Swords Men’s Shed Group Going From Strength To Strength

The ever popular Men’s Shed groups around the locality are going from strength to strength. On foot of a possible expansion for the Portmarnock group, local councillor Darragh Butler recently enquired about the group in Swords. Butler was keen to see that a group be established, given that Swords is due to be developed significantly in the near future. The local authority said they continued to be very supportive of the Men’s Shed movement throughout the North County, adding that there was already an active Swords-based group: “The Council is very supportive of the Men’s Shed movement and is working with a number of groups throughout the County.

There is already a Swords Men’s Shed group in existence (for over a year) and at present they are meeting in the Riasc Centre at Kinsealy where they also have a small workshop,” the Council explained. They added that the members were receiving appropriate training, to attempt to ensure the longevity of the group in the area. “This group is being supported by Community Development staff who are providing them with advice and training in an attempt to ensure their long term sustainability. The training provided is to build the capacity of the group to allow them develop to an extent where they possibly could manage or part manage a facility,” the Council continued. “Financial support was recently provided to them to purchase equipment,” they said.

The Council added that it was practice to allow groups such as Men’s Shed to reside in a multi-purpose facility, at least until they had built up their membership numbers. “It has been the practise of the Community Development Section to build capacity in groups over a period and then try to have multi use of a facility rather than single occupancy,” the Council concluded.

Thanks to the North County Leader for this article. You can view the original here.