How The Florrie continues to be a lifeline for its local community

The Florrie will have been at the heart of the Dingle for 135 years this September and, as it celebrates the anniversary, it’s still a lifeline for the community.

After starting life as a boys’ club, The Florrie is now a meeting place for all ages where everyone is made to feel welcome.

“It’s more than just bricks and mortar, there’s an emotional bond and a longevity to The Florrie because generations have come here,” says community fundraiser Tony Caveney.

“It was strictly a youth club back in the day, you had schools who’d come here to have their dinner, they’d do sports here, and my age group did YTS here.

“But now we’re a social hub, we put lots of different activities on and we’re here to help. It’s a go-to place, our happy place, and it’s like therapy for people.”

The Florrie offers 48 hours of free activities every week, including art, drama, yoga and ukulele sessions, as well as Timo’s guitar group and a men’s walking group that’s become hugely popular, all bringing the community together to learn new skills and have fun.

“Because of the boom in bike riding after lockdown, we’ve recently started a free bike repair shop so people can get things like punctures and chains sorted free of charge,” says Tony.

“And you don’t have to join in a class, you can just come in, have a cup of tea in the café and talk to us for a few hours; take your mind off things. That’s what we’re here for.”

Like the city as a whole, The Florrie hasn’t always had an easy life. It closed in 1988 and was hit by a fire just over a decade later, but that didn’t stop efforts to save it and with support from the community in 2010, almost 22 years after closure, regeneration work finally started.

The beautiful landmark red brick building finally reopened its doors in 2012 and has gone from strength to strength ever since.

Through the cost of living crisis, and the impact of Covid, The Florrie has been at the frontline in helping families in and round L8 who are struggling.

Its Community Shop, open every Friday from 10.30am to 2pm, is just £1 to join and for every £5 shop members get the equivalent of £25 worth of shopping.

For young people too, The Florrie is a safe space where they can meet up with mates.

In April this year, they opened The Basement, a brand new youth zone which has its own cinema, games room and podcast studio.

“What we offer has evolved to meet what’s needed,” says Tony.

“We have a small team but they’re unbelievable and we’d be lost without our volunteers, they’re the people who make The Florrie tick because they come in and give up their time so we can do so much and keep it free.

“We’ve been here for 135 years and things have changed through the generations. You might not need potholing clubs or skiffle clubs for kids anymore, now it’s podcast clubs and board game clubs, but what we do is still basically the same.

“The Florrie is still a beacon of help for our whole community.”