Boher's success story of the year
As the curtain comes down on 2022, we applaud Boher Community Development Group, whose members have provided Boher with state-of-the-art facilities that are fully accessible to people with disabilities and are a major addition to recreational facilities in the Ballina-Killaloe area.
Boher has a population of approximately 350 people and the development group, which was established in April 2020 with the aim of improving community integration, development and socialisation, has already provided a new facility, open for almost a year with universal access for the entire community. It includes a new safety surface, inclusive sensory play area, biodiversity garden, a bespoke glass geodome that is used as an outdoor hub, a new access ramp from the school to the garden to facilitate wheelchair and other users, seven pieces of equipment in the sensory play area that a wheelchair user or person with a physical disability could use, sand play area, a water area, trampoline, climbing section and a tunnel for crawling to incorporate all the elements of sensory play.
Boher Community Development Group has raised in excess of €50,000 over a 12-month period through fundraising events to add to the project costings and the already secured funding includes €93,000 from Sports Capital funding, €104,000 LEADER funding from North Tipperary Development Company, in excess of €30,000 from the Tomar Trust, up to €15,000 of free labour and groundwork provided by Fergus Collins Construction. The development group is extremely grateful for the support it has received from the community and the many hours of free labour provided by the community since the commencement of the project.
The final phase of the project commenced in October 2022 when work started on the new all-weather pitch, thanks to voluntary labour. Work will resume this month and it is hoped that the €165,000 multi-use games amenity (MUGA) will be completed within the next few months.
Chairperson of the Boher Community Development Group, Nicola Welford, wishes to thank all who have supported this project over the past two years. Special thanks to the organisers, swimmers, sponsors of the recent Christmas Day Swim at the Two-Mile-Gate with special mention for Christy McGrath, who has kept this local fundraising project ‘alive’ for over four decades.