Category: Press Release

Posted on by

New Green Keeper for Colin Park Golf Course

Pat Devlin makes big changes

It is evident of late that there has been a change in quality of the greens on Colin Park – 9 Hole Golf Course. But why such a dramatic change? Surely it’s not all down to the weather putting Rose Tinted Glasses on us!

In Short it is down to the efforts of Pat Devlin whose career as a green-keeper has spanned more than 50 years. Pat’s vision and hard work has rubbed off on other green keepers and staff at Colin Park enabling the dramatic turnaround. But who is Pat Devlin, and what brought him to Colin Park?

New Green Keeper for Colin Park Golf Course

‘In June 1966  I began my career at Balmoral as assistant green-keeper & worked my way up to head green-keeper, where i spent 13 years. I played golf as much as possible with the great Fred Daly and Eddie Polland reducing my handicap to 4. Being offered a position as Course Manager at Lisburn GC was great and in 1979 we hosted the Ulster Professionals. I was then offered the position of Course Manager at Co. Louth {Baltray} in 1991. It was an easy decision as as I wanted experience on a links course. We hosted the Irish Professionals and the East of Ireland. However I stayed for only 2 years as I always missed the North. The position of course Manager came up at Belvoir Park GC and  I was lucky enough to be appointed, where we hosted the Irish Close, the Irish Professionals and many other high ranking tournaments including The World Blind Championship. I have now retired from full time work and accepted part time Course  Manager position at Colin Park GC which i wish to transform on a low budget  – a great challenge which i totally accept and look forward to. I started on April 11th 2017’.

During the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass this week our Head Greenkeeper Pat Devlin is giving us a taste of the speed of the greens will be reaching at Sawgrass. Using a Stimpmeter at Colin park, Pat has got the greens running at 10.4. When you think the fastest they got at Augusta this year was 13, Pat will be making the members very twitchy!

https://www.facebook.com/colin.park.77/videos/1275223505927374/

Recent Changes to Course

Here are some of the changes we have made to date:

The fairways has been double cut, so there is no longer any rough, just a first cut which will speed up play and promote no hold ups. with noticeable increase in speed of play with no hold ups. The greens are now being cut 4 times a week and rolled instead of 2 which helps with speed and role. Colin Park is now perfect if you want to nip out for 9 holes with just an hour to spare.

For more information  for our Golf Course and Golf Lessons please contact us by email at colinpark@colinglentrust.org or call us on 02890614115.

Posted on by

Prince’s Trust Team Programme

Colin Glen Trust are now offering a fantastic life changing opportunity for Young Adults in West Belfast starting this February.  The Prince’s Trust Team Programme is a unique Personal Development & Employability Scheme run out over 12 weeks. Throughout the programme participants will get the opportunity to take part in:

  • An Activity Residential in the Mournes including Team Building, Bouldering, Hill Walking, Kayaking, Laser Tag.
  • 2 Weeks Work Placement in fields which the participants have an interest.
  • Interview and CV building skills which will help the participants to widen the reach of applying for and securing a job.

ALSO

  • A week long community project of their choice which will give them a sense of pride and achievement.
  • The opportunity to gain The Prince’s Trust Certificate and Award in Employment, Teamwork and Community Skills.
  • Developing presentation skills which will build confidence and ability when it comes to the world of work.
  • Team work skills that you can’t gain anywhere else.

Meet New People, Take Action, Gain new Experiences, Plan for the Future, meet The Challenge & Have Your Say!

If you have any young people between the ages of 16 – 24 and are deemed NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) or are working a low hour contract and would like to join the TEAM, then they can apply and take part in a once in a lifetime opportunity with The Prince’s Trust TEAM Programme.

The next TEAM Programme starts on Monday 5th February 2018

Colin Glen Trust

163 Stewartstown Road, Belfast.

BT17 0HW

Help them jump start their career ideas into a reality.

Contact:

Adam Leahy or Seamus Mullan

Princes Trust Team Leader

07517 425 307

E-mail princestrust@colinglen.org

Posted on by

Powerful partnership with the Colin Glen Trust

Colin Glen Forest Park is pleased to announce a new two year sponsorship deal with Power NI, Northern Ireland’s leading electricity supplier.

