Clonakilty Community Youth Centre : Fund raiser Please Support

After months of preparation, the much-anticipated concert by popular star Tommy Fleming, takes place this Friday evening at 8pm at the Parish Church. At the start of the week, a small number of the 850 tickets remained unsold at O’ Donovan’s Hotel and Paddy Meade’s Newsagents. They cost €30 each. It’s about 10 years since Tommy Fleming played a sell-out concert also at the Parish Church. On this occasion, the event is being held in aid of the Clonakilty Community Youth Centre, and all profits after costs will be donated to this worthy cause. The Clonakilty Community Youth Centre will be located at the former Deasy and Co. Office building at the Deasy’s Car Park and will be a hub for local teenagers to gather to organise and plan activities and events (under the supervision of adults). When Deasy’s closed down in 2001, the town council purchased the plant and the surrounding site, including the office building at the front on the road. The old production plant was demolished and a three-acre car park developed but the old office building remained unused. The County Council has agreed to rent the building to the Youth Committee for a nominal annual fee but it will need approx. €70,000 to bring it up to an acceptable standard which meets all criteria for use as a public building. A few months ago, a rejuvenated committee made up of young people and adults was elected at a public meeting and a fundraising drive launched. The “fundometer” on the gable end of the building shows that about one fifth of the required money is already in the bank, thanks to donations already received. This Friday’s concert, as well as being an enjoyable musical experience for those in attendance, will realise a substantial sum of money for the Youth Centre project and ensure it’s opening for the young people of the area. The Tommy Fleming Concert will involve a lot of logistics and organisation with such a large crowd attending. The church will be closed from 2pm to allow Tommy Fleming and his crew set up and the car park will close at 5pm and re-open later before the concert. As well as that, the organisers encourage people to park at Deasy’s car park from where a complimentary shuttle bus provided by Lowney's Coaches, will ferry people to the church before the concert. Local companies have generously sponsored some fantastic hampers, which will be raffled during the concert interval. The tickets will be sold before the concert starts. The committee also thanked all involved in organising other fundraising events last weekend, in particular, the Clonakilty Agricultural Show Society and Ballinascarthy Community Association