Who are we?
St. Matthew's GAC Drumsurn was founded in 1927. Our aims and objectives centre around supporting player development and well-being, fostering physical activity, and promoting community engagement. We aim to:
- Promote Health and Fitness: Encourage physical activity and healthy lifestyles among members and the community.
- Foster Participation in Sports: Provide opportunities for people of all ages and skill levels to participate in sports and recreational activities.
We run a community hub for all ages to engage in sport, leisure, arts and fun for all. We have two grass pitches, one large, one small, and a community hall and kitchen which are used seven days a week to provide football, hurling, camogie, basketball, ladies and men's fitness classes, ladies and men's gym classes, underage strength and conditioning, walking groups, Zumba, adult jive classes, Pilates, Yoga, Irish dancing, indoor soccer, bowls, Irish language classes, drama, community plays, traditional music class, writing club, local history events, couch to 5 K, over 60s fitness classes. It is also used by our local primary school for their weekly PE lessons and after school clubs due to lack of hall space, and during inclement weather. Alongside all the sport and recreation and the arts, we also run charity events, mental health and well-being initiatives, the Big Bus (health checks), social fundraising events, tea/coffee mornings, arts & crafts fairs, etc to encourage everyone in our community to connect with their friends and neighbours and to reduce the feeling of isolation and loneliness in this very rural setting.
Why are we crowdfunding?
We are raising money to upgrade our gym equipment as our current equipment is old, worn, out-of-date and not fit for purpose and to meet the training demands of a modern player, aspiring athlete or individual wanting to improve general health and fitness. Our senior teams currently have to travel to use other gyms to facilitate strength and conditioning training for the whole season. This is added time and travel costs for many of our young players still in education or training.
We need to raise money to continue to make progress with our five-stage development plan to improve our facilities. We have successfully completed stage three of this plan with your very generous support, and once again, we ask you to support us in this next exciting stage of development.
Our project meets many of this fund's criteria and priorities by:
-Improving the health of residents in this rural community by upgrading our gym equipment for our health and wellbeing hub which will be open seven days a week, twelve months of the year.
-Promoting the care and support of elderly and vulnerable people through organisation of classes and support groups for physical fitness, yoga, relaxation and other social activities which will reduce isolation and loneliness in the elderly and vulnerable category.
-Promoting recreational and sporting activities in our young children and adults, we will be able to run many classes for strength and conditioning of all age groups, yoga, pilates, breathwork, meditation, etc.
-Improving strength and conditioning for our senior ladies camogie team as there is currently insufficient space to accommodate all players in one session.
-Improving and maintaining community facilities which will be there for many years to come.
How we’ll spend the money raised
We plan to purchase new weights, barbells, racks, kettlebells, dumbbells, medicine balls, floor mats, safety mats, benches, stair climbers, leg machine, chest machines etc
Community impact
This project will have a wide impact in terms of age and gender. It will offer health benefits to everyone in the Drumsurn community and beyond. It will provide a safe, clean and friendly space for residents to improve their health and wellbeing and to socialise with friends and neighbours.
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!