About Us

Staff

Policies

Please check our policies here.

Aims

The Cahersiveen Community Resource Centre Ltd aims to:

• Operate a dedicated centre for all local people, but particularly for those who are disadvantaged and recognise equality of access as a fundamental right
• Support and sustain a range of services
• Support the initiation of community programmes, the delivery of services and information, and support those voluntary and community bodies that are targeting local issues, such as rural isolation and social integration, crime prevention, drug and alcohol abuse, early school leaving, illiteracy, equality, sex education, and rural poverty, all issues that are very much a part of the communities life
• Support the provision of essential facilities tackling these major issues which impact on the lives of many people throughout the greater Cahersiveen area.

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Objectives

The core objectives of the Cahersiveen Community Resource Centre Limited are to:

• Develop the organisation; management, staff and volunteers as well as oversee the redevelopment of the centre for all the community of Cahersiveen
• Provide services and facilities for the youth of the area
• Promote the inclusion of all community groups centred locally
• Facilitate the development of new groups according to the needs identified in the community
• Develop income streams for the community centre in order to make the centre financially sustainable in the future
• Provide administrative and marketing support to the existing users of the centre
• Promote the use of the centre
• Ensure that the centre is user friendly and accessible to all, at all times.

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Achievements

The achievements of the centre to date are as follows:

• The formation of a recognised venue for the local Youth Club activities
• The provision of a KDYS Office (Kerry Diocese Youth Service)
• The provision of a Playschool in the centre
• The provision of weekly classes for children
• The provision of weekly classes for adults
• Establishment of a Youth Drop-in Service
• The provision of a seasonal tourist office (rented out to Cork Kerry Tourism)
• The establishment of new groups:
  • Active Retirement Group (assisted group with publication of 2 books)
  • Parent & Toddler Group
  • SPaRK (Single Parents Raising Kids)
  • Cahersiveen Panto Group
  • Ceilí Dance Classes for both children and adults
  • Ceilí Music Classes taught by one of very own talented musicians
• The provision of a weekly Country Market
• Production and staging of two pantos, school productions, Scór Groups and concerts
• Provision of the Community Cinema
• Hosting the Cahersiveen Celtic Music Festival Committee and office
• Staging of musical recitals, dancing, story telling etc
• Staging of art exhibitions
• Our main achievement to date is the beginning of the restoration work required to the building, returning it to its former glory and the provision of a more usable, accessible and adaptable space.

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Future Development

The Centre and its Management Committee demonstrate an eagerness to grow and change with the times, thus expanding it’s services and facilities. The Centre wishes to establish the following in the very near future:

• Support group for Migrant families – enabling them to form friendships and provide support to one another. This would also include guest speakers from Social and Welfare Department, Citizens Information Centre, Adult Education Centre etc. meeting with groups on a monthly basis.
• Develop disabled toilets within the centre, along with ramp and lift facilities in order to provide equality of access to all. It is vital that the centre extends its services to people with disabilities in the future.
• Support programmes/support group for people who suffer from hearing loss in connection with the National Association for Deaf People to include one-to-one sessions, group discussions and activities.
• Homework club – offering tutoring and childcare service to children after school.
• Support to parents – develop a ‘drop-in’ centre for children on a first come first serve basis during Term-time and In-service days at school.
• Develop Web site in order to expand our contact with the community at large offering people an opportunity to offer any advice, inform the centre of any changes they would like to see or requests surrounding new programmes. This will also be another way of evaluating our services to the community.

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Andrew Carnegie

Cahersiveen Community Resource Centre is proud to be associated with the work of Andrew Carnegie, and indeed the Centre occupies a former Carnegie Library building.

The story of Andrew Carnegie is well known. He emigrated from Scotland to the United States when he was 12, in 1847, and settled in Pittsburgh where he started out working on the railways. He soon graduated to the coal and steel business where he swiftly rose to the top of the ladder.

Carnegie utilised the latest techniques to produce superior steel and he continued to re-invest his profits in updating those techniques - ruthlessly keeping his costs below those of his competitors. When Carnegie retired in 1901 he sold his business to JP Morgan’s US Steel and he collected around $250m, to become one of the world’s richest men.

Carnegie once said that ‘the man who dies rich dies disgraced’ and it was with this in mind that he began to dispose of his money by distributing it among the poor and needy. He addressed the distribution of his assets with the same tenacity and thoroughness with which he accumulated them, and when he died in 1919 he had ploughed millions upon millions into schools, hospitals, universities, theatres and, of course, libraries, which is where we came in.

The Carnegie Free Libraries project, whereby applicant communities were grant-aided by the Carnegie Trust to establish libraries where there was a clearly demonstrated need, was his best known philanthropic act.

There were thousands of these libraries worldwide, with 66 in Ireland and no fewer then seven here in Kerry alone. It was an inspired decision, and one for which we should be truly grateful to Andrew Carnegie. The Carnegie Libraries were very well designed, constructed and most of them are still intact. The original libraries in Listowel and Castleisland were destroyed in the Troubles but later rebuilt. Kerry County Council became the authority for all the libraries in the county in 1925, except the one in Listowel which operated under a trust until 1953.

By the time Andrew Carnegie died in August, 1919, he had given away $350,000,000. A further $125 million was placed with the Carnegie Corporation to carry on his good works.

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