'Buy a brick' to support new Tyrone community centre

The £750,000 Cavanakeeran Community Centre, now nearing completion in the grounds of Pomeroy Plunketts GAC, will provide much-needed space for concerts and dances, family functions, sporting and cultural bodies, community groups and businesses.

A focal point for people young and old to enjoy a wide range of activities, it will also act as a hub for services to ensure an isolated community in the foothills of the Sperrins has the support to grow and help itself.

It will be a place to connect, to work, to play, to pursue shared interests, and to come together in times of celebration and solidarity.

A huge amount of effort has gone in to putting funding in place, with construction work scheduled for completion in the coming months.

Most of the cost has already been met but there is a shortfall of £210,000 and groups across the community have now come together for the final push.

All families within the parish and anyone outside with a connection to Pomeroy - both across Ireland and around the world - are being invited to ‘Buy a Brick’ on a specially-designed pathway to be laid outside the centre.

Each of the stones will include up to five lines of personalised text to celebrate that link and record it permanently for posterity.

It could be a family name and their townland, a tribute to a loved one who has passed away, a celebration of a marriage or other significant event, or a message home from someone who now proudly represents Pomeroy abroad.

It is a practical way to be involved in a huge community effort to make a long-held dream a reality.

And for those with connections to Pomeroy but living abroad, it provides a unique ‘pathway home’. The stones can be bought at a cost of £250 or £1,000, depending on size. Payments are available up front or in 10 monthly instalments.