The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
FUNDRAISING has been severely restricted since the onset of Covid-19, but Shannon Tidy Towns is trying to get some cash in once again.
The group recently held a Flag Day in the Town Centre, currently has a GoFundMe page open, and is asking the people of the town to get behind its efforts.
On the GoFundMe page it outlines the work the group has been doing of late.
“Shannon Tidy Towns keep our town of Shannon clean and environmentally friendly. As soon as one of our members see or hear of an area that needs litter to be removed, we rally together to make it happen.
“So far this year we have removed hundreds of bags of rubbish from our streets, walkways and play areas.
“2019 funds were used to fix and paint the bus stops, railings and electrical boxes, we hung new hanging baskets along the main road, we planted new beds and of course replanted the many others.
“We organised the Shannon River Walk Fun Day held in May 2019, which saw over 600 locals come to have fun at our beauty spot, ‘The Point’.
“Obviously due to Covid we could not go ahead with our usual meet ups and events for 2020 – 2021 but we tried our best to keep going by socially distancing and organising lots of regular zoom meetings. We planted over 60 pots and beds on most corners of the town.
“We are excited about some new plans we would like to put into action for 2021 to brighten Shannon, so that our day to day journey around our town is even more pleasing to the eye.
“We achieved our goal of planting hundreds of daffodil bulbs along our main road to bring some colour into apring.
“Due to generous donations in the past given by residents and businesses around Shannon we were able to purchase even more hanging baskets to finish lining the main road.
“We were delighted to also achieved our goal of purchasing our own water tanker which was much needed due to the volume of pots and beds all over the town.
“We are out every day watering during summer. We replaced old pots with beautiful permanent stone beds. All our tools, gloves, hi-vis jackets and bags are constantly needed.”
The public are urged to give their support. “We would truly appreciate any help you can give by donating. The members donate their time on a daily basis working around their day job and families to make a difference and to instill a sense of pride for its residents.
“To move with the times the committee members are continuing to take part in an online biodiversity course to ensure our plan for the future is supporting the unique biodiversity of our town.
“We support the All Ireland Pollinator Plan and have incorporated pollinator friendly actions throughout our projects.
“Our members would be very grateful for your support. This will benefit all who work and live in Shannon.”
Tidy Towns spokesman Derek Clune said that he is pleased fundraising is underway again, and that there is quite a bit of expenditure.
“With permission from SkyCourt we were able to hold a Flag Day a couple of weeks ago, once we adhered to all the regulations. We had that in conjunction with the GoFundMe.
“Last year we had nothing at all, we weren’t able to do anything, so it was a very difficult year. This year we got some sponsorship from local businesses for our hanging baskets, through Facebook.
“We also sent letters to businesses with our bank details and they sponsored us, they sponsored hanging baskets and they are expensive enough, there were 20 of them to fill.
“You’d be looking at a couple of thousand with all the planting and everything else, so we needed to do something. We wouldn’t have had enough with the GoFundMe to do it.”
There has also been some support from the County Council.
“We have four new five-tier planters, Shannon Municipal District bought and supplied the flowers for three of them. We planted them and they’re at the roundabout at Lidl.
“There’ll be another one then at the other side of the Town Centre that we’re doing ourselves. We’re doing all the planting of the beds and pots, and when you go through all the pots and flowers you’d be surprised at how much it costs to fill them all.
“When you put them all together there’s a big financial outlay in getting them done properly. We’re still continuing with our litter picking, we do a bit of weeding and edging at the roundabouts, there’s a good few of them in Shannon and there’s a lot of weeding and cleaning. We’ve given some of the bigger flower pots a power wash and we’re painting them. There’s a lot going on.”
Derek said that the recent lifting of certain restrictions is allowing more people to come together to carry out works and has been a boost to the group’s efforts.
Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked for a number of other regional titles in Limerick, Galway and Cork.
