The First Fruits Arts Theatre (a subcommittee under Watergrasshill Community Association) hopes to establish a social hub project to capture the story of Watergrasshill village and its environs on a digital platform through photographs, film, folklore, arts & culture, environmental and historical records. It will be a medium to provide a community focal point in the First Fruits Arts Theatre for old and new residents to share their common heritage rooted in the past. It will be accessible to all the community, transmitting a sense of belonging, recognition and appreciation, while inspiring participation and ownership for the future development of their area.
To progress further with this ambitious project in The First Fruits Arts Theatre, which is already enthusiastically supported by the community and our Community Association, we require various items of equipment mentioned further in this application.
- Watergrasshill Community Association will display in the Foyer of the First Fruits Arts Centre a plaque acknowledging the support of Cork County Council and the Local Community Development Committees in the development of the facilities and centre.
- WCA has a very active social media presence. 2,700 people follow our WCA Facebook, 1,200 follow our First Fruits Arts Centre Page and another 3,300 people follow Hillfest Watergrasshill Cork – our page promoting our annual community focused summer festival. We will post reports of grant aid received on all of these pages to inform the people of Watergrasshill and environs of the support received from Cork County Council and the Local Community Development Committee.
- Hold an “open launch evening” with a plaque unveiling for local public attendance to mark this historic landmark for our Community with The Examiner (We can confirm coverage through local contact) plus local newspapers/media present.
- We are in the process of finalizing our website for our Community Association and will acknowledge Cork County Council and the Local Community Development Committee as our Arts, Culture & Heritage partner.
Our Community: Through a willingness to cooperate with each other to share past historic events. Create free open events to the general public to promote this project.
Ethnic Groups: To embrace groups into our Community through inclusion & sharing of our history.
Archaeology Groups: We have a huge amount of historical records and artefacts on local archaeology sites and have engaged the expertise of an archaeologist who has submitted many interesting items for inclusion in our project. Through publicizing these works, they will become a tourist attraction.
National School: Educate our children with all the above, history, arts & culture, archaeology. This will be a user-friendly medium of education. Encourage regular sessions for the National School. There is potential to create a library of local history, perhaps maintained by pupils.
Interest from Abroad: Locals/families who have left these shores, create a quarterly newsletter informing them of what’s on offer, create a database with their contacts.
The following are the areas we believe that our project “Roots to Fruits” will enhance our Community
Arts, Culture & Heritage: This project can, through the provision of an online platform, lead to the development and diversification of the rural economy and provide a forum for the preservation of our history, culture and heritage. This will lead to developing a healthy economy and may include individual enterprise.
Social Inclusion: ‘Social exclusion can be defined as the experience of social, cultural and economic inequalities. The Watergrasshill community, via engagement with all members of our Community, can deliver inclusion of ALL within the Community. This will be a support to people experiencing deprivation and disadvantage through greater participation in community life.
Tourism: Tourism is extremely important in supporting local communities and, in particular, rural communities like Watergrasshill. Unveiling the history and heritage of Watergrasshill will deliver a significant boost for the local community and the rural economy. This project can also reach out to the region’s diaspora and attract visitors to the area. Our village is expanding at a rapid pace.
Create employment: This project has the potential to boost growth and employment with micro and small enterprises in Watergrasshill and our surrounding hinterland.
Community: It’s vital that our citizens participate in the life of our community in order to improve conditions for others and/or to help shape the community’s future. Watergrasshill Community are seeking to secure a vibrant future for their rural village, through key investment in community resources. This can in turn generate interest and participation in all aspects of the community, delivering meaningful inclusion and partnership.
The number of beneficiaries would be the population of Watergrasshill/Glenville 1,877 and the wider district. Our National School has close to 400 pupils who most definitely gain from this project.
We believe that our geographical hinterland of Watergrasshill/Glenville with a combined population of circa 1,877, and growing, with 46% under the age of 30 will share & embrace this historic project and have no doubts that the wider diaspora will contribute to prosperity through the provision of this project. This is already evident by the contribution to date of many records, photographs, artefacts & ideas.
There are many archaeology sites locally that need to be publicized before they are destroyed or become “lost” with overgrowth.
We hope that by utilizing historical, cultural and arts themed projects the project will help the new and older residents integrate closer together and strengthen community spirit with a strong sense of centre and belonging. To educate our expanding community and to foster an understanding of our traditional values to newcomers through social cohesion
This proposed project is targeted to young & old, residents & newcomers to our Community. The areas of interest will focus on:
- Agriculture
- Building Heritage
- Folklore
- Historical
- Multi-ethnic Traditions
- Schools/ Education
- Social Events
- Sports
- Trades
