Elevate has announced Clare County hurler Podge Collins as it’s very first ambassador today to champion youth wellness amongst young people in the county.
Podge, best known for his passion on the pitch has leant his support to an organisation close to his heart.
Podge Collins said “From experience, I have witnessed first hand how a person can perceive to be happy and healthy but have severe underlying issues that they repress on a daily basis. I intend to contribute to Elevate in any way I can to help them to achieve their goals in helping young people of Clare to Live their lives as full as possible.”
The Elevate Foundation, established by Clare’s first Mt Everest summiteer John Burke and his wife Aoibhín Garrihy, is a not-for-profit organisation which aims to fund the rollout of a multifaceted wellness programme to young people utilising independent organisations and professionals who specialise in youth wellness and mental health.
Through its fundraising efforts Elevate can offer this valuable programme without any cost to schools, Youthreach centres and/or youth organisations who wish to participate.
Speaking on behalf of Elevate John Burke said: “Podge is a perfect ambassador, and not just for his sporting reputation, but because he represents so much of what Elevate is about, we hope as an organisation to encourage positive living, support for others, resilience and courage, and we believe that within all young people lies greatness, in so many forms.
Working with people like Podge we hope that our five initial elements which include mindfulness sessions, resilience workshops, SOAR workshops, and inspirational talks that we can encourage young people to love themselves more and feel greater resilience to the pressures they can feel around them in particular from social media.”
“We are confident that together we can help make a genuine, positive change to the lives of our young people in Clare. Podge is a wonderful ambassador for our organisation and an ideal role model for young people. We are so delighted to work with him on spreading a positive message in relation to self care, wellness and embracing individuality in the County” Aoibhín said.
Podge is not the only one lending support to Elevate as an amazing line-up of Clare based artists take the stage to include Luka Bloom, Mick Flannery and Siomha at an upcoming fundraising event, Elevate the Gig, at the Armada Hotel, Spanish Point on Sunday 29th October with all proceeds going directly to the Elevate programme.
Tickets for Elevate the Gig will be available to buy on Eventbrite and also from the Armada Hotel from Thursday 28th September at 9am.
To find out more about Elevate please visit @elevateraisingthebanner on Facebook or follow us on instagram @elevatefoundation.