Club Membership Drive 2021 and Pairc De Burca Update
New Year Message and information about membership subs 2021
Happy New Year to all of our members and we hope it will be a happy and healthy one for you and your families.
As we enter another period of restriction designed to keep us all safe and well it is worth setting out the overall picture for our club at the start of 2021.
While we don’t have playing activity at the moment or for the coming period, we are busy advancing our long-held goals of maximising the Pairc de Burca facility and Glenalbyn House for the benefit of our players and future generations.
Work has started on the development of the full-sized floodlit pitch on Pairc de Burca which was decided upon by the Club at an EGM in 2019. That work will complete phase one of the development of the Glenalbyn pitch and facilities generally. Phase two of the pitch works will largely concentrate on enhanced drainage and surface enhancement of Pairc de Burca.
We have, as you know, completed the avenue enhancement imposed upon us by the planning authorities as part of the development of the pitch and we are well down the road on plans to enhance the Shop facility in Glenalbyn House and we also have advance plans to double the size of the Club Gym as well as a long overdue revamping of the Silverpark Dressing Room areas.
The overall spend by the Club in relation to these projects is very significant over the period from 2018 to 2021. The Executive is very pleased however that we will be able to complete this entire programme without resort to levies or other special fundraising efforts drawing on the members. Instead we will be utilising the Club development fund, a sports capital grant, funds raised by amongst others the M2M crew and some borrowing.
The Executive has considered the question of membership fees for 2021 in the context of the planned expenditure and the reduced availability of training and playing to members in 2020 and 2021. On balance the Executive has decided that, in the interest of ensuring that we can meet the current and fixed financial obligations of the club (rates, pitch upkeep, insurance, etc etc) while at the same time sustaining our planned capital projects, it would be imprudent to reduce membership rates in 2021. Any such reduction would have the effect of reducing the Club’s basic income at exactly the time when we are undertaking the most significant expenditure programme seen in the Club for decades.
Further context is provided by the severe impact upon the Club in terms of capacity to conduct fundraising in 2020 and 2021 as a result of public health restrictions across the period and the expiry of our contract with our excellent and valued sponsor over a number of years - Bank of Ireland..
The Executive committee is confident that the sense of this approach will be supported by the membership and that whereas our ability to fully utilise our Club in 2021 will be reduced, we will all benefit in the coming years and decades from the work supported by the current generation of members right now.
The membership drive will commence in the coming weeks and full details will be available on the Club website. Should any member have difficulties at this time with meeting the cost of membership please make contact with the club registrar confidentially at registration@kilmacudcrokes.com
Kilmacud Crokes GAA Club Executive
