Galway-Based Fundraiser Creates Spaces for Local Bands

By Fionn Ó Cualáin

Content warning – Mentions of eating disorders.

Five years ago, Galway-based musician and student Siobhán Kelleher launched The Sunflower Project fundraiser, in partnership with the Eating Disorder Association of Ireland, Bodywhys.

The project has blossomed into the Sunflower Sessions, event spaces that promote local Galway bands and artists, showcasing the best of Galway’s thriving musical ecosystem and raising funds for a good cause. 

Sowing the Seeds of Fundraising

The Sunflower Project initially began life as a GoFundMe page which raised €800 in 48 hours towards the creation and distribution of gift hampers for patients in eating disorder (ED) recovery.

“It was little things like that would keep you going throughout such a strange time in your life,” Siobhán reflects, on her personal experiences of ED recovery treatment, “When you’re in an institution and in an inpatient setting, you lose a lot of your sense of personhood.”

Siobhán launched The Sunflower Project after reflecting on a time when, as a teenager, she spent six months in inpatient care and recalled feeling “bummed out because we didn’t get to go home for Christmas”.

Siobhán’s choice to partner The Sunflower Project with Bodywhys came from her admiration of the work that the charity carries out through awareness campaigns and family support services.

“[Bodywhys] are constantly looking at how we can further research and further the understanding behind eating disorders,” she says, “and further the supports that are there.”

The Project Grows Roots: Creating Space in Galway’s Music Scene

The project evolved into Siobhán wanting to run flea markets and host gigs. Before entering recovery, she was always involved in the Galway music scene.

“The thing that really kept me going in recovery was… [the] need to be able to create something,” she explains.

“I was in a convent school. So, [Galway’s music scene] was this space where suddenly I was accepted again,” she reflects “And it was okay that you’re a little bit weird.”

Her way to give back to this “beautiful community of musicians” was through the hosting of Sunflower Sessions.

Siobhán had joined Galway’s local music scene when she was 15 and is still “really, really good friends with a lot of those people”. When she went into treatment, those same people were the ones “who were waiting for me when I came out”.

“I wanted to create a space that was rooted in something really good,” she explains, “And I wanted to give smaller bands a place to play.”

Without a venue however, these gigs would be near impossible to run. Thankfully, many venues have let her run the Sunflower Sessions free of charge.

“All the main venues in Galway are really, really supportive and kind, and they want things to happen,” Siobhán reflects, “Space for creativity, space for socialisation, space for a community to come together and celebrate something… is so important, but so lacking.”

Reflections and Advice

The latest fundraising event took place in The Blue Note on Sunday 4 October and went off without a hitch, thanks to Siobhán’s rigorous organising, promotion and maintaining a flow of the events with the volunteers helping at the door.

However, the machine was not always so well-oiled. Her first gig, in Áras na nGael in 2022 didn’t go quite as smoothly.

“I had no backline, no drum kit, no PA system” she laughs, reminiscing. Despite the blunder, the gig was a major success.

Even at future gigs, when she received noise complaints or booked the wrong band for the wrong venue, it never deterred her, and she always kept her head held high.

“My favourite thing about a gig is that things will go wrong, and the minute you open the doors, there’s nothing you can do about it,” she says.

While Siobhán shows no signs of ending The Sunflower Project, she invites others to try something similar.

“Just go for it,” she urges, “Really go for it and do not be afraid.”

“Galway is the ideal place to start figuring out how creative spaces work because it’s just manufactured for creative people to try things out.”

For others doing events for the first time, she says to “ask a million questions” and not to act like you know what you are doing, to always seek help and “be open and honest about how much you can do”.

“There are people who want to do sound for events, there’s bands who want to play events and there’s spaces that want events to happen in them,” Siobhán affirms “Don’t be cocky, don’t be afraid.”

What’s next?

Looking ahead, the next Sunflower Session will take place on Friday 30 October in Áras na nGael, with live performances from 100 Cement, Copernicus II and Sakura. Tickets are available on the Áras na nGael website with all proceeds going towards The Sunflower Project, in aid of Bodywhys. There will also be a costume party featuring prizes for the best costumes.

For more information about The Sunflower Project to never miss an update, follow @sunflowersessions_galway on Instagram.

If you or someone you know is affected by the issues raised, contact the HSE 24-hour helpline at 1800 111 888, or the Bodywhys helpline at 0766805278.