Help shape the future of The Source, Thurles, your local community arts centre

As The Source turns five, you have a unique opportunity to tell us exactly what you think of us. This is your space so you have every right to contribute to what it does, how it does it and for whom. All you need do is answer a simple survey designed for the general public.

The Source is currently carrying out an evaluation of the first five years with a view to setting a path for the future and developing a 3 Year Plan which sets out how The Source can best serve the needs of the local community. To this end The Source has secured the invaluable assistance of LIT Tipperary, and the evaluation will be independently carried out by them and external facilitators. Working with students doing the BA in Social & Community Studies, the evaluation will encompass three distinct steps: a Survey Monkey questionnaire, targeting the general public; a Problem Based Learning (PBL) assignment with 1st year students, and four Focus Group sessions, independently facilitated.

The focus group discussions will be anonymously minuted, and brought together into a report and recommendations. The Focus Group findings will form part of a final report alongside the broader targeted questionnaire results and the PBL findings, and all three will assist in shaping the future of The Source.

‘One of the things we hope to establish from this process is an explanation of our sales pattern. Like any other business in the current economic climate, The Source has experienced a drop in sales of the arts centre’s events. It is important, as we look to the future, to find out if this is purely a reaction to the recession or whether it is to do with the range of activities on offer at the centre’, says Claudia Woolgar, Director.

The Source is an enviable professional theatre space in the heart of Thurles. It aims to provide the people of Thurles and its hinterlands with a cultural facility offering an engaging and diverse programme of events across all artforms. The Source also has an open door policy to regional groups, encouraging interaction in the life of the centre through a variety of activities.

We need your help so that we can give to the local community what it needs from an arts centre. Please tell us your opinion, it counts. To get involved and complete the questionnaire, simply contact The Source at 0504 90340 or at www.sourceartscentre.ie