The first community run sports academy in Northern Ireland has been given planning permission – and has launched a community share offer to create a £1.5m facility to serve the whole community.
The Lisburn-based Ballymacash Sports Academy, a co-operative born out of Ballymacash Rangers FC, is seeking to raise between £50,000 and £200,000 with the share offer, which will finance the first phase of a five-phase plan. The share offer was launched with the help of the Building Change Trust’s Community Shares Ready! Programme run by Co-operative Alternatives, an organisation dedicated to supporting co-operative and community led development.
The state-of-the-art sports facility will include a new clubhouse, function room, gym, floodlit 7-a-side 3G artificial grass pitch, a 250 seat stand and a cryospa (recovery ice bath).
Philip Trimble, one of the Academy’s directors, said there would be a focus on encouraging the young, the elderly and the economically disadvantaged to participate more in healthy activities.
“Since forming in 1984 the football club has been at the heart of the local community,” he said. “We have identified a need for better sporting and leisure facilities in the area to provide a greater sense of community and ensure that people are given access to a healthier and more fulfilling lifestyle.
“We have significant community support for these plans so these are exciting times ahead for Ballymacash. The local community has always supported events at the club so there is already considerable buy-in for our vision of the future.”
The Academy is also planning to set up a bursary scheme that will be accessible for talented young sport stars.
Nigel McKinney, director of the Building Change Trust, said that despite Northern Ireland’s long history of producer and consumer co-operatives, the community owned co-operative enterprise model remains “quite novel”.
“But it’s a brilliant model for our times,” he said, “local people owning a community enterprise that brings benefits to the wider community. I want to commend Ballymacash Rangers Football Club for their vision and Co-operative Alternatives for their support in bringing another community share offer forward”.
Tiziana O’Hara of Co-operative Alternatives said that sports clubs and organisations in England and Wales – such as the Manchester-based FC United – have become highly successful co-operatives and believes the formula will work in Northern Ireland.
“Many people want a say in how leisure and sports facilities operating in their area are run for the benefit of everyone,” she said. “Ballymacash has a proud history of working on community based projects and we would appeal for everyone who has an interest in a better future for all to become involved in the running of this incredible organisation.”
- For more information about the share offer, which closes on 19 July, click here or contact [email protected].
