Sport Northern Ireland Project Re-Boot: Activate has provided £5,000 of match funding
Newtownbutler Rural Wellness Project
Enniskillen, Fermanagh and Omagh, United Kingdom
Aim
Crowdfunding enables us to deliver 16 weeks of community initiatives from Jan 23; supporting our rural community to build back from Covid19.
Newtownbutler First Fermanagh’s GFC Club Background
We are a Gaelic football Club formed in 1887. We are the oldest GAA club in Fermanagh and proudly call ourselves the First Fermanagh's. We have 500+ members and provide activities for all ages. Our Club is very much part of the community and has active partnerships with several organisations within the village who avail of our current facilities and fully support this project and our Crowdfunding efforts.
Our club grounds are very much at the heart of the community. All of our facilities are open to all and are not restricted to club members. We operate an all-inclusive and open space for all members of our community and we pride ourselves in being a cross-community organisation that is welcoming to everyone.
How Covid-19 affected our club
During the pandemic, our Club suffered due to the inability to deliver any form of activity within the community because of the lockdown restrictions.
Our fundraising effort was also severely impacted, as we had to cancel most of our key fundraising activities, which had a further impact on the ability to enhance the facilities and offer programmes for the community.
We lost several of our key volunteers during the lockdown period. This was understandably due to increased risk to their health, but this reduced the overall volunteer capacity within the club, which in turn added further pressure on the services we offer within the club.
Newtownbutler is a small rural community and Covid-19 increased issues related to isolation, loneliness, and mental health issues. One of the key factors was the lack of sport and physical activity during this period.
Community Impact
All our spaces are inclusive, open to all and accessible for people of all abilities, we take great pride in the vital role that our facilities play within the rural community here in Newtownbutler. This is the positive impact that our Club facilities have on the rural community. For example, our grass pitches and community walking trail.
Crowdfunding will enable us to deliver 16 weeks of community initiatives from January 2023. The impact this will have is that we will be supporting our rural community to build back from Covid19, by delivering 16 weeks of health and wellbeing initiatives that specifically target the most isolated in our rural community and those most affected by Covid19 such as young people, older people and those who are living isolated because of the rural nature of our area.
Throughout the 16 weeks, we will deliver the following which will have positive community impacts here in Newtownbutler:
- 10-week Walking programme for older people on our community walking trail.
- 8-week couch to 5k initiative on our community walking trail for isolated rural residents within Newtownbutler.
- 10-week walking football/sports initiative for older men in our community.
- 8-week Saturday morning youth run on our community trail.
- 8-week yoga class.
- Walking group for young mums and ‘Walk, Talk and Coffee’ group.
Plus we will be organising nutrition sessions by a sports Dietician.
Our goal is to create a community space we are proud of and one that is inviting and welcoming for all in our rural community. We want to increase the number of users of the facilities to help the wider community pursue healthier and more active lifestyles as we emerge fully from several years of Covid19. Crowdfunding will allow us to achieve this.
The overall benefits to the community will be:
- Improved physical health for our members & wider rural community.
- Improved mental health and well-being of our members & wider rural community.
- Reduce isolation for our members & wider rural community.
- Increase participation opportunities in sports for our members & wider rural community.
Why we are Crowdfunding
We are crowdfunding because we want to extend the programmes we offer at the club facilitates to better support those most in need locally across our rural community. As mentioned previously, Newtownbutler is a rural village and many of our residents both young and old, feel the effects caused by social isolation, particularly during the winter months and during Covid19. Therefore, we want to Crowdfund so to enable us to develop enhanced sporting opportunities for those most in need locally.
This funding will allow us to enhance the programmes we offer during the winter months for underrepresented groups such as older people, younger people and those living in rural isolation.
We are crowdfunding to provide more exercise opportunities for our local community.
We are crowdfunding to help us re-engage a lot of underrepresented people who moved away from the club (and sport in general) during the pandemic both from a volunteer perspective and also as well as at a participation level, with the main aim to help to improve the overall wellness of our residents.
How we’ll spend the money raised
All the money raised through our crowdfunding endeavours will be used as follows:
- Specialised coaches to deliver each of the project elements. For example, the 4-week walking programme for older people on our community walking trail, the 8-week Saturday morning youth-run, the 8 weeks couch to 5k initiative on our community walking trail for isolated rural residents, the walking group for young mums and ‘Walk, Talk and Coffee’ group, and the 4 weeks walking football/sports initiative for older men in our community.
- Marketing / promotional material to engage local children and young people who are new to sports and physical activity, as well as encourage our members to return to sports and physical activity after a prolonged period of lockdown and isolation.
- Refreshments throughout each element of the project (water, fruit, healthy snack)
(Include a Short video of the members expressing the benefits the new walking path has on the community)
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. If you want to run your own fundraiser to support us, 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 3rd March 2023