Spruced up Castlebar shows what ‘love’ can do

ROLLERS and paint trays in hands, yet another platoon of eager volunteers descended on Main Street, Castlebar.

The target of their attention was a former business premises, its tatty, peeling façade badly in need of a glossy makeover.

By the time the Love Castlebar squad had finished two hours later, the building had got just that.

The front of the closed down shop positively glowed in the evening sunlight.

“Another one done,” announced Helen O’Hara, one of the founders of Love Castlebar, a gleam of satisfaction in her eyes. “Only 11 more to go before the rainy season starts,” she continued.

Helen, a primary school teacher, along with Mark Basquille, Laura Killeen and Fergus Walsh, form the steering committee of the Love Castlebar organisation.
They sat for breakfast one morning in January 2013, ruminated over what could be done for the county town from a volunteerism viewpoint, and decided to assist in The Gathering.

At a later meeting, the committee ruminated over the neglected look of certain premises in the county town and decided it was time for action. Firstly, they beat a path to the doors of Castlebar Town Council, setting out their plans to clean, paint and generally improve the exterior of derelict and vacant buildings in the town centre.

Councillors were impressed by the simple, honest, reasons Helen O’Hara put forward for her involvement. “I love my town,” she declared. “If we work together we can transform it.”

A former bookshop in the Main Street/Bridge Street area – which now acts as a paint store – was the first target for a facelift.

So far almost every business owner has coughed up the material cost of painting their building but a problem arises in a situation where a business is in liquidation or receivership. In the early days a generous donation from a private individual helped cover the costs in these situations.

Love Castlebar, which now boasts over 100 volunteers, will have in excess of 30 buildings finished by the end of summer.

Getting and retaining volunteers has been no problem, according to Helen O’Hara and Mark Basquille. “There’s something kind of contagious or infectious about it,” says Helen. “People take huge ownership of the work they are doing.  It’s very empowering to be able to change something you want to see changed.”

There’s much more to Love Castlebar than just redecoration. Last year, volunteers acted as ‘ambassadors’ during The Gathering in welcoming visitors to the town. There’s also a Love Castlebar voucher card which offers a 10 per cent discount in over 100 stores in the town.

“Recently,” Mark explained, “we have been joined by some of the really significant stores such as Elverys.”

Love Castlebar now has plans to expand its activities by giving the spaces between buildings a makeover, perhaps arranging for the installation of artistic pieces. We'll have more about that in future.

So great has been the impact of Love Castlebar so far that the local community truly hopes the love story is never ending.