Power NI’s Commercial Sales and Marketing Manager, Alan Egner said:

“We are very proud to partner with the Colin Glen Forest Park. At Power NI we are always looking for opportunities to support our al communities and we are delighted to help organisations such as Colin Glen and help them bring these excellent facilities to the local area.”

Colin Glen Trust CEO Colin O’Neill also commented:

“Thank you so much to Alan and the team at Power NI for their sponsorship. As a charity and social enterprise we need extra support in order to continue to grow what we have to offer. We’re always keen to develop relationships with our local suppliers and we were delighted when Power NI decided to come on board.”

Posted on by

Job Vacancy – Prince’s Trust Team Leader

Job Vacancy at Colin Glen Trust, Stewartstown Road, Belfast

Colin Glen Trust is seeking to add to its growing team. We are recruiting for a Prince’s Trust Team Leader (Maternity Cover).

Prince’s Trust Team Programme is a 12 week personal development programme for 16-24 Year Old’s who are not in education employment or training. It Involves a Residential, Team Challenge, Work Placements, Community Project, Employment & Skills training.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

1.      Deliver the required number of Teams, ensuring delivery complies with the structured 12-week stages and processes outlined in the Team Toolkit, the Team minimum quality standards, all assessment criteria and any additional contractual obligations

2.      Recruit a range of young people across the target groups to achieve appropriate Team mix.  Ensure appropriate young people are referred to the Team within agreed timeframes

3.      Progress young people through the programme in line with local budgets, achieving a range of KPI targets including the number of young people recruited; their retention on the programme; and the qualifications and positive outcomes achieved

4.      Write End of Team Reports after each programme and ensure actions to improve the quality of the programme are followed up and completed in good time

5.      Support the implementation of multiple external funding contracts or initiatives (local and national) to ensure requirements and outputs are achieved as advised by the Delivery Partner Manager or The Trust’s Programme Executive

6.      Maintain accurate and up-to-date records, paper and electronic, as required by The Trust or external funding contracts and in line with The Trust’s data protection policy

7.      Compliance with the Delivery Partner’s and The Trust’s policies for working with young people, Recruiting Safely, Safeguarding and Health and Safety and any other operational procedures for direct delivery

8.      Implement action plans to address issues identified in the Team Review, Annual Quality Review and other Quality Assurance processes as outlined in the Toolkit

9.      Attend all necessary internal/external training courses and management/steering group meetings as required including Prince’s Trust initial Team Leader Training course, Risk Management and, if not already held, Food Hygiene and First Aid at Work

10.  Carry out other Team-related duties as may reasonably be required by the Delivery Partner or The Trust, including deputising as appropriate on activities relevant to area of responsibility

Further information contained in application pack.

To obtain an application pack please contact sonya@colinglentrust.org or call her on 02890 614 115

Posted on by

He’s here! The Gruffalo deep in Colin Glen Forest!

The Mouse took a stroll through the deep dark woods…. Come and join the very clever mouse in Colin Glen Forest Park.  Follow in his footsteps and meet the silly old fox, owl and snake on the way to an amazing 8 foot tall Gruffalo, complete with knobbly knees, turned out toes and a poisonous wart on the end of his nose.

 

Colin Glen Forest Park is now the proud home of these very famous characters.  With each character magically recreated by sculptor Andrew McIntyre and set against the backdrop of a stunning forest park this is one of the best family attractions in Belfast.  From entering through the Gruffalo Archway, through the forest park to a beautiful gruffalo themed seating area next to the cascading Colin river, your children will be completely amazed at meeting their favourite Gruffalo characters, whilst getting out in the fresh air.

 

The trail will take approximately 20 mins to get to the Gruffalo (depending on how many photos and selfies you take at each sculpture) and then you can sit for a moment or two and take in the beauty of the forest next to the river, before a comfortable stroll back down to the visitors centre, where you can grab a nice cup of tea or coffee.

 

The experience is completely free so bring the family and enjoy one of Belfast’s most beautiful parks and rather than read the Gruffalo book (again!) come and live it.

