'It's great for Stradbally and the county' - Laois group who brought Operation Transformation

The new series of RTÉ's Operation Transformation hit our screens last week, with county Laois as the showcase base this year.
Laois community group SVT Activity & Wellness HUB which covers  Stradbally, Vicarstown and Timahoe won the honour of hosting the hugely popular television series, supported in their bid by Laois County Council.

PRO of the group Kathleen Sheridan from Vicarstown explained how it came about.

“We work closely with Laois County Council and Laois Sports Partnership to connect communities together, get funding and provide activities and vital social links.

“The council keeps us informed of what support is out there and the Sports Officer Annemarie Maher had put out this proposal from the Operation Transformation team to a few groups around Laois,” Kathleen said.

The eight weekly weigh-ins will be carried out in the beautifully converted 19th Century Malt House in Stradbally,

“The maltings stood out immediately for us as a potential base, it's a beautiful place right in the middle of Stradbally, and we were able to put them in touch with local businesses like caterers, and we know the people on the ground in communities too,” Kathleen said.

Stradbally GAA got on board too, hosting cameras for the Ireland Lights Up community walk around the floodlight pitch.

“It is great for Stradbally and for the county. The county looked really well on the television. The team are really nice to work with,” she said.

The SVT team includes John Scully also from Vicarstown, and Ann Simpson in Stradbally, who gamely got on stage with fitness expert Karl Henry for the first episode's Ad Break Challenge.

The three minute fitness challenge for the public to follow at home, will be filmed in a different Laois town or village each week, a chance to showcase local Laois community spirit.

'I think there's more to me’ - brave Laois Operation Transformation leader Andrea Daly

The second challenge took place in Vicarstown community hall last Friday hosted by Annanough GAA club.

Portlaoise is lined up to host the following week's challenge, with filming locations and dates yet to be announced, and big crowds hoped for.

IN PICTURES: Laois community star of Operation Transformation Ad Break Challenge

Laois County Council’s Healthy Laois Co-ordinator Emma O’Connor said it is a big boost to host the show in the county.

“Having the show broadcast from Laois will play a significant role in helping us deliver our goal of promoting a society where everyone can enjoy physical and mental health, and where wellbeing is valued and supported at every level of society.

“We hope the people of Laois will tune in and join the participants in commencing their journey to enjoying greater physical and mental wellbeing.” she said.