Community garden officially opened at local Family Resource Centre

A community garden developed under the auspices of Castlerea Community and Family Resource Centre was officially opened in the town recently.

Special guest, paralympian Richael Timothy cut the ribbon on the garden, which is located to the rear of the resource centre on Patrick Street.

The concept for the garden was developed about a year and a half ago as a welcoming space for everybody living in the community.

The resource centre is now in the process of setting up a gardening group to help the space grow and thrive. Participants will learn new skills in gardenening and horticulture in the new garden, which also has a polytunnel.

The first gardening group meetup takes place on Thursday, October 9th from 11 a.m. to 12 noon.

Resource centre manager Aine Mannion acknowledged the support of all those who made the project possible, including Roscommon County Council who provided funding under the local enhancement scheme and GRETB who helped with the provision of the polytunnel.

A thank you was also extended to Tommy Ward, who with the support of the Northwest Restorative Justice Service, generously volunteered his time and was credited for embracing the opportunity to make a meaningful and positive contribution to the community.

Ms Mannion also noted the significant role of the centre’s inclusion worker, Tetiana Vysotska, for building up relationships with the new communities.

Chairperson of the centre’s voluntary board of directors, Breege Callaghan welcomed the special guest at the event, paracyclist Richael Timothy, whom she described as a “beacon of inspiration in all you do, and we're very proud of you”.

Ms Callaghan said that the value the Castlerea Community and Family Resource Centre brought to the town was amazing. She said it allowed the funnelling of funding for projects for all families in the community.

She said the centre catered so well for all the new communities and people who had come into Castlerea.

“The centre has been the first point of contact for a lot of people. This is the place they can draw breath. They can get support and it's important for anybody who comes into a new area that you know you will be supported. You'll be cared for and that's exactly what we're about – and it's evidenced here by the number of people coming in and out the centre,” she said.

She also thanked the centre’s staff, manager Aine, family resource worker Elaine McDermott, office administrator Karen James and its inclusion worker, Ms Vysotska for all their hard work.

The driving force behind the community garden project is inclusion worker Tetiana Vysotska.

Ms Vysotska, who is a trained languages teacher, came from Ukraine in 2022, and spoke of the friendliness and warmth of the local community when she arrived.

With her command of English, she realised that she could act as a bridge between the local community in Castlerea and the new communities.

She first became a volunteer at the centre before eventually taking up the role of inclusion worker. She spoke about the importance of supports for people coming from places of conflict who were feeling “terrified and traumatised”.

“We had women who came here, with tears in their eyes, because the system wasn't working for them,” she said.

Her work has led to the development of an international community group locally, comprising many nationalities.

In developing the community garden, Ms Vysotska explained that many people live in apartments in the town and didn’t have access to the land.

She highlighted the value of the community garden for people, even down to the planting of flowers and that connection to nature.

Local Fianna Fáil TD Martin Daly, who was present at the launch, praised the depth and breadth of services that family resource centres such as the one in Castlerea provide.