Irish Girl Guides open new training centre in Tallaght
IRISH Girl Guides from across the country visited Tallaght last weekend to mark the official opening of the organisation’s new national training centre in Belgard Square.
A vacant building has been refurbished into a multi-purpose facility that is not only a vibrant hub for Irish Girl Guides but also available for other community and voluntary groups to use.
According to Irish Girl Guides, the building includes meeting and conference rooms, training areas, a STEM hub, the Guide Shop and a canteen area – with plans to add additional spaces in the future.
Mayor of South Dublin County, Alan Edge last Saturday welcomed Irish Girl Guides to its new home and spoke of the importance in refurbishing older buildings and embracing sustainability.
He also stressed the importance that volunteerism has in community building in South Dublin County and how beneficial it is to take an existing building and refurbish and restore it to active use.
Speaking on the day, Mayor Edge said: “Your organisation has a long, proud and rich history of volunteering.
“We are delighted to have you here [in the county].”
The building in Belgard Square was bought by the Irish Girl Guides in 2019.
However, due to the impact of Covid and increased construction costs, staff and volunteers only moved into the refurbished building during the summer.
According to Helen Concannon, the Chair of the National Training Centre Committee, a three-year fundraising campaign enabled the project to proceed.
“Thank you to all who took part in making this dream a reality,” she said.
“Through your generosity, we can empower this generation of girls and young women, as well as the next.
“We hope the facility will be of use also to other groups in the community.”
Ms Concannon thanked the many volunteers and donors for their fundraisers and donations.
She also noted grants from the Dep of Transport, Tourism and Sport; the Dep of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth; the Albert Gubbay Foundation; the Katharine Howard Foundation; Dublin Bus Community Spirit Initiative; and South Dublin County Council.
Established in Ireland in 1911, the Irish Girl Guides has around 10,000 members nationwide.
Some 1,600 volunteer leaders provide an ‘informal educational programme of fun and challenging activities that foster confidence and leadership skills in girls and young women’.
Girls from age five can choose to earn a range of badges including Climate Action, Cultural Diversity, Cybersecurity, Disability Awareness, Engineering, Global Traveller, Healthy Mind, Robotics and STEM.
To learn more about the Irish Girl Guides visit irishgirlguides or call 01 6683898.
Any community groups interested in renting the space is invited to email info@irishgirlguides.ie.
For full access to all content on Echo.ie and to support the continuation of local news and local journalism in your community subscribe HERE.
Thanks for your ongoing support.
