Growing Together with Strabane Community Project

Strabane Community Project has been helping residents for over 30 years and recently renovated a property in Barrack Street to provide community centre facilities for the local community.

They are continually developing their services and, with funding from the Housing Executive, they celebrated the official opening of their community hub and held their first garden party a few weeks ago.

Chairperson of Strabane Community Project, Fr Declan Boland, welcomed everyone to the event and gave a brief overview of the organisation.  He said:

“Strabane Community Project was set up in 1987 by a group of local volunteers and members of our parish,”

“The aim of the project remains today what it was back then – to provide local people, mainly the elderly, a place to meet up have dinner and to lessen their isolation and loneliness.

“Thirty years on we are still providing that service to the people of Strabane and further afield.”

The hub has created a permanent facility for community use and the walled garden provides spaces for local people and primary school children to grow their own flowers, fruit and vegetables, with ‘super sheds’ to start the Living Sustainably initiative.  Quirky pods are also on site, along with a reflection garden, a sheltered eating area and cooking facilities that can be utilised for events and meetings.

Housing Executive Manager, Noel McNulty, was also at the garden party.  He said:

“We are always looking to engage with local communities and this was a great opportunity for us to support a rural town with funding to enable Strabane Community Project to offer a wider range of services.

“Well done to everyone involved, and we look forward to seeing how the community grows their own produce.”