Two Dublin cousins have spent the last three months creating an incredible support network for women in the capital.
Shereen and Rachel Hughes launched "Sister Sheds" in October, and the response to the initiative has been extraordinary.
The pair wanted to "bring local women in the community back together again" and provide a place for women to build a support network.
Their weekly sessions offer a safe space for women to have an open dialogue and bond with one another. Shereen and Rachel come from a spiritual background so they incorporate meditation into the Sheds too.
The cousins spoke to Dublin Live about why they felt the Sister Sheds were needed.
They said: "The main aim of the Sister Sheds is to bring local women in the community back together again.
"We found that whatever there is going on in your life, there's a phase of your life where we put ourselves down.
"Lockdown happened so social networking became a thing that was non-existent.
"That sense of community is gone, going back to the 80's when there was a really big community spirit and women used to get together and have fun days with the children and stuff like that. Wouldn't it be great for women to come together again."
Shereen and Rachel said people can join the Sister Sheds for any reason, and all women are welcome.
"You don't have to have a particular reason to join Sister Sheds. There's no criteria on it.
"There's no label on what you come to Sister Sheds for. We have it in an open environment where people introduce themselves, we tell a bit of our story and we just form together then, supporting one another."
They only began the sheds three months ago but have received a huge response from women all over the capital.
"In October when we set up, our first shed went to Finglas and then before we knew it we were getting pulled everywhere.
"What we did was, we went with a really chilled, laid back approach. We set up these little circles in local communities.
"We shed a bit of light on our life experience, the women opened up and shared a bit about themselves and we just went free flow.
"Pop in every week, do a bit of meditation, have a chat, have a cup of tea.
"There was no structure to our sheds. Now, going forward, the Sheds that we have opened we want to have a bit of a structure for.
"We're going to cap the ones we have, because the demand was so high.
"We're only two people at the end of the day and we don't want to be letting people down by saying yeah, we'll get one going there.
"But please God going forward, when we have the right tools behind us and the right people, we will be able to get Sister Sheds to every area. That's our aim."
Councillors and Senators have reached out to the women to help them with premises and funding, so they hope to be in a position to open more Sheds in the future.
Currently, there are two Sister Sheds in Finglas, one in Ballyfermot, one in Blanchardstown, one in Artane and two in Tallaght.
They are also in the process of bringing the Sister Sheds to Ballymun, Bluebell and Baldoyle.
The cousins said it has been "humbling for us to see" women form friendships through the Sister Sheds.
They said: "That's one of the big things. What we do is, we go in and establish a group and they get to know one another, then we ask if they would like a group chat set up via Facebook.
"They throw stuff into each other all week long, check up on one another. Some people meet up outside Sheds which is amazing.
"While we all have family, friends, and that close network, it's important to have people outside of that as well. In that aspect, it's absolutely unbelievable.
"It's weird, when we go into a Shed what we find is when we introduce ourselves and when the girls introduce themselves, for some reason they seem to have many intertwining connections."
They hope to bring in more spiritual exercises into the Sheds.
"It's just about putting women to ground again and practising self love and all of that good stuff."
The different Sheds focus on individual communities, so they bring women together who live close to one another.
"That was the basis of the Sister Sheds, bringing communities back together. I could be living on one side of the road and another woman who's in the Shed lives on another side of the road, and they didn't even know each other.
"When it's one group, we work on one area, one community. So they're very close to everyone."
They said creating a non-judgemental atmosphere was a vital part of the initiative.
"When we go into the Sheds, the first thing we say is to always respect one another and not to judge anybody because you never know the mental situation someone is in.
"There's a massive amount of trust in the Sheds. We're not here to tear each other down and I know you always hear that as a cliche but what I do find is the women in the Sheds really do believe that.
"They're not there to tear each other down, they're literally there to pick each other up and it absolutely blows my mind."
Anyone who would like to know more about the Sister Sheds can get in touch with Rachel and Shereen here.
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