On the right track - athletic club to launch new fundraiser

Efforts to develop a three-lane sprint track at Conna Community Field are gearing up as those working on the project behind the scenes are preparing to launch their 100x100 fundraiser.

All interested in the development are invited to attend an official launch of the fundraising campaign on Friday, April 26 at Conna Hall at 8pm.

Speaking with The Avondhu this week, Shane Kearney of St Catherines Athletic Club, explained that the campaign aims to have 100 families donate €100 towards the project. It is hoped there will be strong buy-in from locals and the surrounding area for the further development of the community facility.

“We’ve got a number of different fundraising initiatives, one of which is ‘Donate a Calf’ and this is one of the other campaigns we’re going to be running and we’re hoping it will be the biggest one of them all.

“We want people to come into the hall that night and we want to let people know it’s not just for St Catherines AC. This track is for everyone around Conna, all of the different sports organisations, the GAA, the soccer and more,” Mr Kearney said.

Plans for the new 100m three-lane track, which is hoped to be installed at the top curve of the pathway in the community field, have now been drawn up, according to Mr Kearney. It is expected that some visuals will also be made available at the upcoming fundraising launch.

Then, towards the end of this year, it is hoped that plans for the new track may be finally put into motion.

“Maybe towards the latter part of this year, we will start to put the plans in motion. We’re looking at maybe 2025 before the track is put in at the very least,” Mr Kearney added.

Fundraising is hoped to account for 50% of the overall cost of the development, while grant funding is planned to make up the balance.

'DONATE A CALF'

In February, St Catherines Athletic Club launched their ‘Donate a Calf’ fundraiser to assist with developing facilities at the community field.

Under this initiative, the public were called on to donate a calf to be reared by local farmers, which, in 12 months, would be sold with the profits going towards the project.

So far, the initiative has seen a good response locally and a momentum that the ambitious organisers hope to continue, as the 100x100 fundraiser gets underway.

“We were looking for 25 calves to be donated. Now we’ve gone past 30 and it’s still growing so we’re delighted with that, it's going really well,” Mr Kearney concluded.