first identified as a viable project in the Gilford Village Plan 2012. Today we come together – community, council, funders and key contributors – to celebrate its successful completion. Well done to all involved!”
The completion of this second phase of works on council-owned land has created a scenic riverside trail that stretches 845 metres and connects Bridge Street and Gilford Community Centre to the attractive Woodlands Park, passing the iconic Gilford Mill building along the way.
In addition to creating a short section of walkway over the remains of the old millrace and constructing a new footbridge across the millrace, the council undertook associated works to enhance the trail including landscaping, installing street furniture, lighting and interpretative panels.
The second phase has been completed thanks to £250,000 in funds allocated by SOAR’s Local Action Group. This project was part funded under Priority 6 (LEADER) of the Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and the European Union.
Chair of SOAR ABC Roisin McAliskey added,
“This project has been completed to an exceptionally high standard, and is exemplary of how funds from SOAR’s Rural Village Renewal scheme can be used to support the implementation of local village plans.”
Open to the public since July, the new trail is already proving to be a popular destination for walkers, runners and cyclists.
Welcoming completion of the trail, Jerome Burns, Contracts Manager, Southern Rural Affairs Division at the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) said:
“This trail has been completed as part of a suite of village enhancement measures financed through the Village Renewal strand of the Leader Rural Development Programme. It provides a great opportunity for everyone to enjoy the many benefits of outdoor activity, and it is an excellent example of how DAERA is delivering on its vision of a ‘living, working, active landscape valued by everyone.”
Given its proximity to Gilford Community Centre, this marvellous amenity set in an attractive riverside setting greatly complements the centre with its excellent indoor and outdoor facilities including a climbing wall, trim trail, picnic tables, pump track, canoe landings and beginners’ canoe slalom course.
The council acknowledges with thanks the co-operation of the owners of Gilford Mill, Karl Asset Management, which enabled this project to proceed along with The MWA Partnership Ltd, Landscape Architects and A.G. Wilson Ltd.
