Thriving - preparing for the future

Aim

We want 18th Newtownabbey to be a source of physical and emotional health for our players and the community.

Who are we?

18th Newtownabbey OBFC have been in existence for 35 years. However, at the start of the pandemic our club came close to winding up.  During this period our membership significantly dropped. Combined with a lack of income from games, limited opportunity for the players to socialise, lack of confidence to meet in groups, and the general struggles everyone was facing with Covid-19, all combined to bring us the brink of closure.  

However, a few people persisting.  These voluntary efforts have actually enabled our team to grow to 45 members, 10 coaches, and a new committee of 10 people. Now we have the foundations in placed that we think will enable 18th Newtownabbey OBFC to grow.  Reflecting on this period a member of our committee notes "Covid-19 has tested our sports community like never before, but we  never let it put us down".  It is this optimism that we feel is enabling us to try this Crowd Funder campaign.  

There are three reasons for this confidence.  Firstly our club has a significant amount of members that are currently between the ages of 16-21. Secondly, we have over 130 children registered with our Youth Footballing structure.  Finally, our committee has attracted people with the expertise to see our club build a new strategic plan.  

We are currently involved in developing a new strategy for our club which is directly linked to the needs and aspiration of all those who engage with our club. This process will help 18th Newtownabbey to move away from surviving as a club to thriving as a football club. 

Community impact

18th Newtownabbey has always been a community based football club.  We have always survived because of the relationship we have with the Monkstown community and the membership we could attract.  However, we think we have the capacity to offer the community and our members much more.  

Over the last decade some local coaches have started to develop 18th Youth which is developing a pipeline for the senior club.  We also have a significant ex-players network, with whom, we would like to develop a 35 and over team.  We also have the potential to develop female football.  This is what we are assessing as part of our new strategy.  

We also have a fantastic football pitch and pavilion in the centre of the Monkstown Estate.  This resource is managed by Antrim and Newtownabbey council who provide fantastic support to our club.  Over the next 2 years we are going to actively explore a greater level of community ownership of this resource to maximise the sporting activities on the site.

Why are we crowdfunding?

We are crowdfunding because we want out club to widen our appeal for new members and retain the fantastic player base we currently have in place.  We want to add four services to our clubs:

• Workshops that explore the impact of diet on emotional health. 
• Workshops to help players understand the connection between physical activity and emotional health.
• Access to talking therapies to support players under the age of 21 who are facing traumatic events.  We want players to find access to this support to ensure they can cope with stresses and maintain key relationship with people and also stay in employment.  
• Workshops that explore the impact of substance misuse of emotional health.  

None of these services will be forced upon members, but we will make them accessible in ways that statutory services will not be able to provide.  In additional we will access the Emotional Health and Well Being (level 1) workshops from Sport NI. 

Additionally, we want to purchase equipment to 

In addition to these new services we want to align our youth football structure with our senior team.  

Monkstown is an areas with fantastic people and community resilience.  However, barriers do persist.  We think providing the services above, in additional to our football training and coaching, will provide additional safeguards to support those who face sporadic challenges and need accessible community based support.  

How we’ll spend the money raised

We are very clear how we will spend the money we raise.  We currently have a commercial donor who will be able to deliver the workshops on diet and physical activity, and the connection to emotional well being.  We have not had the resource to expand the services of this donor but this resource will help.

We have never had support to provide talking therapies or workshops on drugs misuse.  This resource will enable us to provide this new level of support for current members.

We think that widening the footballing services we offer in Monkstown will also attract the wider community and help us to move forward with our other ambitions, which will be reflected in out future strategy:

• Under 20's football team
• Young women's team
• Over 35's team
• Growth of our youth football structure.  

If you support us, donation will go directly to these new services.

How you can play your part

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!  If you want to know more just call us!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

4. Create a fundraiser of your own. Use the button on our page to get started. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!

This project successfully funded on 21st July 2022