Fairhill community teams up with US university to promote and improve neighbourhood 

Students and faculty members from the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG) recently engaged extensively with the Fairhill Community Association as they assisted with the development of a positive communications strategy for the neighbourhood.

The initiative was supported by UCC Civic and Community Engagement, the Cork Centre for Architecture Education (CCAE), and the UCC School of Education.

Over the course of a three-week period in June, nine UNCG kinesiology and communication studies students, along with two professors, engaged with the Fairhill Community Centre to create a plan to communicate and promote the positive aspects of the Fairhill community.

They worked closely with Lisa O’Sullivan and Trina Murphy, the chairperson and secretary of Fairhill Community Association, respectively.

In addition to community-based research, the students also got to know the residents through voluntary work and assisting with various neighbourhood improvement activities.

The visit began on Thursday, June 1 with a workshop hosted by UCC at the Cork Centre for Architecture Education, where local resident, Derry O’Farrell, talked about the history of the community and then conducted a walking tour around the Fairhill area.

The visiting students also attended classes offered at the community centre, including the men’s art group, and they participated in a visit from the then Lord Mayor of Cork Deirdre Forde to Fairhill.

Following their successful fact-finding mission, the UNCG students ultimately presented their findings on Thursday, June 15 in the Cork Centre for Architectural Education.

The chairperson of the Fairhill Community Association, Lisa O’Sullivan, said the students and faculty members had a busy three-week period in Cork.

“They were only here for three weeks, but we kept them very busy. The time and effort that they put in during their three weeks was outstanding. They engaged with the Fairhill Community Association. They did a brilliant presentation.”

Ms O’Sullivan explained the students conducted their research through various methods, which included interacting with the local community and the Fairhill Community Association.

“It was fantastic to get this information from a fresh perspective because they didn’t know anything about our area."

“They sourced their information from talking to people and they did walkabouts of the area. They came to the men’s art group where they did a questionnaire. They also did a questionnaire with the ladies’ crochet group. They collaborated with our children’s after school group where they did a wall of friendship. They painted in our community setting and we all painted our hands and put our hands on the friendship wall. The Lord Mayor joined in as well.”

Ms O’Sullivan said the presentation will prove very beneficial for Fairhill Community Association with regards to securing extra grants and funding.

“The reason they were paired with us is we are trying to get a youth and community centre in Fairhill. We don’t have a centre.

“We work out of a community house which is a two-bedroom council house. We need a youth and community centre for our area. We have outgrown the facility that we are using. We will have this presentation for submitting when we are looking for grants or funding,” Ms O’Sullivan said. “Our next project with UCC is the architectural college. We will have the architecture students from third year next year coming up to help design a community centre for our area.”