A new group in Cork has been launched and it is designed to help women feel better about themselves and the decisions they make in their everyday lives. 'Girls for Themselves' is all about empowering women. It inspires self-confidence achieved by using self-esteem and image boosting techniques. The group meets on a monthly basis and is facilitated by a group leader who is a highly experienced mentor and coach.

Fraud control activity carried out by the Department of Social Protection (Southern Region) in 2009 resulted in 29,642 claims being reviewed and savings of €14.45m being achieved, according to Cork South Central TD, Michael McGrath. "The Department's Southern Region [Cork, Kerry and Limerick] has confirmed to me that 29,642 individual reviews were carried out in 2009, resulting in almost €14.5m of savings," said Deputy McGrath.

The Annual Inniscarra Inniscarra Agricultural/ Old Time Steam Threshing and Vintage Rally Show will take place again at Inniscarra Community Centre, Ballyanly this Sunday. In the cattle ring there will be nine classes available, which will also feature a Champion Beef animal of the show, in the sheep section there are four different classes for sheep farmers and one class for best goat.

Transition Town Kinsale is showing how to share the harvest in a new and exciting way and giving details of it at a Coffee Morning in the Kinsale Temperance Hall from 9.30am to 12.30 next Friday 27 August. Instead of taking a bag of porridge oats off the supermarket shelf some people in Kinsale are getting involved in the whole process of growing and preparing the oats.

The twinning project between Cork and Shanghai has resulted in an Irish mythology exhibition at the Ireland Expo Pavilion which will run until 31 August. 'Tir na nOg', which was commissioned by Cork City Council and created by both Cork and Shanghai artists, celebrates the Irish legend of the land of eternal youth. A reported 10,000 people have passed through the exhibit space each day.

With Heritage Week coming to an end this weekend, a project on the docklands in Cork is looking for oral submissions. 'Working Life in the Cork Docklands from the 1950s to the 1980s – An Oral History' by Adrian Roche is a project, partly funded by a grant from the Heritage Council, which will be completed in November.

Cork farmers will soon be able to apply for funding under a new sheep fencing and mobile handling scheme. €8 million has been provided for the scheme by the Department of Agriculture and Food and applications will be taken from 1 November. The scheme is part of the Rural Development Programme and will help sheep farmers in reducing labour input.

Michael O'Mahony, a 21-year-old dairy farmer from Mitchelstown, has been named as the Cork-Avondhu Young Farmer of the Year and he will go on to represent the county at the 12th annual FBD Young Farmer of the Year Competition. The competition is run by Macra na Feirme in partnership with the IFA and Michael will compete against 21 of the country's other top young farmers in the national final, which takes place in the Tower Hotel, Waterford this weekend.

A great opportunity to meet old friends and to make new ones is available to the people of Cork in September, all in the name of a good cause. The fundraising lunch will help to fund projects for abandoned and abused street and slum children in Kolkata (Calcutta).

The McLoughlin family from Kilworth are busy organising the third Eamonn Mac 100km Memorial Cycle, which is due to take place on 25 September from Dunmanway to Kilworth. Many of the extended family, friends and neighbours will be participating in this event and all proceeds raised will go towards Cork Cancer Research Centre.