Healthy Clubs Community Survey

Over the past number of weeks members of our healthy clubs team have been going door to door asking our community for their views on what we should be focusing on as a club, and the results are in.

The survey received a phenomenal response and we would like to thank everyone that participated, both in person and online, giving us terrific feedback and suggestions.

What do we currently do well?

In general people have a very positive view of the club and its role in the community. People enjoy the “buzz” when a match is on and the opportunity to meet old and new friends at the games. The community was also very complimentary of our facilities and the great work done by the committee over the past number of years with regards to the gym facilities, exercise classes and the astro turf. Our club is seen as a “focal point” for our rural area, with our focus on young people and community being mentioned numerous times.

Some people also used this question to comment on some of the areas where they believe we fall short. There is a high demand for a more varied exercise programme, and our community would like to see us organise more non-GAA related events and activities.

Who should we focus on?

When we asked who should we focus on, players and coaches came out on top, with the community at large and those individuals with additional needs coming in second and third. This strongly aligns with the answers we received to the other survey questions with suggestions for more team nights out, LGFA teams, more community based events and suggestions around initiatives to ease individuals with additional needs into sporting activities.

What should we focus on?

Question 2 asked participants to rank areas of importance in order. “Physical activity”, “Community Development” and “mental fitness” came out on top, which also mirrors the areas participants focused on when offering suggestions in question 5.

We were very appreciative of the quality and quantity of answers to question 5 where we asked people for suggestions. As you can see from the above graphic, mental health is something of great interest to our community, with more social events and providing a “social hub” as one of the main ways people felt we could help improve the mental health of our area. Operation transformations Ireland Lights Up initiative was also mentioned by many respondents and that is something we will definitely aim to participate this coming January. Quiz nights, bingo and youth clubs were also popular suggestions with a number of people commenting on the lack of a pub or similar social venue in our village to bring people together.

Finally “social games” such as Dads & Lads and Gaelic 4 Mothers & Others were also popular suggestions, along with a fully fledged LGFA team at underage and adult grades.

We will be working through all the surveys gathered in the coming weeks and we will take all of the suggestions on-board when making plans for the coming years.

Go raibh maith agaibh as bhur dtacaíocht leanúnach.