Sport Northern Ireland: Creating Opportunities has provided £3,800 of match funding
Health & Fitness 4 All Glack GAA
Limavady, Causeway Coast and Glens, United Kingdom
Aim
A completely new project for Winter 25, to get more people into sport and exercise in our rural community of Glack and Ballykelly
Who are we?
O'Connors Glack is a GAA Club in Glack, formed in 1921 providing Gaelic Games, and overall health, wellbeing, fitness and social support to the rural communities of Glack and Ballykelly
At Glack GAA we are proud to be more than a sporting organisation and recognise our responsibility to the community we serve.
The Club is driven by its volunteers to maximise the opportunities for our residents. We continue to aim to strengthen the local rural community spirit, provide a sense of place for all within the local community, improve people’s physical and mental well-being, build confidence in who we are as a rural community and where we are from and to partake in our games, sporting and community activity throughout our community.
Our facilities are a central part of our rural community and are utilised by many wider community groups. It is our intention to continually upgrade our facilities so that we can meet the needs of the community.
Why are we crowdfunding?
At Glack GAA we have identified a clear and growing need to provide more inclusive, accessible health and wellbeing opportunities for members of our rural community, particularly for women and older adults. This need has become clearer following the huge demand for our recently introduced "Mothers & Others" programme and through engagement with members of the community who pointed to the fact there are no gym facilities in Ballykelly or Glack.
While sport is at the heart of our club, many local people do not currently participate in physical activity due to the barriers they face. We are attempting to break down these barriers through this new programme designed to offer fun and active winter & spring sport and physical activities for rural isolated residents in particular, to get more people active more often!
Our goal is to create a vibrant, inclusive environment where everyone can enjoy staying fit and healthy while accessing sporting programmes in our rural community, regardless of where people come from.
We also want to use this crowdfunding to encourage more of our volunteers to gain sporting qualifications for example, train up coaches on the GAA Coach Education Programme to enhance their team management skills and for more girls for example, to join in our teams.
We will use our current facilities, such as our pitch pathways, to deliver a new "Every Step Counts" in conjunction with “Ireland Lights Up” programme in February/March to encourage people to get outside and walk more.
We will use our indoor facilities to deliver a new 10 week Yoga/Pilates initiative for older people from Jan to March. We will also bring in approved facilitators to deliver a physical fitness programme for young people in March and also to deliver several workshops for better mental health in our rural community Feb and March.
How we will spend the money raised
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.
Budget breakdown includes:
1. Project-Specific Equipment (£3,600)
- Footballs (20 @ £20 each): £400
- Training cones (5 sets of 50 @ £30 each): £150
- Bibs (100 @ £5 each): £500
- Yoga mats (40 @ £50 each): £1000
- Resistance bands (20 @ £10 each): £200
- Step counters for "Every Step Counts" (50 @ £10 each): £500
- Reflective armbands for "Every Step Counts" (100 @ £3 each): £300
- Gym equipment for fitness and mental health workshops: £550
2. Upskilling Opportunities for Volunteer Coaches (£1,500)
- GAA Coach Education Programme (5 coaches @ £300 each): £1,500
3. Expert Facilitator Costs (£2,000)
- Yoga/Pilates facilitators for older adults (20 sessions @ £50/session): £1,000
- Physical fitness trainer for youth programme (20 sessions @ £50/session): £1,000
4. Refreshments (£500)
- Healthy snacks and drinks for sports camps and workshops (10+ events @ £50/event): £500
Every little bit helps, and your support will have a huge impact on our community health and wellbeing.
Please spread the word about our crowdfunding, and donate what you can! Thank you for your support.
All money raised will go towards our new project. Sport NI’s match funding will double every pound we raise up to a maximum of £5,000. This means your support will go twice as far in helping us create this exciting new programme. Please consider donating and supporting our mission to get more women and girls active, involved, and thriving in our community. Together, we can make a real difference!
Community impact
This project will have both short and long term impacts for all those in the community including:
- Greater access to fitness for women, older adults and beginners. This aligns with Sport NI’s goal to enable more people to take part in sport and physical activity throughout Northern Ireland.
- A more inclusive and welcoming environment as a result of our new programmes as well as new equipment
- Better facilities for all ages withing the community
- Improved physical and mental wellbeing for our citizens as a result of more people being active through our new programmes
- A long term legacy of health, connection and empowerment by upskilling our volunteers and coaches through the GAA Coach Education Programme,
Our project aligns closely with the objectives of Sport NI’s match funding programme, "Creating Opportunities." This programme is designed to promote inclusion, connect communities, and provide new and innovative solutions to increase participation in sport, which is exactly what we aim to achieve with our initiative.
This project aligns with the programme’s goal of building resilience and planning for the future. Crowdfunding, combined with Sport NI’s match funding, will enable us to create a sustainable pathway for increasing female participation, promoting leadership, and developing long-term community engagement.
With Sport NI matching every pound we raise up to £5,000, we have a unique opportunity to double the impact of every donation. This funding will ensure that we can deliver an inclusive, community-focused project that gets more women and girls active, builds confidence, and strengthens our club for the future.
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!
This project successfully funded on 1st September 2025