Little Buddies Competition

Little Buddies Competition

Have you a story to tell about your school days? Our competition is open to anyone, who looks back and wonders what a difference it would have made had there been a Buddy Bench in their school ground.  We now know how important it is to teach children how to recognise and express their feelings and emotions.  We at Buddy Bench strongly believe that early intervention is key to nurturing positive mental health and well being in our children.

To enter the competition, please tell us, via email to hello@buddybench.ie  or comment on the Facebook competition post, liking and sharing also. “How having a Buddy Bench in your school would have made a difference to you”?

The prize is a fabulous little buddy’s custom made mini-Buddy Bench, the Little Buddies Awareness programme and our Robin Red for a junior infant’s class of your choice worth up to €800. The competition will run for the month of September and the winner announced on the Friday 29th.

Friends help give meaning to our lives, fulfil the need to belong, and provide support during tough time. They are pretty central to happiness and well being. Research has also shown that the better the quality of your relationships, the more likely you are to be happy.Being excluded, ignored, or teased is very painful for a young child, so we have built our Little Buddies Programme around teaching kindness, friendship, empathy and compassion. 

We look forward to hearing your stories and the very best of luck.

The Buddy Bench Team

Congratulations to Tanya Foley and Aghabullogue National School, Co Cork, our competition winner, we love the poem she wrote, it captures our ethos so well. Thank you all who entered. If you would like more information please email hello@buddybench.ie.
"Come sit with me "
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I remember it like it was only yesterday , although it was such a long time ago ,...
I was barely. five years old , would there be anyone there that I might know ?
I clasped my Mum's hand so tightly, I didn't ever want to say goodbye ,
There were people all around me , I really wanted to cry ,
Then seemingly out of nowhere , I spied a friendly face ,
She came over , smiled at me and said "I've saved you a place",
From that day on we were the best of friends and did everything together ,
And to this day ,we are very close and
Children should watch out for each other and not be afraid to say ...

I often wonder how my first day might have turned out if she hadn't gone out of her way ,
Would I have cried and begged my Mum not to leave and go away ?
Nowadays even more importantly than ever it was in my day ,
Children should watch out for eachother and not be afraid to say ...
"Come sit by me on the Buddy Bench , we can talk or maybe even play ,
Sit with me on the Buddy Bench , you've made a new friend today ".
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I would like to submit this entry to the competition on as a parent of Aghabullogue National School, Aghabullogue , Co. Cork .
The junior infants class would love a Buddy Bench.