The new Glenariffe Community & Recreation Centre was officially opened on Saturday, the fruition ten years work by the hard working Friends of Glenariffe committee which was set up in the Bay Hall in September 2009.
There were many ups and down during those ten years and there were tears of joy and Saturday when the people of Glenariffe came together to celebrate this great event. The FOG chairperson Myra Murray addressed those present. MC for the day Padraig Mariner McIlwaine introduced the various speakers which included Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Cllr Sean Bateson, Chairman of Space & Place Community Foundation Programme for Northern Ireland Michael Hughes and Chairman of Oisins GAC Niall Wheeler. However special introduction was reserved for FOG chairperson Myra Murray, the woman who drove the whole campaign on.
Padraig McIlwaine
The Glens Choir – What a way to start proceedings and it couldn’t be more appropriate to have the Glens Choir……representing the whole Glens community.
Welcome everyone to our New Community and Recreation Centre, and although not all the final touches are complete, I think you’ll agree that it is a beautiful building. Especially with all the work that Clare has put into the decorations for today – Thank you Clare.
Before we begin proceedings can I also thank Catherine and Molly for the beautiful cake that we will cut later to mark the occasion. And I suppose I should also thank our young volunteers who are helping to serve today, they have been drafted in at the last minute as a George Erva concert as claimed the majority of our usual waitresses but I’m sure that they will do a fine job.
Can I welcome Mayor Bateson and our local councillors from the Causeway Coast and Glens Council and Michael Hughes who was the co-ordinator for the Big Lottery funded, Space and Place programme and was our Project Co-ordinator.
But can I especially welcome YOU the people of Glenariffe, who make up this wonderful community that we live in.
For although we have had big donations from the council – 180K, and in particular ‘Space & Place’ – 420K, for which we will be eternally grateful – and we will also accept further donations if you have more loose change lying around!
But the members of this community have been our biggest contributors when you count the thousands of hours that YOU have volunteered to get this project off the ground to the wonderful building we are sitting in today, not to mention the small sum of 316K that came from this parish.
This new centre was built by this community for this community and will be run by this community. So give yourselves all a round of applause!
Now for a short presentation of how we made this happen.
I gave the first presentation on this project in September 2009 after mass in the old bay hall, were we outlined what was possible. And I remember one gentleman coming up to me afterwards and saying nice idea but you are wasting your time.
To be fair a lot of people were probably thinking the same thing, and if it wasn’t for over 10 years of blood, sweat and tears by the FOG committee, it would never have happened. They are the hardest working, most loyal, committed, determined team of people who don’t know how to quit. They are a pleasure to work with and to them I especially want to say thank you. Can you please give the committee of FOG a round of applause.
Like any great team you need a great leader and we have certainly got that it in Myra Murray, the Chair of FOG. I approached Myra in 2009 and asked her to get involved, as we were struggling, the target was 50K a year for 3 years. 10 Years and 1.2 million later, I think Myra and her team have exceeded their target.
The commitment that she has shown to this project is incredible, she is honest, intelligent, hardworking, not afraid to get her hands dirty and gets the job done. I have personally learned so much from Myra over the last 10 years, to be honest she has been a real role model for me. Ladies and Gentlemen Myra.
Thank you Myra. Next up we have Mayor Bateson who will speak on behalf of the Causeway Coast and Glens Council and the councillors, past and present, who have helped us so much over the years. Mayor Bateson.
Thank you Mayor Bateson. Next up we have Niall Wheeler the Chair of Glenariffe Oisins CLG. We as a community are indebted to Niall and the club. Put quite simply, without Glenariffe Oisins GAA Club this new centre would never have happened. Niall, our Chairman, has been a corner stone of this project from the very beginning. He has been a very positive influence on us all and helped guide us with his calm approach when times were tough. Niall wouldn’t mind me saying that he’s at an age when is hurling days are probably over. But the commitment, time and energy he puts into this project is incredible and he is someone who will always command my greatest respect. Niall.
Thank you Niall. Next Up we have Michael Hughes. Michael is currently Head of Building Sustainable Communities, The Community Foundation. But he was the co-ordinator of the Space and Place Programme who gave us a grant £420K, so he has been with the project from the very start and has been a great support throughout. Michael.
Thank you Michael.
We will know look at a short presentation taking us through the build process from start to finish.
In the video you can see our old club house being taken down but for us this was never a straight replacement of one club house for another – this is much more.
This new centre serves the whole community of Glenariffe and the Glens. We want this centre to be the beating heart of our community, that brings all ages and persuasions together.
