Kickhams Creggan Gym

Aim

Creating a Gym & Community Hub Kickhams Creggan — built by and for community, to support health, teamwork, and wellbeing

1. Who are we?
We are Kickham’s Creggan GAC, a proud and thriving Gaelic Athletic Club at the heart of our community for over 100 years.  We are a club with 600+ members and we promote Gaelic games, health, and wellbeing for people of all ages — from underage teams to senior players.  We cater for all 4 GAA codes and the development of our youth membership is key to our future ambitions.

In addition to the promotion of Gaelic Games the clubs is also home to the Creggan Wheelers, the Creggan Running club, local heritage group and our club is also used to provide a full range of fitness classes such as pilates, spin and yoga. Alongside the provision of fitness facilities the club is used by all members of the community for cultural classes such as music, dance and language so we really are at the heart of the local community. 

Our club is also home to the Antrim 'GAA For All' team which focuses on providing the opportunity to children and adults of all ages with special needs to participate in Gaelic games.

Over the past 10 years we have also raised more than £50,000 for worthy causes such as Aware NI, Chest Heart & Stroke, Macmillan, Air Ambulance and a range of other local charities.

You can learn more about us at www.kickhamscreggangac.com.

2. Why are we crowdfunding?
In 2024 we celebrated our centenary and as part our development plans we completed the purchase of land, developed a second full size playing pitch, installed floodlights and extended our car park to ensure the club is well positioned to provide facilities for future generations.  This development was completed nearly entirely by fundraising over a number of years and without any grant facilities.

To complete this development we  are working with Sport NI and the Olympic Legacy Fund to build and equip a brand-new community and team gym at Kickham’s Creggan GAC — a fantastic new space designed for our players, members, and the wider community.   This purpose built facility will be available for use by all of our members and as we are 4 miles away from the next closest gym we know this facility will become the heart of our community and save members time and money travelling to other gum locations.

We have managed to fund the construction of the gym structure from our own resources and now we need your help to equip it with top-quality, modern fitness equipment so it can reach its full potential as a shared resource for everyone.  The attached photos show the proposed layout which will be used by all members of our local community.

3. How we’ll spend the money raised
All funds raised will go directly towards state-of-the-art gym equipment, including weights, fitness machines, and training gear. This will ensure our players and community members have access to safe, high-quality facilities that support physical health and wellbeing.

4. Community impact
This project will have a lasting impact across our club and community. The gym will be kitted out so that up to 40 members can use the gym at any one time.  The gym will be used by players from our Ladies Football, Camogie, Hurling, and Gaelic Football teams — over 38 teams in total. It will also be open to all members and the wider community, providing a shared space to stay active, connect, and improve wellbeing. This is our way of giving back and creating a resource that will benefit generations to come.

The impact on our community can be measured in 3 specific ways

1) An increased ability to provide a modern training facility helping with the retention of players and increasing ability to attract new players.

2) Ability to provide facilities for the more isolated members of our club who haven't got the means to travel to other gym locations.  This will help to build social cohesion in our community.

3) An ability to widen out our offering so that all members of our community can get involved in the club, regardless of whether they play GAA games or not.

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!

Our thanks

We wish to take this opportunity to thank you for your support for our project.  Our centenary in 2024 was a major milestone and the development of the new pitch and floodlights being supplemented with a purpose built community gym will ensure that the club is well placed to provide facilities for all members of both the club and community for generations to come.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made