THE untimely death of David Woodford in May 2020 was a huge loss, not just for his family, but also for the wider community and music lovers across the county. While Covid ruled out a large public gathering to mark his passing, David’s legacy is now enshrined in the launch of the Bassment rehearsal space at Clare Youth Service in Ennis.

A generous donation from Eileen Woodford on behalf of her late beloved David has allowed young people at CYS to get together, remodel, and design the studio and rehearsal space located in the Ennis Youth Centre.

As Eileen explained, David was always a supporter of Clare Youth Service and, with his band ‘Hot Ice’, had run an event to raise funds for the organisation,
“David always had great time for young people and helping to revamp their space to allow greater opportunity for young people to come and play music seems very fitting.”
It has been nearly 15 years since the current practice space and recording studio were last renovated and in that time, hundreds of young people have practiced, recorded and hung out there to develop their skills. The need for a makeover has been obvious for some time.

The young people engaged in the project planned and worked at remodelling the space over the past three months and are now delighted to be able to reopen their newly named practice space, the “Bassment”.  Their efforts echo the passion for music and for supporting young people that David Woodford showed throughout his life.
Clare Youth Service’s Jean Tierney noted that, “David was a special person in the Ennis community and we are honoured to be associated with his memory in this way and we are so grateful to Eileen for this fantastic gesture.”

Any young people 13-17 years interested in using the space to practice, to develop new skills or meet people with similar interests are welcome to call to Carmody Street on Saturdays or contact Sam Lavery on 0852541937 for more information.