As Minister of State in the Department of Rural and Community Development, I am delighted to announce today that Men’s Sheds will be receiving €500,000 from the Dormant Accounts Fund.
We have 400 Men’s Sheds around the country. They were set up to tackle rural isolation among our older men and they have really taken off.
Not only are they a focus for the social lives of older men but they make a great contribution to the community in general.
In Galway East, we have Men’s Sheds in Athenry, Tuam, Carrabane/Loughrea, Dunmore, Gort, Headford, Kinvara, Lackagh, Portumna, Ballygar, Oranmore and Ballinasloe.
They will all be able to apply to Galway County Council for funding via the Local Community Development Committee and I am encouraging them to do so.
A Men’s Shed is any community-based, non-commercial organisation, which is open to all men, where the main activity is the provision of a safe, friendly and inclusive environment, where men are able to meet or work on projects.
The primary objective of Men’s Sheds is to support the health and well-being of men.
The Dormant Accounts Fund for Men’s Sheds is targeted at purchasing equipment or funding minor improvements to facilities.
Each year the Dormant Accounts Fund receives funds from credit institutions for inactive accounts and policies that have not been reclaimed despite the best efforts of the institution to trace the account or policy holder.
The total amount of funding from the Dormant Accounts Fund allocated to all Government Departments will be more than €30 million in 2019.