The most important source of support which keeps the workshop open is the community – from the volunteers and coordinators who give their time and energy to the wider community who donate old bicycles, it is the Galway community which we all have to thank for the workshop.
Financially we have received support from a number of sources. Initially An Mheitheal Rothar was founded after the proposed project won one of the NUIG Student Enterprise Awards in 2012. Following this, in May 2013, after much hard work by the Coordinating Group and a fantastic funding application, we received funding from the European Commission through the ‘Youth in Action’ programme. As fantastic as these grants have been, this type of funding is only suitable for startup and specific projects and are not sustainable in the long run because of the time and energy required for such applications, as well as the uncertainty of such applications.
So, where does the majority of the funding for the space come.?..
The community; while no one will ever be turned down parts they need for their bicycle each time someone visits the space we recommend that if they can afford to, a donation from them will help keep the workshop here for them and the entire community to benefit from.
If you are interested in how you could help as a volunteer would like to volunteer please send an email with ‘Volunteer’ in the subject bar to ‘an.mheitheal.rothar@gmail.com’.
If you would like to donate a bicycle please simply bring it along to one of our open workshops on Wednesdays or Fridays; unfortunately we do not at the minute have the resources to collect bicycles.