The Mayo village of Aghamore back in 2005, undertook a significant innovative step when it conceived and embraced the concept of an Integrated Community Campus (ICC). Starting with no funds and no assets it literally meant the starting point was a green field site.
At the time, the findings of the Community Development Association and supported by research, reflected many positive outcomes as was detailed in its overall Development Plan.
What this means today is that Aghamore is still well positioned to develop, grow, and redress, (within its own boundaries), the traditional problem of rural depopulation. This redress requires the region to have appropriate services and infrastructure. To date the Community Development Association has already delivered on 3 significant projects from 2006 to 2010 namely:
- New National School – 2006
- New Integrated Childcare Facility 2008
- New All Weather floodlit pitch and integrated athletics track – 2010
The total cost of these 3 projects was €1.6M. The group secured €1.1M in funding and raised €450K over a 10-year period. To date all borrowings have been repaid in full since 2016, a most significant achievement taking into account that all members of the Community Development Association are volunteers for the last 10 years.
The Integrated Community Campus (ICC) has one project left to deliver, which is the Community Amenities Building. The approach used to design this was very much a “Bottom Up” approach as we undertook significant research and surveys to correctly identify the “Real Evidence of Need”.
The research pointed towards the need for the design to cater for the educational, recreational, social, sporting and cultural needs of the area and to promote entrepreneurship, employment and innovation."
After securing €300K of grant aid, the construction of our new Amenities Building started in May and when finished will comprise of:
- An Education/Training facility
- An Amenities/Large Hall Facility
- A changing area in support of the adjacent All-Weather Pitch
- A range of meeting and cross functional rooms
This project when delivered in October 2018 will create history in that it will be the first Integrated Community Campus on the island of Ireland comprising of a National School, A Childcare Facility, an All-Weather Pitch, Athletics Track and a Community Amenities Building all on a single integrated 8-acre site.
However this will entail a borrowing of up to €300K including the €300K grant aid support mechanism, meaning that an innovative financing model will be required and events in an effort to deliver the broadest range of services possible for the community we serve.
Our grant aid has been secured using the Mayo North East Leader Funding process underpinned by Pobal and the borrowing has been secured from Clan Credo. To both organisations we are most grateful for their support of this project and our overall Integrated Campus Program of Work.
On this site you will find various mechanisms of overlapping with us by way of making contact or supporting one of our ongoing Project Initiatives. We will be most grateful for any support we receive towards the overall objective of completing our Integrated Community Campus Program as soon as possible.