Friends, crafts and support at Limerick based '2020' club

A NEW group has opened up a rich seam of activity and friendship for Adare women, offering opportunities to practice old skills, hone new ones and have some fun in the doing.

Adare Women’s 2020 Club began as an idea among a small group of women who met regularly to do crafts together.

But, says Bridget Lohan, who now chairs the 2020 Club: “We thought we weren’t going anywhere.” The notion of forming a kind of Women’s Shed evolved over a number of get-togethers and a name and direction quickly emerged. The Women’s 2020 Club (Women’s Shed) has since gone live and is now a fully functioning group, with premises, a committee, a membership of over 40 and a very busy programme of activities.

Its aim, explains Bridget, is to promote optimum health and wellbeing among women of all ages in the community by helping them to keep physically, mentally and socially active.

Among the planned activities are walks, craft sessions, computer learning sessions, table quizzes, flower arranging and card playing. And any good idea is taken up with enthusiasm.

Having a base has been a crucial factor in knitting the group together. With some support from Limerick City and County Council, West Limerick Resources and the JP McManus Foundation, as well as their own fundraising efforts, the club has been able to lease a room on a full-time basis in the Village Hall which has become a hub for their activities.

“We have a recycle shop which we call the Curiosity Shop,” explains Bridget. The plan is to run on a regular basis to provide a steady stream of income for the club.

“There is never a dull moment,” says another club officer Mary Dundon, “It’s excellent. It’s brilliant. A lot of us would know each other to see but we wouldn’t have known each other well. We are all friends now.”

For Ena O’Connell, who describes herself as a “newcomer”, getting involved in the club and in Tidy Towns has proved to be a pathway into her new community.

“We are just getting started but there is a lot going on,” says Noreen Mackessy, a local woman for whom getting involved in the club is a first for her. She is particularly fond of the flower arranging, she says.

“It has been great socially during the past year. It was lovely coming in here. The people are so friendly” says May O’Donnell who lived most of her adult life in England before returning some years ago.

“I am delighted with it,” says Nancy Fitzsimons, echoing May’s enthusiasm for the club. “I love everything about it. There’s always something new to think about.”

Among the new activities of the past two months was a Coffee Morning which raised €1,231.25 for Limerick Suicide Watch, which depends entirely on volunteers and on donations.

Another initiative taken by club members was knitting little caps for premature babies and they hope to present up to 200 of them to University Maternity Hospital Limerick shortly. Margaret Hickey is one of the club’s most enthusiastic knitters. “I was doing about three a night,” she laughs. Like all the other women, she is enjoying the camaraderie and activity in the club. “It’s brilliant. They’re a great old crowd. We get on well.”

Anybody with an interest in joining the Adare 2020 Club can email [email protected] or talk to any club member to get a membership form.