Kingspan gifts Christmas cheer to four Mayo sports clubs
Four amateur sports clubs based in Mayo have each received a €1,000 uplift ahead of the festive period courtesy of Kingspan, a global leader in high-performance insulation and building envelope solutions.
The Kingspan Kickstart Sports Fund launched earlier this year, with support from Irish professional golfer Shane Lowry, to provide support for grassroots level athletes and community sports clubs, and has already awarded a total of €90,000 to successful applicants across Ireland.
As part of the fund, Achill Island Surf Club, Castlebar Celtic FC, Castlebar Racquetball Club and Eagle Boxing Club, Westport, have been awarded €1,000 each, which will help to provide sporting equipment, training and other necessary resources, alongside offering assistance with any campaigns that are currently underway.
Launched in October 2022, Achill Island Surf Club hosted the hugely successful National Junior Tour over the summer and will use the uplift to purchase surfboards and high-vis rash vests with the club’s logo to ensure members’ safety in the water.
Elsewhere, Castlebar Celtic FC has been at the heart of the community for almost 100 years with currently over 120 new footballers joining the club this year from over 15 different countries. With a mission to encourage more young children, particularly girls, to get involved in sport, the funds will be used to purchase more equipment for the club's work in this area.
Integral parts of their community, Castlebar Racquetball Club and Eagle Boxing Club will use the proceeds to pay for further training so that coaches can extend their offering to younger children and to cover travel and accommodation costs when travelling for tournaments, respectively.
Speaking about the fund, Hannah Fidgeon, kickstart marketing manager at Kingspan, commented: “We are a long-standing supporter of Irish sports through our sponsorship of Ulster Rugby and Cavan GAA, so establishing the Kingspan Kickstart Sports Fund was an important initiative for us.
“Professional level sport is largely well bolstered. However, if it’s to continue to progress and thrive, support for grassroots level athletes, sports clubs and facilities is essential.
“It’s well known that competing at an amateur level can be extremely tough, especially in terms of finances, and we hope that this fund will help to make a huge difference to clubs, facilities and athletes in their sporting journey.
“We have an immense amount of homegrown sporting talent here in Ireland. If our rich sporting culture is to continue to evolve and develop, we must do all we can to support the grassroots levels, which hopefully the Kingspan Kickstart Sports Fund will help to achieve.”
Hannah concluded: “Congratulations to all the recipients. We’re looking forward to seeing how your clubs and athletes grow in the near future.”
To apply for the Kingspan Kickstart Sports Fund, you must be an amateur athlete, sports club or a community sports facility open to all and based on the island of Ireland. Applications for the next round of funding will open in 2024. Find out more here.