Local causes get €5.4m Lottery funding in 2017

Thousands of individuals, clubs and organisations in Westmeath received more than €5.4 million in National Lottery Good Cause funding in 2017, new figures reveal.

Among these clubs and community projects is the Mullingar-based cycling club, the Lakeside Freewheelers, which has used National Lottery Good Causes funding to build their very own state-of-the-art cycling clubhouse in a location once occupied by the Irish Free State Army.

This new build, along with the purchase of top-class cycling equipment, was made possible in part to a €20,000 grant from the National Lottery part funded Sports Capital Programme. Little did members of the Lakeside Wheelers know, was that they would end up moving into Columb Barracks, built in 1819 in response to the Irish Rebellion and taken over by the Free State Army at the start of the Civil War in 1922.

Columb Barracks is a historic home for this historic cycling club which is nearly 40 years old, one that has established itself as one of the biggest – and best – in the country.

With more than 200 members between the ages of eight and 80, the Mullingar outfit is continuously growing its brand for both competitive and leisurely cyclists. 

On the competitive end of things, the club is home to numerous national champions at the junior and senior levels, but Lakeside Wheelers prides itself on accepting cyclists of all levels and disciplines.

It pays particular attention to its youth riders, as illustrated by the club’s appointment of Damien Shaw, former national senior road race champion with the An Post team, as an official youth coach. Damien is currently a professional cyclist with the Holdsworth team in the UK.

Lakeside Wheelers chairman, Henry Whitston, said such success would not be possible without the monetary support it has received in the past.

He said: “We’re one of a few cycling clubs in the country to have a clubhouse and the money we received from the Lottery went towards buying top-class machinery such as Wattbikes, specialised exercise bikes and turbo trainers which are especially useful during the winter months.

“We are definitely beginning to see the results of having this equipment and without funding we absolutely would not be able to provide these facilities.”

Lakeside Wheelers’ new clubhouse and equipment is so state-of-the-art, Cycling Ireland regularly brings its squads to Mullingar for testing and benchmarking.

The goal for the future is to encourage more young people to take up the sport of cycling, and with a good youth system already in place, Henry says the club expects to see the fruits of it soon enough.

“Cycling is different to other sports, and we are competing against the popularity of the likes of the GAA, but at Lakeside Wheelers the emphasis is all about sport,” he says.

“You can be any rider that you want, cycling competitively or for leisure. Our goal is to continue to bring young riders through and provide them with a safe environment to train in and learn bike skills.”

National Lottery CEO, Dermot Griffin, said: “We are delighted to announce that more than €5.4 million in National Lottery Good Causes funding went to clubs, individuals and organisations in Co. Westmeath last year. It is great to hear the stories of the impact and change that Good Causes funding is making and we wish the Lakeside Wheelers the very best of luck in the future.”

“The National Lottery was set up 31 years ago with the express purpose of raising funds for Good Causes and in that period more than €5.3 billion has been raised and distributed through government departments to organisations, projects and individual’s all over Ireland in in the areas of sport, youth, health, welfare, education, arts, heritage and the Irish language. By supporting our games people are also supporting their communities.”

“Good Causes funding has played an important role in the development of the country over three decades and has helped to define Ireland, our communities and our culture.”

Nearly 30 cent in every €1 spent on National Lottery games go back to Good Causes. Last year alone over €225 million was raised by the National Lottery and its players for Good Causes all over Ireland, equating to about €616,000 per day.