The Annual General Meeting of Delvin Sports & Leisure Centre took place on Friday 9th July 2010.
Despite the importance of the project within the local community, the turnout at the meeting was very disappointing and very disheartening. Nevertheless, the committee presented their reports and there was some positive discussion about the future of the project.
Work began on the project more than 5 years ago when a group of residents began work to provide all local people with a state of the art facility for sports and leisure based activities. During that five year period, the group secured land from Westmeath County Council at Ballyhealy on which to build the centre and began work to raise funds to make the centre a reality.
There is still a popular misconception that the DSLC is affiliated to a particular sports club and that the activities available when the centre is completed will all be sports related.
The DLSC is an independent community project and everyone will benefit from its completion.
It was made clear that ALL kinds of sports will be comfortably accomodated within the new centre and its grounds, and that ALL local sporting groups will have equal access to it. In addition, the centre will have gym facilities and a studio for arts, drama and other interests.
Various fund raising efforts have already taken place, including a concert at the Caman Inn, a fund day at the centre grounds, a Halloween party at the Blue Hackle, Joe Dolan tribute, a monster book fair and the monthly prize draws. Further events will take place going forward, the next one being a concert by the “Classic Beatles” on the 13th August. Tickets for this special, one off event are €15 and there are only 350 available. To reserve yours, please contact Michael on 087 9409913 or Paul on 087 7436776.
In addition to local fund raising, with a lot of help from local representatives, the committee also applied for lottery funding and completed a lengthily application process, providing feasibility reports, area surveys, statements of support and other articles to support their request for funding. In return they received €50,000 towards the project.
Much physical work has also been completed on the site itself. A basic pitch was set-up so that local groups could play sports on the site, and temporary toilets and changing facilities were erected by volunteers.
It was pointed out that some criticism had been made of the facilities available, but that these were temporary. If people support the project and the main building is constructed, the facilities will obviously be much better.
A walking track was opened in September 2009 and has been hugely successful. Work is under way on the main playing pitch and this is expected to be ready for use in Autumn 2010. Landscaping work is in progress and the foundations for the main centre itself are also in place.
There was discussion over which feature of the centre should be completed next. It was suggested that work should begin on construction of the centre building, while others felt a children’s playground might be more appropriate. Discussions will continue. Either way, extra funding will be required for whatever feature comes next and people are being asked to continue supporting the centre.
The work completed to date has been very significant, and the committee has been very resourceful in driving down costs. Nevertheless, work on the centre can only continue with physical and financial support.
The election of officers was left open. Anyone interested in joining the DSLC committee in any capacity is asked to contact the secretary, Michael Murphy (see form below). It was agreed that fresh faces and new ideas are vital to ensure that work continues on this major asset to Delvin.
The committee thanked everyone in the community for their support to date and expressed a hope that more people will become involved with the project going forward.
