{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Eco Chats: Carlow's Eco Journey","title":"Community Hubs","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1687,"description":"Across County Carlow, grassroots hubs provide welcoming spaces where different generations meet, share skills, tackle rural isolation, and put circular, sustainable living into daily practice. In this episode, host Conor Reid travels to Ballon and Tinryland to explore two thriving local hubs that are revitalising their rural communities.\nFirst, we chat to Maura George, chairperson of Ballon Tidy Towns and Ballon Improvement Group, to learn about An Siopa Glas. Founded in 2012 and driven by dedicated volunteers, the community shop sells everything \"from a needle to an anchor\" – upcycling donated furniture, altering pre-loved textiles, and reinvesting proceeds directly back into village biodiversity and enhancement projects.\nNext, we travel to Tinryland Community Hub to speak to committee members Mary Foley and Leo Hogan. The hub was set up to restore a vital communal heart to the parish after the closure of local amenities. Operating on a not-for-profit social enterprise model, the hub features an affordable and social café, Irish language meetups, workshops and lots more.\n \nCredits:\n\nProduced by the Environment Department of Carlow County Council in partnership with the Carlow Arts Office and Creative Ireland.\nHosted by Conor Reid and edited by Dan Wilcox, The Podcast Studios.\nExecutive Producer: Dee Sewell, Carlow County Council.","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/PQ0SJp_exn2pD5GANOqhoKptzWs8ey-19b79rnCeBp0/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80YzEw/ZDJmMmZiMDU5YWE1/MGVlOTc3NTFjYzNh/YTMyMS5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}