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Dooradoyle Raheen Men’s Shed in Co Limerick has raised almost €50,000 for their soon-to-be established permanent location near the Crescent Shopping Centre. Sean Dalton is chair of the shed and is looking forward to its official location opening in a few months.
The shed started out two and a half years ago but the nine members have struggled to find a suitable location for the shed.
“We were offered properties in the town but we wanted one in the locality,” Sean explains.
The area is one of the busier suburbs of Limerick, according to Sean, and he says it has been hard to find a vacant property. Over the past few months, they secured a location from the council near the Crescent Shopping Centre. Sean says the drive to find a permanent location “gave us the momentum to keep going”.
The group had to apply for planning permission twice along with applications for lots of funding and grants, so this has been a long time coming.
“We were refused but that didn’t stop us,” says Sean. They had to show the council that they had sufficient funding, so over the past two and a half years, they have raised almost €50,000 through various fundraising events such as golf classics and table quizzes.
Sean says they would love to have some businesses on board with sponsorship to keep them going. They have had around 70 expressions of interest from men who would like to join the shed once it opens. Sean says this should be before Christmas.
Since establishing the shed, the men have been meeting in each others’ houses regularly.
They have been involved with clean-ups in the area including the Team Limerick Clean-Up along with holding some coffee mornings for elderly people. When the shed is officially opened later this year, Sean hopes that they could use the kitchen to teach people to cook along with other activities.
“We would hope to provide computer training, workshops and music and entertainment in nursing homes,” he says.
For further details, contact Sean on 087-6810692.
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