This year sees leading Irish convenience retailer, Gala Retail, continue its sponsorship of Starcamp for a second year, supporting Starcamp in its delivery of activity camps all across the country and providing over €10,000 worth of prizes for participating children and their schools.

Starcamp is known nationwide for its award-winning Easter and Summer camps, which take place in more than 250 locations across Ireland each year. Earlier this year, Starcamp with Gala Retail launched the first ‘National Confidence Day’ for children in Ireland with a special ‘I Believe in Me’ themed online show, designed to help Irish children to develop their confidence and self-esteem through participation in a range of fun activities.

The focus on building confidence and self-belief continues in Summer Camps with its ‘Be Confident’ theme, engaging the children at each camp in a range of activities that will help them to build self-esteem and self-confidence through participation in the camps activities which include music, dance, drama, camp games, magic, arts & crafts, comedy, fun masterclasses and so much more!

Speaking about the sponsorship of Starcamp, Chief Executive of Gala Retail, Gary Desmond, comments: “Gala is proud to announce our continued sponsorship of ‘Starcamp with Gala Retail’ for a second year, supporting Starcamp in its delivery of both National Confidence Day earlier in the year and its annual Summer Camps taking place in communities across Ireland this summer.

“Both Gala Retail and Starcamp are household names in communities across Ireland and there is a great synergy in this partnership. We are thrilled to sponsor Starcamp and support its delivery of fun and inclusive activity camps for children across the country this Summer.”

Speaking about the upcoming Starcamp with Gala Retail Summer Camps, Founder and Director of Starcamp, Aideen O’Grady said: “Starcamp with Gala Retail cannot wait to kick off our Summer Camps for 2022! Earlier in the year we launched Ireland’s first ‘National Confidence Day’ with a free virtual show that was packed with activities to help children develop self-confidence and we are continuing that focus with our ‘Be Confident!’ theme for our Summer Camps.

“Our core ethos is about building children’s self-esteem and confidence and the activities that we run at the Summer Camps are designed to encourage this. The children are promoted to engage with others and put themselves out there, whether it’s speaking, acting or presenting – they are developing their skills and confidence, without even realising it and all while having fun!”

Starcamp with Gala Retail Summer Camps will be taking place over 250 locations this summer, hosting almost 30,000 children. For more information on Starcamp with Gala Retail and Summer Camp locations and availability, visit www.starcamp.ie.

Caption: Gary Desmond, Chief Executive of Gala Retail & Jennifer York Howard, Starcamp Team Leader, pictured with Olivia I Hekaire, aged 9 and Bobbi Osborne, aged 9

The post Starcamp with Gala Retail promises a summer of fun for Irish kids appeared first on Ireland's Forecourt & Convenience Retailer.

Gala Retail recently teamed up with Starcamp to conduct a survey of more than 1,500 parents from across Ireland to assess the impact that Covid-19 and subsequent restrictions has had on Irish children of Primary School age.

The survey results revealed that ‘confidence’ ranked above ‘academic excellence’ and ‘sporting skills’ as the top trait that respondents wish for their children, with 43% of respondents rating confidence as the most desirable trait.

Almost 50% of respondents feel that their child has been less sociable since the introduction of restrictions and a staggering two thirds of children (65%) have become more reliant on devices and technology since the pandemic began.

91% of parents surveyed said that they felt that group activities such as drama, sport and music are ‘very important’ for their child’s development.

With the wellbeing of children in mind following the pandemic and lockdown restrictions of the last two years, Starcamp with Gala Retail has announced the launch of ‘National Confidence Day’ on 24^th March and a free online show for children, packed with activities to promote confidence.

Speaking about the results of the survey and the decision to launch National Confidence Day, founder & Director of Starcamp, Aideen O’Grady said: “Parents have spoken. The response to this survey indicates the level of concern for their children following the pandemic. Confidence is what they desire most for them and following a two-year period of restrictions of varying levels, it is unsurprising that this survey reveals the impact that these restrictions have had on their confidence and sociability. Almost all opportunities to develop confidence and social skills became unavailable at a crucial stage of their development.

“Confidence is a human right for every single child, bar none. It is the greatest building block for our next generation and we need to nurture it in them. Kids with confidence are more likely to try new things, think well of themselves, take pride in what they do and achieve and believe in themselves – invaluable gifts to take into adulthood. We don’t want the children of “covid years” to lose out.

“Therefore, the team at Starcamp, sponsored by Gala Retail, are launching ‘National Confidence Day’ in Ireland this 24th March. They have produced a very special, free, Starcamp with Gala Retail ‘Confidence Show’ available to stream online with some incredible content. It will be filled with fun, creative activities designed to help build confidence in kids, while having fun!”

CEO of Gala Retail, sponsor of Starcamp, Gary Desmond adds: “Gala Retail is proud to sponsor Starcamp and support the delivery of a free, fun, online workshop for Irish children on National Confidence Day. This is designed to encourage confidence and self-esteem. As the survey results demonstrate, confidence is something that we should be instilling in our children, particularly after the events of the last two years and this free online production aims to engage children, encouraging confidence and building self-esteem through activities that incorporate crafts, music and drama with lots of fun along the way. We hope that National Confidence Day becomes a day that is celebrated nationwide, by all.”

The Starcamp with Gala Retail Confidence Day Show is FREE for all and will be available to access online on 24^th March, visit https://starcamp.ie/confidence-day/ for more information.

The post Gala teams up with Starcamp for national survey and launch of ‘Confidence Day’ appeared first on Ireland's Forecourt & Convenience Retailer.