**Tuesday 14[th] November 2023** 

**Friends of New Row St Patrick’s AGM** 

Our last AGM took place on Tuesday 4[th] October 2022, with the election of new officers for the incoming year – Claire Coleman as secretary, Pat Hanson as treasurer and myself, Grainne Diamond, as chairperson, all conducted and approved by Mrs Deirdre Graffin. 

The past year has been an action packed year, with many successful fundraisers, donations to local charities and support given to our school community in different ways, not to mention the addition of St Patrick to the school and a new school crest to the uniform! 

## Quick review of the year 

- We held a **Christmas Movie** night on Tuesday 20[th] December, which was a huge hit for both parents (who were getting a little free time!) and children. Very well supported by our helping hands within the committee and staff members from the school, this event proved valuable in the wellbeing and happiness of everyone within the school community. 

- Our **annual calendar** was as successful as ever, and without the support of our loyal sponsors this would not have been so rewarding. Of course, we wouldn’t have any sponsors without the dedication and hard work of our own team, specifically Madeline Gribbin and Carmel Diamond, ably assisted by, (and ready to take over from Carmel!), Natalie Erwin. We thank Carmel for all her work in getting this project off the ground and now 5 plus years later, we hope to continue her great work. Massive thanks to Madeline for all the photographs and organising of adverts that she does for the calendar – definitely the patience of a saint! 

- Our first ever **Christmas jumper swap shop** took place, although smaller than the uniform swap, nonetheless just as successful! It was lovely to see every donated jumper / dress passed on to new homes! 

- The annual **Easter Raffle** took place, with an abundance of prizes donated from local businesses. This event always creates a great buzz around the school and the visit from the Easter bunny always adds to the excitement! Many thanks to the Mid Ulster Clinic for covering the cost of the tickets for this, to the local businesses who supported it, to Christy’s for the tickets and to our own FoNRStP members for collecting the donations, but our main thanks goes to the families and friends of the school who continue to buy and sell tickets, and help to make this a huge success every year. 

- All these events, alongside our usual events such as **Neon Day** and the **Sponsored Walk** took place, enabling the committee to help support different occasions within the school - every class went on an end of year trip, the P7 children were presented with beautiful leavers hoodies, First Communicants and their families were welcomed back into the school hall for refreshments and a beautiful balloon photo wall, our new P1 children received their schoolbags, to name a few. 

- We were in a lovely position last year to hold a ‘ **Thank You’ raffle** for the families within the school. Every child’s name was put into a raffle where they could win some vouchers from local stores. FoNRStP were delighted to support the costs of this to say our thank you to them for their continued support throughout the year. 

- 2022/2023 saw the addition of St. Patrick to the school name, and with this came a lot of hard work from the staff, children and wider community. A new school crest 



was designed and after a few(!) different designs, the updated school uniform was chosen. Huge thanks to Sportique and Select Kids for helping with this, not to mention the staff and school council for their endless hours of work put into this. FoNRStP were delighted to be a part of this and were able to offer vouchers for every child to help to support families in the purchasing of new uniforms. 

- **Donations** were also made to Marie Curie, Trocaire and Mellon Educate over the course of the year. 

Development of the school’s resources are ongoing, with particular focus on the Sensory Garden and the proposal of a Sensory room. FoNRStP continue to work closely alongside the staff and children within the school to help continue with the development of these very important areas. 

## Final thoughts……. 

Thank you to the members of FoNRStP for their endless hours of planning and preparation for the different events throughout the year. The children and staff are extremely lucky to have such a dedicated group of volunteers. 

Thank you to Mrs Graffin and the staff of New Row St. Patrick’s for genuinely caring about every individual child in the school. The nurture and care shown by every member of staff is second to none, not to mention the high standards in teaching and learning, the sporting successes and musical talents – the opportunities given are endless - so a big thank you from us to you, for taking such good care of our little angels(!). A special thanks to Marie and the ladies in the canteen – nothing is ever a bother to help make our events that little bit more special, and delicious! 

And finally, to our children, parents and families – thank you for making it all possible. 

I look forward to a new school year and continued successful events, in terms of both fundraising and health and wellbeing needs. 

Mrs Grainne Diamond Chairperson