Resource Centre the beating heart of Westside community
Westside Resource Centre has been at the heart of the community for over 20 years – and key to its prolonged success has been a commitment to provide the area with an extensive selection of classes and activities for all ages.
The purpose-built Seamus Quirke Road facility was officially opened by then President, Mary McAleese, in 2001 and 16 years later, it remains a community staple with all of its office space filled to capacity.
Centre Manager, James Coyne, said that the centre’s existence allows community work and the provision of services operate in a joined-up manner.
“The most important thing is having a good level of services available week in, week out – that the centre is in good nick and there is always somebody here to help out.
“The great thing is that people know we are here and if they weren’t too sure what they were looking for, they might pop in and find something to their taste,” said James.
And there’s certainly quite a bit to choose from, with maths and English classes, music classes, creative writing courses, computer classes, food hygiene, health and safety, and Unislim classes to name but a selection of what is on offer every week.
There’s a close synergy between some of the groups that call the centre home. OBAIR, the local employment service network, provides free and confidential information to those that are unemployed.
As James explained, those who avail of this service often discover ways of up-skilling and developing through courses on offer – one of the many benefits of having so much based under the one roof.
“There’s a great cross pollination that way – people come into the local employment services and end up signed-up for maybe one of the computer groups.
“As is often said, the whole is greater than the sum of all the parts,” he said.
The Resource Centre is involved in the organisation of many of the events that stand out as calendar highlights for Westside.
One such event is the Westside Arts Festival, that brings the arts onto the doorsteps of Westside residents every July.
For one week in July, a timetable including everything from puppet making classes to music concerts creates an opportunity for those in the community to display their talents for all to see.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.