When I first started in Macra, I was told that competitions were the “beating heart of Macra”, they were one of the main reasons that people joined and stayed involved with Macra on an annual basis.

Having been with the organisation for the last two and a half years, it is clear to see that this was a correct statement.

During lockdown (which we are all trying to forget), we saw our competitions committee come up with new and inventive ways of running competitions in a manner that kept within the health guidelines, whilst at the same time giving our members access to social interaction with other members

Thankfully we are back at in-person competitions. With this return we have seen two things, firstly the standard at the competitions has continued to improve, and more importantly the number of members that we have accessing the competitions has continued to increase.

We are very early into our competitions year, and yet we are seeing increases in competitors that are beyond anything that has been seen in recent years. We are in the lucky situation that we have to look at all the venues that we are using to see if they have the capacity to hold all of our competitors and supporters.

Competitions don’t just happen, they are organised, run and participated in. This brings together a myriad of moving parts that allow the competitions to run seamlessly.

What most people do not see is the work of Andrew and the Competitions Committee and Mairead in the background arranging all aspects of the various events. As we currently stand we have 28 different competitions across the year; there really is something for everyone.

These competitions will continue to grow and new competitions may also be on the horizon.

I would like to take this opportunity to give thanks to all of our unsung heroes who keep the blood of Macra flowing around the body this we are.