BANDON Athletic Club has an ‘incredible opportunity’ to fund a new indoor athletics facility at its headquarters, but the clock is ticking.

The club has been approved for €2.8 million in funding under the Immigrant Investor Program (IIP), but this funding is not guaranteed.

Having officially opened its state-of-the-art athletics track earlier this year, the home club of Olympians Phil Healy, Nicola Tuthill and Breda Dennehy-Willis wants to take the next step in its development.

But Bandon AC must produce significant self-funding by November 15th to be able to unlock this game-changing opportunity.

Launching a Buy A Brick fundraising campaign, the club is hoping it can raise enough funds to take a significant next step in its journey.

If this opportunity is missed, it will delay the building of the indoor facility as it will take a long time to get access to this amount of funding again through grants and fundraising.

‘We have an incredible opportunity in Bandon at the moment, where we have the opportunity to secure €2.8 million in funding from the government for our new indoor athletics facility,’ explained Simon Nolan, a marathon runner with Bandon AC.

‘This is a massive opportunity for Bandon.

‘We must demonstrate before November 15th that we can produce our own funding towards this project.

‘We have started a Buy A Brick campaign. For just €100, you can buy a brick. You can come together with your family, or your friends, or your work colleagues, or your teammates, and you can all join and buy a brick for €100. It will bring us one step closer towards achieving our goals and reaching our target for this funding.

‘I can’t highlight enough how important this is for the club. I can imagine this is a facility where all our young athletes, junior athletes, could train all year round, no matter what the weather, in a safe facility. Also, as senior and elite athletes, this is an absolutely incredible facility that we could have in the club.’

Olympians Nicola Tuthill and Phil Healy at the official opening of Bandon AC's new track in April.

In April this year, Bandon AC held the official opening of its new 400-metre all-weather track at Clancoolbeg.

‘We’ve been on this journey for the last five years, and to see that vision come to fruition – that we now have our own track and the facilities to support athletes in West Cork – is a phenomenal achievement,’ Bandon AC chairperson Adrian O’Flynn told this paper at the time.

Now the club has the opportunity to build an indoor facility at its headquarters.

‘Given the success that we have had since opening our track, we now want to build an indoor facility so we can train in it when it’s wet and cold,’ says Laura Nicholson, the Bandon AC runner who has represented Ireland on the global stage.

‘Bandon AC has been given the opportunity to get €2.8 million to fund this indoor facility. In order to secure this grant, we need your help. To show that we have community support, we have until November 15th to fundraise.’

To support Bandon AC’s Buy A Brick fundraiser, check out the club’s social media platforms for more information.