Video: Down Syndrome Field of Dreams project opens

Video: Down Syndrome Field of Dreams project opens

Minnie Mouse with Liam Buckley, Maeve Owens, Mariah Couch, and Ronan Gill in the maize crop at the official opening of Field of Dreams, Down Syndrome Cork, at Curraheen. Picture: Denis Minihane

THE groundbreaking Field of Dreams project for young adults with Down Syndrome finally became a reality this weekend.

Down Syndrome Cork (DSC) officially opened the amenity on Saturday afternoon.

It comes some nine months after €500,000 in funding was secured to transform a five-acre site off Clash Road in Curraheen.

Leased from the Munster Agricultural Society, the site will host a horticultural farm which will be used to teach Down Syndrome Cork clients to grow their own fruit and vegetables.

It will provide a wide range of education, training and work opportunities for those using the service.

The project has been spearheaded by DSC chairman Ray O'Callaghan, whose daughter Grace has Down Syndrome.

In recent months, work has been carried out at a frantic pace to ready the site for Saturday's opening, with huge amounts of fundraising and volunteer work contributed by a number of private companies.

Keelings, AIB and C-Field Construction are just some of those who offered time and support to ensure that the project got off the ground, with money also raised by former County Mayor, Cllr Seamus McGrath as part of his mid-summer ball.

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