Help us to make Johnstown a better place in which to live, work, and visit.
18th June
From Meath County Council
Did you know, recycling goes far beyond the plastics, paper, and cans that we recycle weekly?
With 84% of Irish households containing an average of 15 to 20 broken or unused electrical items, there's never been a better time to make e-waste recycling part of your Spring Cleaning routine!
As part of The National Awareness Campaign - Recycle Your Electrical Waste for Free! We're calling on householders to recycle anything with a plug, cable, or battery, and to find your nearest free electrical recycling drop-off point with My Waste Ireland
Learn more - https://mywaste.ie/.../where-you-can-take-your-recycling...
June 18th
Thank you to the Lighthouse Church members of their congregation for joining our volunteers yesterday to help keep our community looking its best.
The day's challenge was litter picking and manually weeding a large length of our Green Km. Branches in the Johnstown Peoples' Park were trimmed along the path where they posed a danger to the visually impaired.
June 11th
100's of clover flowers in full bloom as part of our trial to replace grass lawns.
Volunteers cut an edge along the lawns of Chestnut and Elm Estates to make the Green Km roadside more appealing, reduce littering, and reduce dog fouling on pavements.
St Martha's Bridge shines once again thanks to Johnstown resident John at Rochfort Property Maintenance and the staff at Navan RFC for supplying the water.
Great to see that no chemicals were involved and we now look forward to seeing the summer flower baskets installed in a few weeks.
Volunteers cut an edge along the lawns of Bailis Downs Estate while they raise funds for more regular cuts, and to make the Green Km roadside more appealing, reduce littering, and reducing dog fouling on pavements.
In the meantime, the longer grass supports biodiversity by creating food, shelter, and safety for many more creatures and plants compared to short-grass monoculture lawns.
Our volunteers and one of our TÙS workers visited the Cois Glaisin estate today.
We manually weeded the main road between Cois Glaisin an Boyne View.
We also did some litter picking in the estate and I have to give credit where it's due Cois Glaisin is a credit to its residents and the cleanest estate we have done so far this year.
We were delighted to get the opportunity to sign up to the TÙS Scheme run by Meath Partnership last year. Since joining the scheme we were delighted to welcome 4 members of the scheme to work alongside our volunteers in the Johnstown Community.
Having the TÙS workers on board means we are able to enhance and improve the work we do within the community and we hope to be in the position to take on bigger projects in the near future.
We now have one TÙS worker allocated to the Green Kilometre scheme in partnership with Meath County Council which includes manually weeding 8 Kilometres of local roads. Which in turn keeps poisonous pesticides out of Johnstown.
We also have another TÙS worker in charge of litter picking around our main roads on a daily basis.
The third TÙS worker supports our homeless outreach and food hamper services. Only last week we had another TÙS worker join the team and already she has assisted us with our summer tree planting program and we have also started to litter pick within our estates with Boyne View, Millbrook, Spireview and Johnstown Peoples Park already seeing the benefits.
If you would to find out more about the TÙS program just read below and if you would like to get involved just PM the page.
The Tús initiative is a community work placement scheme aimed at providing short-term work opportunities for unemployed individuals in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance. It is managed locally by various bodies, including Local Integrated Development Companies and Údarás na Gaeltachta. Participants work 19.5 hours per week for a maximum of 12 months, gaining valuable experience and contributing to their local communities.
Key Aspects of the Tús Program:
Target Audience: Unemployed individuals in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance.
Duration: Work placements are for a maximum of 12 months.
Work Hours: Participants work 19.5 hours per week.
Community Focus: The program provides work opportunities within community and voluntary organizations.
Benefits: Participants gain work experience, build confidence, and learn new skills, while community organizations benefit from the skills and experience of the participants.
Management: The program is managed at a local level by various entities, including Local Integrated Development Companies and Údarás na Gaeltachta.
Eligibility: Individuals must be unemployed and in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance to be eligible for the program.
Referrals: Unemployed individuals who are eligible are contacted by their local Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office and offered the opportunity to participate.
Self-Referral: Since May 2015, some Tús places can be filled through self-referral by potential participants.
Payment: Participants receive a weekly payment based on their existing Jobseeker's Allowance, with a minimum payment of €271.50.
Tax and PRSI: The Tús payment is taxable, and Class A PRSI contributions are paid for all participants.
Focus on Work Readiness: The program aims to improve participants' work readiness and increase their chances of gaining meaningful employment.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GET INVOLVED JUST PM THE PAGE
Our volunteers were out again today manually weeding Johnstown helping keep poisonous pesticides away from our children.
