Community spirit alive and well as Men’s Shed assist school garden project

The Parents Association of Scoil Mhuire in Carrick-on-Shannon took on the challenge of creating some outdoor space for their children in the past few weeks.

While the campaign for an essential new school gains more momentum, the need for more space in the school is undisputed.

The parents in the Parents Association of Scoil Mhuire decided to revamp and improve the very essential space known as the Aistear Garden on one side of the school.

Full credit for coordinating the project must go to Jennifer King, whose children are junior and senior infants. She used her amazing management skills to rally the troops.

Parents from all over Carrick-on-Shannon, including some of our Ukrainian parents, volunteered to help in any way they could.

There were two evenings of painting and cleaning organised.

It was when Jennifer contacted Carrick-on-Shannon Men’s Shed to get involved that the initiative really took shape.

Their generosity and enthusiasm were unrivalled as they created a mud kitchen, shop, work bench, blackboard frame, sensory area, bird houses, bug hotel and planters for the area as well as repairing the storage shed.

They had so many ideas as they worked closely with Jennifer, over many cups of tea and cake, to design the various areas for the children.

They will continue their involvement over the summer as they all try to establish how best to cover the area to make it accessible all year round.

They have been invaluable to this project; without them it just would not have been possible and the parents and children, as well as Principal Caroline Healy and all the teachers of Scoil Mhuire would like to express their sincere gratitude to everyone at the Men’s Shed for everything they have done to help.

One Men’s Shed member said, ‘If you can’t do it for the children, who can you do it for?’

The Men’s Shed members would like to invite any of the parents, grandparents or guardians of the children in Scoil Mhuire to get involved in what is truly a wonderful group doing great things for our community.

Anyone interested can contact the Carrick-on-Shannon Men’s Shed at carrickmensshed1@gmail. com or whatsapp 0830508597.

The entire initiative was hugely supported by the local community. Sincere thanks must be given to the numerous parents who donated money, time, toys, paint, plants, cakes and a lot of energy to achieve this for our children.

Sincere gratitude also to the many local businesses who donated money, materials and equipment to help out.

They are Brady Insurance, Leitrim Road Hardware, Flynn’s Bar, Claire Maher Travel Counsellors, OBN Financial Services and Simon’s Hardware in Boyle. Their support made the project possible.

Thank you also to Caroline Healy and the amazing staff at the school who embraced the space wholeheartedly.

Onwards and upwards as the Aistear Garden project gains momentum, the Parents Association will continue to work with the Men’s Shed to further develop the area.

The Parents Association intend to research covering all or part of it to make the Aistear Garden more accessible all year round.

There will be significant fundraising in the coming academic year to achieve this goal, starting with a 5k walk in late September.

Every person who got involved had the same motivation, this is for our children.

Please follow us on instagram @scoilmhuirecarrick and the Parents Association @scoilmhuirepa20 to see the many pictures of the sheer joy as the children discovered their revamped outdoor classroom.

If you would like to get involved or help in any way, please contact the Parents Association of Scoil Mhuire on scoilmhuire2016@gmail.com.

Community spirit is certainly alive and well in Carrick-on-Shannon, Ireland's best kept town.