This article is from page 33 of the 2008-03-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 33 JPG
THE people of north Clare are being offered the chance to take advantage of the newly refurbished community space in Kilfenora.
The newly upgraded Kilfenora Community Centre will be formally re-opened this Friday evening and the centres committee is inviting lo- cal people along to see what the cen- tre has to offer.
“We already have badminton, set dancing, youth club, music, trad for teens, step dancing and we have the fitness club. There is lots on already but if anyone out there is interested in any other activities the should get in contact with myself or any mem- ber of the committee and we’d love
to help out,’ said chairperson, Pat aerator
“We also have a long tradition of boxing here in the hall. It’s been going here for years and they have achieved a lot of success over that apes lone
The hall committee has secured a number of grants for the hall, most notably a €30,000 grant from Clare County Council through the Com- munity Capital Scheme and has un- dergone fundraising activities.
The hope now is that the venue can become self financing before the end of the year.
‘We have done well with the grants and got some help from the local businesses. Our main fundraiser for the hall is our bring-and-buy sale
which takes place at Christmas. We use that to finance insurance, light and heat costs,” continued Pat.
“We hope that the hall can become self financing by the end of this year. We are looking at introducing a nom- inal fee, maybe a euro per head per hour, which would cover the basics of heat and light. Hopefully, if we get enough people involved we wont need to go fundraising anymore, it will be able to fund itself.”
Local councillor, Joe Arkins (FG) said the council funding was partly as a result of an increase in social hous- ing in the area over recent years.
“The hall at Kilfenora was badly in need of upgrading and is used by many orginisations in the commu- nity. The north Clare area committee
considered a number of worthwhile proposals. The members agreed on the Kilfenora proposal because it clearly met the criteria of the Social and Community Capital Scheme,” he said
The hall will be officially reopened this Friday, March 14, at 7pm. Any- one interested in organising or taking part in activities in the hall should contact Pat Keane on 086 8127903.