31st May
From Meath County Council
Your Dog's Business is Your Business!
Always pick up after your dog - on the Street, on the Beach, in the Park.
Our volunteers continued manual weeding today in partnership with Meath County Council as part of the Green Kilometre scheme. We cleared weeds from the Smiths SuperValu roundabout on both sides up to the Kentstown Road junction. Our volunteers also cleared weeds from the front and the side of SuperValu.
This scheme has now being running for nearly 5 years and has helped keep 1000's of litres of poisonous pesticides out of Johnstown.
Our volunteers and Tùs workers in partnership with Meath Partnership were out working hard over the last few days manually weeding from Cois Glaisin to Smiths SuperValu to help keep poisonous pesticides out of Johnstown.
We were delighted to attend the Meath Chronicle awards last week to collect an award in recognition of our hard work on the Green Kilometre scheme in partnership with Meath County Council .
Our volunteers were busy today recycling plants from our winter bridge boxes and holly. There are some of the winter plants left if anyone would like to recycle them
10th May
From Meath County Council
Free Events Showcasing County’s Wildlife for National Biodiversity Week
With Ireland’s nature and wildlife taking centre stage from 16-25 May for National Biodiversity Week, Meath County Council, with funding from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, is showing their support by organising a total of 14 free events across the county showcasing the wildlife that can be found in our coastal, riverine, woodland, farmland, wetland and urban environments.
Library-goers can also take part in a countywide ‘Big Biodiversity Quiz!’ which runs over the course of National Biodiversity Week in all Meath County libraries. One lucky participant from each of the county’s 15 libraries will be in with a chance to win a prize giveaway.
The Biodiversity Officer Programme is supported nationally by The Heritage Council
Registration is required for most events. A full listing of Biodiversity Week events can be found at https://biodiversityweek.ie.
7th May
Our volunteers have been very busy over the last week supporting rough sleepers on the streets of Navan. We can only do what we do with your support. The Joshua Community not only provides a drop-in Centre for homeless people they also support our work out of hours and over the weekend when no other homeless outreach service is available in Meath.
@smiths_supervalu_navan also supports us all year round.
3rd May
Initiating our alternative to grass lawns trial x20 Thymus serpyllum 'Red Carpet' alpine replaces a strip of front garden turf
Our volunteers were out again last night delivering tents, sleeping bags, and hot food to rough sleepers in Navan.
Vape and e-cigarette devices are designed to be disposable,but they should still be recycled!
Consumers may return waste vaping devices, free of charge, to any retail outlet that sells them when purchasing a new one or they can be disposed in the WEEE/Battery area at civic amenity sites.
More information on recycling vapes and e-cigarette devices can be found at ERP Ireland
Thanks to Meath County Council for supporting Tidy Towns groups and providing free Public Liability Insurance.
Thanks to Meath County Council working together with our volunteers who have positively identified the illegal dumper leaving a mattress on Metges Road.
If you see anyone illegally dumping in Navan contact the Council on 046 9097000.
Volunteers participated for the first time in the Navan St Patricks Day Parade.
The 4km of pavement weeds continue to be removed manually without the use of poisonous herbicides.
Meath County Council provide saplings for volunteers to plant throughout the neighbourhood.
Closing date for applications is Friday, 2 May 2025.
For more information on the scheme visit https://bit.ly/MCCPOP.
Our volunteers are out again this morning with a bucket collection for the Simon Community outside St Mary's and St Oliver's Sunday Services.
Please give generously and help the Simon Community support the homeless.
Our Meath Homeless Outreach volunteers were out on the streets of Navan again last night. We looked after 3 women and a man. With the support of Gary and his team in the Joshua Community, we were able to bring a little comfort to our rough sleepers.
Delivering food hampers to families living in poverty after the storm.
The litter team is helping to keep Johnstown clean.
Volunteers cleared Metges Road pavements and cycle paths of debris.
Our Johnstown Tidy Towns volunteers were out delivering food hampers to families living in food poverty again today.
Thanks to Athboy's People Who Share Care Group for sourcing and assembling the hampers.
Our volunteers were out and about early morning. While there was black ice in some areas in general Johnstown wasn't badly affected. We spread salt around the bus stops, on the footpaths around Smiths SuperValu, and on the steps beside the Spire View Way.
With over 50 activities ranging from sowing seeds to delivering supplies to those in need there's something for the whole community to get involved in.