Naas non-profit McAuley Place announces expansion plans
Naas non-profit organisation McAuley Place has announced the purchase of the Beaufort site, Sallins Road, Naas, on Friday, November 24. This marks a significant milestone in the history of McAuley Place which will celebrate its Silver Jubilee in 2025. The organisation plan are hoping that work will commence on the Beaufort expansion in October 2024.
The McAuley Place development places huge emphasis on opportunities for lifelong learning and the arts are central to this policy, ensuring social inclusion for tenants and for the wider community. Local artists can exhibit, and sell, their work in the lobby and the display is changed regularly. The Arts and Culture centre is used by the community for music, dance, film and other activities. The Community Centre hosts a wide range of classes, courses, and events.
Together with invaluable statutory funding, the cost of developing McAuley Place on the Convent of Mercy site, was underpinned by the support of the local community, in the form of financial contributions and voluntary work for which staff say they we are forever grateful.
Patricia Darling, Chairperson of McAuley Place, “The new development will be a huge addition to the town of Naas. It will connect seamlessly with the existing site via the Woodland Garden. The expanded campus will continue to be a space where all in the community can connect together, regardless of age, ability or disability, where arts and crafts will be used as tools for engagement and to enhance wellbeing, and where tourists will be able to engage with the living history of Naas while meeting members of our wonderful community.”
The next stage in the development of McAuley Place involves an extension to the existing facility. The acquisition of the adjacent Beaufort site will provide circa 45 additional units with a vibrant new space for older residents of the wider community. In delivering this next phase, McAuley Place will ensure to continue to create an inter-generational, stimulating and creative environment at the heart of the town and also to create a quality and affordable place where older people choose and are proud to live.
95% of the project is being funded by the Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS) grant through Kildare Co. Council and the Dept. of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The remaining 5% will be raised by fundraising initiatives. Funding is urgently needed for this important project and all donations will be most welcomed.