Shining at light on Inishowen’s social enterprises

Week three of our Social Enterprise Focus features the ISEN member located in the heart of Inishowen, The Sliabh Sneacht Centre in Drumfries.

Our Social Enterprise Focus is held in collaboration with Inishowen Development Partnership following their recent ARISE [Awareness Raising Initiative for Social Enterprises] project.

This produced a range of videos and blogs shining a light on the positive work being done by social enterprises across Inishowen.

The Inishowen Social Enterprise Network [ISEN] comprises of 20 different social enterprises made up of community groups, tourism, arts and cultural groups, all working as to support their local community, filling many gaps in services and supports.

IDP facilitates the network and hosts meetings to share information and funding opportunities for the social enterprises. This week we delve deeper into life at the Sliabh Sneacht Centre.

Sliabh Sneacht Centre
As you head north from Buncrana, Co. Donegal, the shops and houses quickly give way to the stark beauty of the land stretching out around you in every direction. This flat expanse serves to naturally draw your eye north-east, to where Inishowen’s highest mountain brushes the clouds: Sliabh Sneacht. Nestled near the foot of this mountain is the picturesque village of Dumfries, and the Sliabh Sneacht Centre.

Opened in 2014, this Community and Heritage Centre promotes the heritage of Inishowen, bolsters the health of the local community, and delivers education, recreation, and amenities to the area.

The centre’s range of offerings are as admirable as they are wide.

As the Sliabh Sneacht Centre manager, Gabriel Doherty explains: “We seek to address the lack of any amenities in the area in order to meet the needs of all sectors in our community. And we identify those needs by undertaking community audits, meeting with the local community, ongoing assessments with centre users and by working with partners such as the HSE.”

Education, Social, and Leisure
The centre provides dedicated space for classes and events, as well as meeting rooms and conference rooms for those who need them.

From accredited IT classes for people in order to help improve their employment opportunities, to classes in practical skills such as Hand Sewing, Quilting and Domestic Plumbing to exhibitions that shine a light on the diverse heritage of the Inishowen area; from the delivery of heritage projects in local schools to a range of classes in the centre itself to help provide educational experiences that people otherwise might not receive.

As a social enterprise, they’re passionate about their role in the community and making a real difference - they offer a range of classes and activities that help promote health and fitness, address isolation among the elderly, and instil that sense of community.

From Irish dancing classes and Boogie Bugs for children to Pilates, to pulmonary exercise classes for older people, the centre hosts offerings for every part of the diverse local community.

A great example of how the centre works both with and for the community is how their exercise classes for the elderly have evolved - having initially provided active elderly fitness classes with tea and scones, they now involve local community hospitals and nursing homes in a tea dance once a month.

Sitting so close to Sliabh Sneacht, and among such wide open, enticing countryside, it’s also no wonder that walking is so close to the hearts of everyone involved with the Sliabh Sneacht Centre.

Their walking group The Walkie Talkies is a prime example of how we should all embrace the great outdoors.

September 2022 saw the second Inishowen Walking Festival, a partnership project established by the Inishowen Social Enterprise Network of which the centre is a member and actively involved in.

As well as their recurring classes, the centre also hosts one-off events such as walks, craft fairs, family fun days, and even fashion shows.

These all serve the dual purpose of raising awareness of the centre itself and furthering their goal of bolstering community spirit and providing more social opportunities in the area.

The Sliabh Sneacht Centre has also created several employment opportunities within the local area, having three staff positions funded by Pobal to deliver the Community Services programme and it also provides valuable work experience to the long-term unemployed via a position supported by the government’s Tús scheme.

The Future
With their commitment to meeting the needs of the local community and with inclusion, education, health, and wellbeing at its very core, the Sliabh Sneacht Centre plans to continue to add to the diverse range of amenities, classes, events, tours and services that they provide.

They have also got plans in place to do even more from a Heritage perspective and build on the legacy of their Heritage Room, the Tip O’ Neill Suite, which is dedicated to the late Speaker of the House of Representatives, whose grandmother, Eunice Fullerton came from a nearby townland.

They have been developing an Inishowen Health and Heritage Trail, and also plan to create a permanent heritage exhibition in the centre.