Three award-winning local groups that really would inspire you

– Laois, Offaly and Monaghan groups embrace wellbeing through singing, accessible counselling and volunteering

Connecting people in Timahoe, Co. Laois

Timahoe Male Choir in Co. Laois was the winner of the Community Wellbeing Initiative: Focused award.

“Initially it was an idea to raise a few pounds for the local national school. A few of us might meet in a pub on a Sunday evening and sing a few songs and have a bit of craic. I had an idea of getting these guys singing in the church. It went from there then, there was a carol service with 20 people and the group has grown up to about 70 people. They’re generally all from Timahoe.”

The group meet every Monday night, coming together in the village’s two pubs.

It has become an important means of connection for many of the members, Damien feels. “We have people from all backgrounds. There are people from 25 up to 80 years of age in the group. There are people who are retired, who are widowed, who are on their own, there are lots of different stories. The benefits for them are far reaching, with loneliness and all of that it is very good for them to connect. There are people there who may have moved to the area and wouldn’t have known anyone. They have now established a circle of friends.”

He feels it has been a great boost to Timahoe.

“What it has done in the community from a vibrancy perspective and people getting to know each other and instilling that sense of belonging in a rural area, has been enormous. It has really connected people.”

While the members are the primary beneficiaries, he says it goes deeper and wider than that. “During the judging one man said that there are 70 of us in the choir, but it’s not only the 70 of us, they have wives and partners and brothers and sisters and children. The thing really covers the whole community.”

They travelled to New York for the St Patrick’s Day parade last year, while they were on the main stage at Electric Picnic a few months ago.

Find out more: https://www.facebook.com/p/Timahoe-Male-Choir-61555313167573/

 

Accessible counselling in Tullamore, Co. Offaly

Accessible Counselling Tullamore took a Special Award, which meant a lot to Lisa O’Connor, who helped to found it with her late husband James.

She said that James had become involved with promoting positive mental health some time back. “He would have suffered with his mental health when he was younger, he had a still born baby when he was 19 and not too long afterwards he had a bit of a breakdown and made a very serious attempt on his life. Not a lot of people would have known that. Then about ten years ago two young lads that worked with us at the time died by suicide in quick succession. He decided to share his story and after that he became an ambassador for Sea Change and he got really involved with the Green Ribbon campaign.”

As a result he was invited to become involved with a struggling community counselling centre, serving Tullamore.

“They were actually on their last legs, and he said to me ‘people aren’t going to have anywhere to go, this place is going to close down’, and it did close down afterwards. He asked me would we open somewhere, and that’s sort of how it came about. We were lucky that we owned a fit out company, we were able to fit out the unit that we’re in now, and design it. It’s purpose built, there are seven counselling rooms,” says Lisa.

It has been very impactful in the community since then, having seen more than 3,000 clients, and provided more than 17,000 counselling sessions.

While James became ill and died in 2023, Lisa says his legacy goes on:

“We did a lot of work with the Green Ribbon campaign, we did Turn Tullamore Green and we’ve changed it now to Turn Offaly Green. I think it really has made a massive difference in the community. I just feel people are a bit more open to talking, a bit more open to counselling. Everybody knows about the Green Ribbon and by association they know of ACT. James would have been very well known, everyone would associate ACT with him and the fact that he was able to speak out about his mental health made a big difference,” she said.

Find out more: https://www.accessiblecounselling.ie/

 

600 people a week using Doohamlet Community Centre, Co. Monaghan

Doohamlet Community Centre, near Ballybay, Co. Monaghan, was the winner of a Community Wellbeing Initiative award.

Manger of the Centre Gwen Murphy said that during the judging process, all of the organisations that use the centre helped to showcase its vibrancy.

“We have 27 groups who use our centre and what they did was come in on August 6 and told our story in real time. Basically we have two meeting rooms and a main hall. They came into the first room and they met Doohamlet Bluebells, then I took them to the main hall, there was badminton or bowls on and they spoke to some of the players. In the next room there was someone from AA who’d talk about what they offer. Every time the judges would leave a room the group would clear out, a new one would come in with signage and they’d show the judges what they do and talk to them. They got to meet the 27 groups, it was full on. There were over 200 people here on the day,” he said.

The hall is booked up every weekday evening, with more than 600 people using the facility each week.

Gwen says that having staff supported by a major voluntary effort is a recipe for success.

“We have a lot of volunteers, but we do have somebody there to open the door every single day. We’re able to apply for a lot of funding and to do the work. We have myself, I’m employed through the Community Service Programme, we have a support worker doing 18.5 hours through CSP. We have 20 hours under aJob Initiative and we have a Tus worker doing 19.5 hours, she’s our cleaner. We have a strong committee and a strong board,” he added.

Find out more: https://www.doohamletcommunitycentre.com/