We all know the world presents its challenges. However, there’s good news out there too, if you look hard enough for it. Apart from the lengthening evenings and (slightly) rising temperatures, we have received a share of good news for our Shed in the past week. In the first instance, the number of members of the shed is increasing (although there is always room for more). The variety of community activities in which we are involved is also increasing (although, again, we are always open to suggestions for us to get involved with other community activities).
Several of our Men’s Shed members attended the Nanny PopPpins show in the Aghada Community Centre on Saturday night, April 6th. The show was spectacular, and our Men’s Shed are very proud to be associated with the show, even though the part we played (in assisting with the set & stage props) was modest by comparison to the scale of the entire production. It was great fun and we would love to be involved with future productions.
As mentioned previously, we have commenced our classes in conversational Irish. Some of the members are already fluent Irish speakers, which is a great help. One of the shedders, Colm Ó’Catháin, is a former Irish school teacher and is facilitating the classes. Our aim is to use a little Irish when we can, but not having Irish will not act as a barrier to existing or new members. Nothing too serious, but you’d be amazed how quickly the “cúpla focal” would come back to you.
Finally, on the good news front, we have found a temporary home for our workshop. We are very grateful to Father Bermingham in the Parish of Carrigtwohill who has made some disused stables available to us for the next 6 months or so. At present we are assisting with clearing out the building & making it habitable. We plan to ‘move in’ in the very near future. This is a short-term measure only, as our real aim is to have our workshop/shed within walking distance of Midleton town centre.
It might appear odd that we are going to Carrigtwohill for a workshop. However, despite our continuing best efforts to secure suitable premises in Midleton, and notwithstanding the very large amount of vacant property in the Midleton area, we have not been successful, yet. We repeat our call for any relevant landlords in the Midleton area to consider having the Midleton Men’s Shed as tenant. We are looking for 1,500 square feet of space, or a greenfield site on which to build our own premises. We simply must be based in the heart of Midleton.
Our fund-raising efforts are going well. We have had a good number of very generous donations from local businesses, to whom we wrote seeking support for which we are truly grateful. We remind those who have received a letter, or those who did not, to consider making a donation if you have not already done so – our details are included below. The funds will be used wisely for the shed & tools, when that emerges in the near future. In the meantime, having a workshop space, albeit in Carrigtwohill for the moment, is great for us as It gives us a space to work on our short-term projects which we hope will in turn benefit the people of Midleton and further afield.
As we are fully committed to being based in Midleton, we will continue to hold our weekly meetings in the Edmond Rice Centre on Rosary Place on Friday mornings at 11 o’clock, until we secure our long-term solution of having our workshop based in Midleton.
Our Men’s Shed group meets weekly at 11.00 on Friday mornings in the Edmond Rice Centre, and we welcome new members.
If you would like more information you can contact us using any of the following methods:
Shed phone number: 083-4019739
email: [email protected]
or have a look at our website: www.midletonmensshed.com
We are also on social media as follows:
Twitter: @MensMidleton
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MIdletonMensShed2018
