Who are we?
Augher St Macartan's GAC was formed in 1957, providing Gaelic Games coaching as well as overall health, educational and social support to the Augher community and surrounding rural communities.
The Club organises, promotes, and competes in Gaelic Games and other associated activities for all, regardless of age, gender, background, or ability within the Augher and outlying areas. The club aims to enhance community cohesion in rural Augher and is driven by a strong amateur and volunteer ethos. Our Club is open to players, non-players and social members as well as providing events and activities for other members of the community.
Through our club programmes we improve the physical, mental and social wellbeing of all in our local community and build the confidence of all those in the local area to partake in our sport at our club. The club is currently represented in the Tyrone County leagues by our Senior Teams, Reserve Teams, and underage teams.
Our Club facilities in Augher plays a vital role in the community and takes great pride in this. Our main community building is used weekly by wider community members of all ages, such as the local Mens and Hens Shed and wider rural community groups. It is also used regularly throughout the year for a range of one of events such as quiz nights, community functions, music nights, fundraising events for a wide range of community groups, community benefit workshops and hired out by other external groups.
Why are we crowdfunding?
We are excited to launch our new Crowdfunding campaign to get more people into sport and exercise in our rural community of Augher. From Feb to March this new year 2025, we’re launching a new programme of community focused sports and exercise that will combat rural isolation. The new programme is designed to offer fun and active sports and physical activities for rural, isolated residents, in particular, to get more people active and moving in Augher!
We want to utilise our newly developed community walking track to get more people walking and taking steps daily for 8 full weeks in this new year. Over 100 people from our rural community will take part, walking every day for 8 full weeks.
We want to deliver new older persons light circuits 2 times per week over 8 weeks at our facility. This is completely new and something we haven't done before!
We want to develop a new fun tag GAA older persons programme over 8 weeks from Feb- Again, this is new and something which there is lots of interest in.
Our goal is to create a sporting environment here in Augher in 2025 where everyone can enjoy staying fit and healthy. We also want to use this crowdfunding to encourage more of our volunteers to gain coaching qualifications and, for example, more older people to volunteer and our older teenagers to take on coaching roles in the Club.
To make this happen, we need your support through our crowdfunding. Your donations will help us cover the costs of project specific equipment, upskilling opportunities for our volunteer coaches, expert facilitator costs, refreshments, and promotional costs to ensure the programme reaches all in our rural community.
For every pound donated, Sport NI will match it up to a maximum of £5,000. Therefore, Every donation is crucial, and your support will significantly impact our community here in rural Augher, getting more rural residents active and into sport!
Please spread the word about our crowdfunding, and donate what you can! Thank you for your support"
How we’ll spend the money raised
The funds raised will be used to cover project specific equipment, that will also be used then for our new coaches and to increase capacity within our volunteers going forward.
Funds raised will also be used for specialised coaches to deliver certain elements of our 8 week programme.
For example, here is a breakdown:
. Project-Specific Equipment (£5,000)
- Training Balls (60 @ £20 each): £1,200
- O'Neills Match Balls (£40 x 30)= £1,200
- Training cones (20 sets of 50 @ £30 each): £600
- Bibs (200 @ £5 each): £1,000
- Gym quipment for light circuits: £1,000
Coaching Qualifications Volunteer Coaches (£2,100)
- GAA Coach Education Programme (5 coaches @ £300 each): £2,100
Coaching Costs (£2,000)
- Gym Instructor to deliver an 8 week circuit programme for older people @ £100 per session (4 hours)= £800
- Coach to Deliver Fun Tag Football Programme £25 per session x 6 hours per week= £1,200
Budget for Refreshments for 100+ participants across the programme @ £900
Community impact
Our project will have a major impact on our Augher community, in particular older people and families living in rural isolation. Our current facilities including our recently finished community walking trail are a major rural community asset for not only our Club, but also the wider community in Augher.
Specifically, our project is all about "Levelling the Playing Field". We know that Sport NI emphasises addressing inclusion and accessibility, particularly for those who are traditionally underrepresented in sport. Our programme aligns by:
- Targeting Underrepresented Groups: The focus on older adults and rural residents addresses Sport NI’s target groups of older people (65+) and those in rural areas, as outlined in their guidance.
- Combatting Rural Isolation: By designing activities like the walking programme and light circuits, our programme directly tackles barriers faced by isolated rural communities, aligning with Sport NI’s goal to “level the playing field.”
Our project is an innovative, new, and additional. For example we are introducing a new programme on our walking trail (recently finished). The 8-week walking initiative on the new track promotes daily physical activity, something previously unavailable.
New light circuit sessions for older persons provide a tailored, low-impact way to engage in fitness.
The introduction of a fun tag GAA programme for older adults is a novel and inclusive way to engage more participants here in Augher.
We are upskilling Volunteers, so are encouraging older volunteers and teenagers to gain coaching qualifications is an additional element, focusing on building community capacity and leadership.
We are also Connecting our rural community here in Augher by using the newly developed community walking track as a hub for engagement. We will be creating intergenerational opportunities by involving older adults and teenagers as participants and coaches, building bridges across different age groups.
By training new coaches, including older adults and teenagers, and purchasing equipment we are helping to future-proof our rural Club by creating a sustainable volunteer pipeline and ensuring they have future capacity to deliver additional programmes.
Our Crowdfunded project will increase our outreach efforts and will attract new participants, increasing overall engagement and club membership.
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!
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. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!