County training facilities

[LCohen]

Talk in armagh of a new training centre being developed in Portadown.

Are Croke Park grants/loans available for such a project?

Have any other counties had successes/difficulties raising the money or paying the debt for this type of project?

I note post 51 on the parc ui chaoimh thread and the pitfalls of not having a full plan, full costs, full funding and full transparency from the outset

[magpie seanie]

Croke Park was quite generous is the provision of funds for the Sligo GAA Centre of Excellence which is a fantastic facility. That said a serious amount of fundraising was undertaken locally and has been very successful. It's well worth it.

[Captain Scarlet]

There are grants but you need a full plan and costing before anything happens. That us true even at club level. Money is there for development grants but they are project specific.
I am sure at county board level they dot their is and cross their ts.
Then funds should be there, but there still needs to be a lot of money raised yourselves. I think there are advisors in Croker who help broker or have some rates with banks.
Plus there are loads of local development grants out there that you have never even heard of tgat they advise on. There is a club guidebook whoch shows how to get these grants too.
As I said this is all my experience from club so I am sure up the food chain thongs are more streamlined.

[LCohen]

There are grants but you need a full plan and costing before anything happens. That us true even at club level. Money is there for development grants but they are project specific.
I am sure at county board level they dot their is and cross their ts.
Then funds should be there, but there still needs to be a lot of money raised yourselves. I think there are advisors in Croker who help broker or have some rates with banks.
Plus there are loads of local development grants out there that you have never even heard of tgat they advise on. There is a club guidebook whoch shows how to get these grants too.
As I said this is all my experience from club so I am sure up the food chain thongs are more streamlined.

Good stuff. Just don't want to be lumbered with unbudgeted costs. Or the budgeted costs of a white elephant. Not that it needs to be that

[Avondhu star]

You would actually be surprised at the number of grants available when a county had a good project well presented and planned. Grants will come from Croke Park Provincial boards and county boards. There will also be funds made available from National lottery and local authority sources. It is important to get a good financial manager on-board who knows how to source funds.

[Captain Scarlet]

As i said the club guidebook and Croker will lay it all out. I know other sports tend to complain about GAA getting litto and ither fubding but that is because there is a step by step guide and advice that leaves it much easier as opposed to something that hasnt been meticulously planned.
Other things like local govt and making multi-purpose rooms in the plan for local groups eg OAPs mean you can tap into wider community funds.