Tuesday night, just past, really sums it up for me. We had U12, U14 and senior players all out training on the field. There were young ones playing pool in one changing room, we were having a juvenile meeting in another changing room, Johnny Black, Cahal and Alastair were working on the bench seating in another changing room, teenagers (some from Cushendall which was great to see) were playing table tennis in the hall. Upstairs the gym was in full use and there was a group of ladies doing Yoga in here……
And my mum was mopping the floors.
But basically young, old, male and female were all being catered for which was great to see, as this was the vision that we had all those years ago for this centre.
Grand Opening Day Speech –By Myra Murray
Our open date has been like a ‘movable feast’ to say the least but we have eventually made it and it is with great pleasure that I too as Chair of the Friends of Glenariffe welcome you all this morning to our new Glenariffe Community & Recreation Centre.
Our journey commenced 10 years ago when Oisins CLG carried out the first community survey to see if there was a need within the Glen for some sort of community hub. Local people were approached and the fundraising began but with our Parochial Hall closing it became more evident that we needed to take action and the Friends of Glenariffe were formed. Our vison was to have a building just like this, a hub where the whole community could congregate to participate in various health & fitness programmes, sport, dance, arts & craft classes, social events etc. Our vision is now a reality and I would like to give words of thanks to those who helped get us here:
Firstly, our FUNDERS
We would like to thank our funders The National Lottery Space & Place Programme, Causeway Coast & Glens Council, Ulster Garden Villages and the Ulster Community Investment Trust – thank you for investing your money in this community and I hope as you look around you here today you can see that you made a wise and sound investment. Many thanks to you and your very professional staff who were and remain to be a great support to us.
Our local HURLING CLUB
Our thanks to the Oisins
Trustees and club members – you’ve had difficult decisions to make and you’ve
done without a facility for 2 seasons but your sacrifices have resulted in this
beautiful building which we hope you all feel was worth it. A massive thank you for placing your trust in
us, for leasing your land to us and allowing our vision to become a reality for
our community and the wider communities.
Our fantastic DESIGN TEAM
A huge thank you to our Design Team – Geordie Wheeler, our Quantity Surveyor, and our architects Fergus Wheeler and Joanna Wheeler Connon – I bet you never came across a pair of hillbillies like Fern and I who were completely new to a build project of this scale, we certainly turned your heads with our endless questions and emails. We can all agree that this building has been beautifully planned making the most of our exceptional views. We as a group and our community are indebted to you for all the patience, your time and your expertise that you have unconditionally donated to this project.
Our local COUNCILLORS
I would also like to pay thanks to our local Glens councillor’s past and present, your advice and your support throughout this project has never wavered since our first presentation to you as members of Moyle District Council.
ALL OUR DONORS
As I said earlier, we have fundraised for the past 10 years and collectively we have raised over £316k as a community which is a truly remarkable achievement and this is all down to:
Our Friends of Glenariffe members – you are undoubtedly the most exceptional of people. There are not many people who would donate a monthly amount for years on end for a ‘pipe dream’. And then we have all the businesses and individuals both locally and elsewhere who have also made donations over the past 10 years, collectively your support and faith in this project has been outstanding and we would like you to know that it was you who laid the financial foundations to this project and it was you who helped secure the funding we needed.
OUR COMMUNITY
Our eternal thanks go to our fabulous
Community – you are the reason that this building is here. Over the years, you have consistently answered
our numerous surveys, attended our events, volunteered your time and donated
your money to ensure our vision became a reality. We only needed to ask, and you always delivered.
AND FINALLY, THE FRIENDS OF GLENARIFFE COMMITTEE
I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to the Friends of Glenariffe committee – can I just ask the committee to please stand so as everyone can see the team.
It has been an absolute pleasure working with a team of people who have persevered through the ups and downs of this project and worked tirelessly in tens of thousands of unseen hours in order to make our vision for this community a reality – a massive thanks to each and every one of you, to your partners and to your families for the past 10 years. Congratulations your hard work has paid off but there’s a catch – I need another 10 years from you to we get our loan paid off. By the way if you anyone here would like to join us you are more than welcome.
In particular I would like to pay tribute to one of our members. This woman is what we term in this part of the country as a ‘blow in’ and she thankfully blew the whole way from England and her name is Fern Major. Her first mission when she got to Glenariffe was to find out how she could help this community and her expertise and knowledge in sourcing funding has been phenomenal and all in the mission to have a local centre where she can do her beloved yoga and Pilates, we were certainly the winners in that plan.
We are so proud of what we as a committee and community have achieved – so I’d like to finish by saying congratulations to us all and may we have many happy days of enjoyment to come.