The walking group outside Gillen's Londis Plus in Summerhill.

Summerhill Tidy Towns committee hosted a very successful 'Walking for our Community' walk on Sunday 19th August to raise funds for Renaissance projects in the village.

Over 150 people took part in the walk, which began in the village and continued to Dangan Church, through the Bull Ring and back in the Rathmolyon Road - a distance of 5km. A large number completed a 10km walk on the day by doing this circuit twice.

Rather than getting sponsorship, funds were raised by participants paying a €15 registration free, which included the yellow t-shirt that the walkers all wore. Over €3,000 was raised through the event, which will go towards Renaissance projects in the village.

The group warmed up in advance of the walk by doing Zumba dancing on the green with Eimear Kenny. The walk itself was led by a bagpiper Ruairí Somers and local gardai.

The t-shirts were sponsored by Gillen's Londis Plus, who also provided fruit afterwards and gave a free '99' ice cream to anyone who came into the shop wearing the yellow t-shirts after the walk.

"Thank you to all for caring about our village, we have now moved closer to making our plans for our village a reality. If you wish to help at any stage, we have a works day every Saturday from 10am until 1pm or every Tuesday evening from 7pm to 8.30pm," said committee member, PJ Tormey.

The committee extended its deepest gratitude to John and Sheila Gillen of Londis Plus Summerhill; Just the Biz printers in Maynooth; Tara Quill Water, Summerhill, the Red Cross, and everyone who turned out on the day and to all who gave their support.

The walk was the second fundraiser for the Renaissance projects organised by the group. The first was an auction held earlier this year. The next fundraiser is a quiz which will take place in the community centre on Friday, 21st September at 9pm. A table of four is €40.

The committee is hoping that it will be in a position to commence its projects after the quiz if sufficent funds are raised.

Matching funding is available from Meath Partnership towards local projects. The first project the group is hoping to work on is the village green. The aim is to make it wheelchair-accessible and to enhance the green, including the provision of water features in the ponds, and other projects will follow, it is hoped.