Tagoat, Co. Wexford
Carnsore Wind Farm, Co. Wexford
€2,500
Project type: Purchase of equipment for day care centre
St Mary’s Day Care Centre was established in 1993 by a local voluntary board of management to provide day care services and meals on wheels to the elderly, and those with limited mobility and living alone in Tagoat and the surrounding rural areas.
Specifically, the centre provides a range of services to benefit patrons including physiotherapy, chiropody and hairdressing. St Mary’s received €2500 from the Windfarm Community Benefit fund towards the installation of a water-softening system and the upgrading an existing hairdressing space and purchase of hair dressing equipment for their premises.
How many people benefited (directly or indirectly) from the grant?
The centre’s award has helped the voluntary service to improve and expand its offering to elderly clients (80-100 clients per week) in a large rural catchment area.
What is different in people’s’ lives as a result of this project?
This funding greatly enhanced services to clients by providing an all-round more comfortable and enjoyable experience for elderly clients. The affordable hairdressing service is specially tailored to their needs and takes account of mobility issues. The hairdressers provides a necessary service while also delivering an enjoyable experience to help clients look and feel good.
What unforeseen difficulties (not related to funding), if any, were encountered and how were they overcome?
A key difficulty was the cost and availability of equipment changing due to the length of time elapsed between the quotation dates and getting the project off the ground.
What were the key lessons learned?
1. Do not rely on one particular company/supplier for a quote. Shop around for the best deal in terms of price and availability. If costs or availability of equipment changes, two or more quotes help to keep options open.
2. When the group encountered difficulties with quotations and suppliers, they kept in touch with SECAD Partnership and suppliers and discussed options to find the best solution.
3. Stay flexible and be willing to adapt and change the project plan as challenges arise.
What were the highlights of your project?
The completion of the project the satisfaction from its use have been a key project highlights. The day centre now operates the service with assistance of a voluntary hairdresser every Wednesday and on additional days as required.
‘There’s a great social aspect to the salon located in our centre. Clients look forward to visiting as its professional, clean and comfortable. It really gives our clients a feel good factor and helps to boost their confidence.’ Siobhán Murphy, St. Mary’s Day Care Centre
