Haven Hub and Limerick Land Search Team secure location for mental health community centre

Haven Hub and Limerick Land Search Team secure location for mental health community centre – Two Limerick organisations, Haven Hub and Limerick Land Search Team, have joined together two share permanent base.

The Haven Hub and Limerick Land Search Team announced their long-awaited collaborative project has been given the green light by Limerick City and County Council

The Haven Hub and Limerick Land Search Team (LLST) have announced their long-awaited collaborative project has been given the green light by Limerick City and County Council, the decision was made at the May 2023 council meeting.

The project, which aims to be the first dedicated Mental Health Community Centre in Ireland, will be located at 9A & 9B Old Thomondgate, just two doors away from the legendary JJ Bowles bar. This is a prime location for the Haven Hub to be able to offer their crisis cafe given its proximity to the river and Thomond Bridge.

Marking the allocation of a dedicated building for a Shared Base between the two organisations, Haven Hub founder and Chairperson, Leona O’Callaghan said, “This is an incredibly exciting project, we are so grateful to the council for giving us the opportunity to be able to deliver our services to the community from our forever home. When we first started down this road, we had initially thought that the building would function simply as a crisis centre for ourselves and a base of operation for LLST.”

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Leona explained the project has “evolved” since its foundation, and the group now “hope to offer the community a dedicated Mental Health Wellness Community Centre”.

She said, “From this new location, we will be able to deliver our mental health awareness courses, wellness programs such as our Body/Mind Boost, as well as providing us with a dedicated location for our crisis centre. This facility will also provide the community with information and resources on how they can mind their own mental health, including information on supports for issues that can have an indirect effect on one’s mental health such as homelessness, LGBTQ issues, parenting, bereavement and more”.

Calvin Prendergast, Chairperson of Limerick Land Search Team said, “We’re grateful to the Council for seeing the value that we provide to the community by allocating us a space within the building at 9A & 9B Old Thomondgate. Currently, our equipment is stored in our personal vehicles and we have no place to debrief our volunteers after callouts or a specific space for training. This new dedicated location will give us a permanent base of operations within which we can carry out all of the above”.

Suzzie O’Deniyi, Director of Operations and Facility at the Haven Hub went on to say, “Limerick is at a historical crossroads and an exciting point in its history. For an extended period of time, such a service has been essential in Limerick. We can not overstate the importance of this Mental Health Wellness Community Centre in serving the people of Limerick and beyond and bringing about positive radical transformation. As a result, we are appealing for unity and solidarity in order to make this project a reality. We need the community and organisations to support, contribute and collaborate with us in any manner possible. It is time to foster unity in the community.”

The Boards of both organisations acknowledged the contribution from Sinn Féin’s Cllr. Sharon Benson, supported by Maurice Quinlivan T.D., saying, “without whose help this project may never have passed the planning stages, in that she was the first to identify the building for the groups and bring it to their attention. The organisation would also like to thank her for the donation of funding from the General Municipal Allocation (G.M.A.).”

G.M.A. funding has also been allocated from the Councillors Elena Secas, Sean Hartigan, Conor Sheehan, Sasa Novak, Olivia O’Sullivan, Sarah Kiely, Tom Collopy, and the Boards of both organisations wish to extend their deepest gratitude to them for this generous donation in bringing the project to fruition.

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