Metropolitan Mayor Eamon Quinlan pictured with the group which recently marked Fumbally Exchange Waterford’s second birthday.
FUMBALLY Exchange recently celebrated its second birthday in Waterford city. Located on Brick Lane in the Viking Triangle, Fumbally Exchange (FEx) is a not-for-profit movement of creative and innovative professionals who share co-working spaces.
The organisation, founded by architect George Boyle in 2010, provides working space for would-be entrepreneurs and takes its name from its first location on Fumbally Lane, Dublin 8.
Individuals and entrepreneurs can use Fumbally Exchange to: work; share information and facilities; research and test ideas; and build contacts.
Fumbally Exchange celebrated its second anniversary on Friday, August 28th with a barbeque and music at its Brick Lane base.
Metropolitan Area Mayor Eamon Quinlan was in attendance to congratulate all involved with the organisation.
A number of members of Fumbally Exchange spoke about the benefits of being part of the Fumbally movement.
Facilitator Agnieszka Rojowska, who is an architect with ROJO Studio, said that the quote “I want to work alone but with other people” perfectly summarised the ethos of Fumbally.
Justin Kearns, who operates Shadow Marketing, joined Fumbally Exchange in March 2014, having travelled and worked overseas.
He has already built a strong client base and was responsible for creating and running the recent Tramore Racing Festival social media campaign.
“I wanted to start my own business and I saw Fumbally as one of the best places to start a business with creative minded people,” he said.
“It’s been great. I’ve collaborated with nearly everyone in the room at this stage. I couldn’t see all that happening if I was still working from home.”
Architect Tom Finnegan spoke of how those involved with Fumbally have contributed to the success of the Waterford Festival of Architecture.
“Everybody in Fumbally pitched in and helped out,” he said. “We’re not just working amongst ourselves, we’re reaching out to do other things and Waterford Festival of Architecture is a great example of this.”
Waterford Viking Triangle CEO Fiona McHardy said Fumbally Exchange was a perfect fit for Waterford’s cultural quarter as it showcased “creative and innovative enterprises”.
“The range of members in Fumbally is very important,” she said.
“We have a range of creative and innovative enterprises including architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, environmental consultants, food nutritionists, web designers, graphic designers, branding consultants, social and digital media consultants, photographers, fitness consultants.”
She said the initiative had received lots of funding support locally.
For more information on Fumbally Exchange, visit www.fumballyexchange.com
or check out Facebook and Twitter.
