Blackpool man a key volunteer in three organisations
Pat Quinn (left) with Artistic Director of Cork Community Art Link William Frode de la Foret, and Assistant Artistic Director Beibhinn O’Callaghan
BLACKPOOL man Pat Quinn volunteers with multiple organisations, including Cork Community Art Link, Blackpool Men’s Shed and Autism Assistance Dogs of Ireland.
I met him on a rainy Wednesday in the Cork Community Art Link building, a wonderful space in the heart of Blackpool on Watercourse Road, which is full of art, materials, costumes and much more. People come and go as the group begin preparations for the famous Shandon Dragon festival this autumn.
Pat’s 71 and retired, but he previously worked with GSK in Ringaskiddy and spent five years working in the Bahamas with them. Even though he’s retired, it seems he’s even busier now, with different charities and volunteer groups.
How did you get involved with volunteering?
I saw a brochure for a charity and thought to myself, I’d like to do that. It was a trip to Lesotho in Africa, one of the six poorest countries in the world. It was a real eye-opener. In 2008, we built an orphanage and I returned in 2010 and built a school. In two years, the number of orphans increased by 200,000. I always wanted to do some kind of volunteering and charity work so that was the start for me.
Tell us about your work with Autism Assistance Dogs of Ireland (AADI)?
I got involved with AADI kind of by mistake. My daughter’s friend rang me and asked would I do something for charity, knowing I’d never turn it down. She said I’d have to get my legs waxed so I did! I’m still involved, I’ll go to places like the Cork Summer show to help create an awareness about autism. So many families in Ireland are touched by it or something similar.
It can take about two years to train a dog to get them ready to be placed with a family, and it could cost anything around €20,000 to train it.
I’m planning on doing a cyclethon fundraising event in Blackpool Shopping Centre in October to raise funds for the AADI. A few years ago, my brother-in-law Gerry Ray, did a fundraising cycle when he was 71, up to Dublin and back. I’m going to try to do that same distance, but I won’t leave the shopping centre.
Tell us about Cork Community Art Link
I’ve been involved for about a year. I was just walking down the street one day and saw all the paintings and art outside and said I’d go in and knock and have a look at what was going on. I knew the building from being the Lido Cinema in the 1930s through to the 1950s. It was all westerns and John Wayne movies being shown.
I go to Art Link and help build some of the artwork, floats or whatever needs to be done. Sometimes I might be there all Monday or when I have free time basically. I’ve even had my daughter and grandchildren involved taking part in the St Patrick’s Day Festival, which they ended up loving and had a great day.
I love making things and getting the chance to be creative. I was never involved in art before, apart from doing some sketching in my early days, so it’s great to get a chance to be creative.
I’m learning new skills, getting the chance to do things I’ve never done. I’d love if more people in Blackpool came here and got involved. It’s right on the doorstep and a great outlet for people, everyone is so friendly and welcoming.
Tell us about Blackpool Men’s Shed
We’re based in the community centre at the moment, in the process of moving to our own premises - we’re trying to get some shipping containers to use. We’ve got a core group of 10.
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I also had the chance to chat with Beibhinn O’Callaghan, Assistant Artistic Director at Cork Community Art Link, who gave me more insight into some of its work and programmes.
“We have another site in Kilbarry where we keep some of our larger pieces, including our Dragon of Shandon. We try to start planning as early as we can because we have to look at the logistics, like road closures and transporting all the floats from Dublin Hill into town.
“If someone walks in off the street and wants to help, we can be, like, here are the things we need to get done, you don’t need to know how to make them beforehand, we’ll show you how to do it, or if you have skills where you’d like to do something specific in the parade, we’ll make that happen as well and help them to make costumes or props or whatever they need.
“We have a drama class and sometimes our volunteers get involved in that - you don’t need experience. We have a small group who keep coming back for the drama class. They might get involved in some of the props or floats in the parade.
“It’s our 30th year, which is amazing, so we are trying to show our locomotive train this year which we use in the St Patrick’s Day parade and we used it again in the MidSummer Festival.
“We have CE Schemes and TUS schemes along with international placements, so we might have someone from the Czech Republic with us for three or four weeks and they always bring something really interesting and get massively involved, which is great.”
- To learn more about Cork Community Art Link, see https://www.corkcommunityartlink.com/people.html
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