Posted on by

Colin Glen Announces Gruffalo Attraction

Alpha Fund Makes Children’s Literary Trail Possible

What better way to get more families and children into the great outdoors than to introduce one of the most popular children’s characters of the last generation? Colin Glen Trust supported by funding from Alpha and with the kind permission of Magic Light Pictures Ltd unveiled one of the sculptures that will take up residence in Colin Glen Forest Park in November.  Based on the much loved picture book, The Gruffalo, written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, the Mouse character is the first of seven sculptures that are currently being created by Andrew McIntyre.  The Gruffalo Trail is due to open in late November and while the finishing touches are applied to the little mouse’s adversaries, he will remain in the Colin Glen Visitor Centre for anyone to visit.

Colin Glen Trust have been supported by Magic Light Pictures, license holders for the Gruffalo, throughout the development of the idea and it was only when they successfully applied to the Alpha Programme, managed and administered by Groundwork NI, that the idea started to become a reality.

Unveiling the first sculpture, Colin Glen Trust Chief Executive, Colin O’Neill stated, “this is an exciting day for the Trust and for me personally.  I have been reading The Gruffalo story, and indeed other Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler books, to my two daughters for a few years now and that is where the idea came from.  Since we started talking about it as an attraction for the Forest Park the support has been amazing.  Daryl Shute from Magic Light Pictures and Mel Waddell from Alpha have both been incredibly supportive.  We were delighted when Andrew McIntyre agreed to take on the challenge of recreating the characters for the Forest Park and he has really captured the essence of the story.  Children and their parents will just love the opportunity to ‘take a stroll through the deep dark wood’ and follow the journey of the very clever mouse”.

Daryl Shute, Brand Director at Magic Light Pictures added, “It’s fantastic to be bringing the first Gruffalo character trail to Northern Ireland and what better location in which to do so. We’re delighted to be working with the Colin Glen Trust encouraging families to venture outdoors, enjoy the local landscape and get active with this special picture book character. Imagination, adventure and creative play are at the heart of every initiative we run for The Gruffalo brand and we’re looking forward to developing this partnership further.”

“The Alpha Programme is delighted to be involved with this project,” said Warren Bell, representing the Alpha Programme Steering Group.  He continued, “The Alpha Programme has supported a wide variety of environmental projects through the Landfill tax scheme and the Colin Glen Forest Park Gruffalo Trail is one that certainly captures the imagination.  Undoubtedly it will get more people actively involved in the environment and more people using Colin Glen Forest Park.”

Over the past few years Colin Glen Forest Park has become a hive of activity for all different types of people.  It was always known as a stunning park for local people but in recent times it has also become an attraction for families and groups from all over Northern Ireland as a “must see” location.  Having introduced SKYTrek, which incorporates a double zip line, power fan descender, climbing wall and high and low ropes course, the Trust continued to introduce more activities including Kayaking, Rafting, Laser Tag, Archery, Orienteering and just last month began to offer Mountain Biking.

“We manage and promote a magnificent resource and we want to get as many people active in Colin Glen Forest Park and our other site Colin Park.  We believe in developing as many attractions as possible in order to ensure that as many people as possible can come and enjoy this stunning location. The Gruffalo Trail is just one of the latest projects that will help get more people active and learning about the environment.  Colin Glen Trust has been hit hard by the sizeable government cuts over the past few years but we are determined to continually                                                                                    improve the facilities for local people, offer education and training and protect this beautiful facility forever.  In order to achieve this we need to create a range of appealing facilities such as this exciting and unique Gruffalo Trail and make it so that people will feel that they must come here”, added the Chief Executive.

Since 2007 the Alpha Programme has provided nearly £3m in funding to 90+ projects for biodiversity and community based schemes within a ten-mile radius of the Mullaghglass Landfill Site. The programme is managed by Groundwork NI and redistributes the landfill tax credits to support great projects and initiatives to create biodiversity or positively impact local communities.

Ends

Editor’s Notes

The sculptures have all been designed and built by Andrew McIntyre.  The Alpha Programme has provided £49,000 for this project.  Alpha is a Lagan Company and is administered by Groundwork.  Colin Glen Trust is a charity that is currently funded by NIEA although this funding has been drastically reduced and is likely to end.  Further Information from www.colinglen.org.  The Gruffalo is copyright 1999 Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler. Licensed by Magic Light Pictures Ltd