UPDATE: The SRC - State-of-the-art recreational and multi-sport campus for Leitrim and surrounding areas

The SRC is currently being developed at the Castlecara Road in Carrick-on-Shannon

placeholder image — The SRC is currently being developed at the Castlecara Road in Carrick-on-Shannon

Forty Family Founders' campaign has a target of raising €400,000

The Shannonside Recreational Campus (SRC) has seen significant progress since the project was awarded €1.0m in funding from the €50m Community Recognition Fund announced by the Taoiseach in May last year.

The aim of the SRC is simple: to provide a state-of-the-art recreational and multi-sport campus for the entire region – regardless of ability, age, or gender.

The benefits of this to the region are clear – all-weather sports pitches for winter training and games; indoor recreational areas for community and sports groups; a 400M running track; and much more for the benefit of the whole community.

The Board of the SRC appointed Thomas Mahon & Sons (Tuam) as groundworks contractor for the site. Passers-by will have noticed a flurry of activity on the Castlecara Road, Carrick-on-Shannon site last Autumn as Mahon's prepared the site before the winter break. Groundworks will conclude when the ground is more favourable this spring.

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The SRC has a long term lease on this site which will be developed in stages over the coming years as funding becomes available.

To coincide with completion of the groundworks, the SRC has launched the ‘Forty Family Founders’ fundraising campaign. Brendan Lowe, Chairperson of the SRC said: “This will be a unique opportunity – limited to just forty families – to create an enduring recreational and sports legacy for the region. The 'Forty Family Founders' campaign has a target of raising €400,000 and each Founder Family will be recognised visibly as a Founder on the SRC campus. Indeed, some families may choose to memorialise deceased loved ones as Founders of the SRC.”

The fundraising target is ambitious but the SRC team believes that family members will come together to combine their donations in their family’s name.

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Several families have become Family Founders already and donated €100,000 to the project. The SRC would like to acknowledge those families’ generosity and commitment to the SRC vision.

Families interested in becoming one of the ‘Forty Family Founders’ should contact Brendan Lowe or any member of the SRC Board. For more information see: www.thesrc.ie.

In addition to private donations, the SRC is also pursuing major infrastructural grants for different components of the project. Last September they applied for Peace Plus cross-border funding to build the indoor arena which will be the centrepiece of the SRC campus.

The indoor arena will house a state-of-the-art high performance gym, a hall including two basketball courts, meeting rooms, changing rooms, showers, facilities, outdoor parking and more.

Brendan Lowe says: “We have applied for significant cross-border funding to build our centrepiece building. We are in an extremely competitive process, but we believe our detailed application and shovel-ready project offers a compelling case for Peace Plus funding.”

What started out as a ‘field of dreams’ in the minds of a few committed volunteers 10 years ago is starting to take shape on the Castlecara Road.

There are still a lot of funds to be raised and there will probably be twists and turns along the way. But the Shannonside Recreational Campus has made major progress since being awarded €1.0 million last May with much more to come in the coming years.

For more information see: www.thesrc.ie and follow us socially: facebook.com/ShannonsideRecreationalCampus and instagram.com/shannonside_rec_campus/