Welcome to our
FON Community Sports Complex
Annual Newsletter!

February 2024

Have you been to Ahavine?! 

It has been another busy year at the FON Community Sports Complex! As well as our clubs— Camogie, GAA, Soccer and Ladies Gaelic Football— we were delighted to host Kilcredan NS for their Sciath na Scol matches and sixth class end of year party, St. Mary’s Highschool, Pobalscoil na Tríonóide, Imokilly Camogie, Kilcredan 4 mile, the East Cork Athletics underage Muster Cross Country event and the tractor run in aid of the Mick O’Sullivan fundraiser. Outside of formal events, it’s great to see so many kids getting use out of the playground, and both young and old getting out on the walking tracks and on the pitches.

Defibrillator 

In conjunction with the Ballymacoda and Ladysbridge Community Council, a defibrillator is being installed in an external facing cabinet on the main clubhouse. Thanks to Margaret Hyde on her work to help secure some grant money from Cork County Council towards the €2,455 investment. The defib pads work for both adults and children and has a battery shelf life of 5 years. Keep an eye on Facebook for further details. 

Maintenance

Walkway – With support from Cork County Council we recently carried out repairs and resurfacing to the walkway around the back pitch. 
Back Pitch - We closed the back pitch earlier this winter and had it hollow tinned and sanded.  It was a substantial investment, costing €3,790. As this pitch has floodlights, it gets plenty use during the darker, wetter months and our users will benefit hugely from the investment. 
The Maintenance Team - It’s important for us to acknowledge the constant hard work of Brian Pomphrett and Pat Flangan, as well as Christy Milner who finished up with us in the summer. Also to William Ahern for keeping the grass cut. It is a constant battle to stay on top of maintenance and the team does a great job. And thank you to FAS & SECAD for their ongoing support.

Lotto Report

As there was no winner of our main lotto prize in 2023 we decided for our first draw of 2024 to guarantee a winner. On the night again we had no match 4 but had 7 different Match 3 winners splitting the jackpot of €15,000 (€2,150 for each winner).We also paid out over €5,000 in Match 3 prizes in 2023. 

Thanks to your generous support, we sold 320 annual tickets last year. We want to sincerely thank our ticket sellers, and you, our ticket buyers as the Community Sports Complex would not exist without you! 

Financial Update 

This year marked a financial milestone for the Community Complex as we finished repaying both the loan for the back pitch and the Astro Turf. A huge thank you to all the Community for your support in making that happen.

We are working on a financial plan to raise funding for car park facilities as well as a number of other projects (details above). As a limited company, our accounts are independently audited, and copies are available for anyone to view.

Our bank balances on 1st Jan 2024:

Retirement

All at FON Community Sports Complex would like to thank Margaret Beausang on her decades of service to the parish as she retired from her role as principal of Kilcredan NS. She has always been a great friend of the Community Complex and we wish her the best of luck with her next chapter.

Partnerships
We are happy  to announce that following consultations with Fr’ O Neill’s GAA, we came to an agreement regarding finances and the Club has signed a 5 year agreement with the Community Complex. With a long term commitment in place, we were also able to install a gate between the soccer pitch and the new GAA facility, allowing for ease of access for pedestrians between both facilities. 

Future Developments
Car Park
We are actively working on solutions for more car park spaces in Ahavine and will be announcing more details shortly.
Solar Panels
There is an onus on all of us to take responsibility for climate change and make necessary changes to the way we live and work. As part of our desire to move the Community Facility to Carbon Neutral, we are adding solar panels to the roof of the Clubhouse. The excess energy that we generate throughout the year will then be directed back to the electricity grid. We won’t get paid for producing the electricity, but the value will be credited against our bill. Our electricity costs were €3,865 in 2023 so this will be a great help in reducing our bill. The capital project is coming in currently at a cost of €18,000. We are hoping to get some grant aid towards the project and finish the work in the Autumn.
 

Grants

We received €3,000 in grants from Cork County Council this year. The first grant was a contribution towards the ever increasing cost of insurance for the facility, and the second was to help repair the walkway around the back pitch. We are extremely grateful to the Council for their ongoing generous support.   

In Memoriam

We lost another great parishioner last year with the passing of Mick Shanahan. He was one of the founding members of a committee back in 1976 that came together to provide a community sports pitch for all and sowed the seeds for the incredible shared facility we have today. His work and support to the Community over the decades is hugely appreciated and he is greatly missed. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

All Weather Pitch with Flood Lighting 

Our floodlit synthetic grass pitch is available to rent to any club, individual or private group. Once-off events, birthday parties, or block bookings can be made online at bookapitch.com/venues/392 or email secretaryfon@gmail.com. 

Interested In Getting Involved? Suggestions for improvements

FON Community Sports Complex is a voluntary run organisation. If you would like to get involved or lend a hand in
any way, please don’t hesitate to contact one of the committee or email secretaryfon@gmail.com. We’re better together! We also welcome any feedback /suggestions on the continuous development and growth of the facility.