The Galway Rowing Club, which for more than a century has nurtured the potential of numerous young and gifted rowers, winning 28 Irish titles, is calling on all ex-members and other members of the public to give their support by taking part in its bumper Easter Sunday raffle next month.
The upcoming raffle is extremely important to the future of the club as it has become increasingly difficult to keep up with maintenance costs and to continue to provide the expert training received by the more than 65 active competitive rowers.
The exclusive raffle is limited to 600 tickets with the supporters promised a fantastic night of entertainment, catching up with old club friends, and of course the crème de la crème of prizes.
The Galway Rowing Club has really outdone itself in terms of the prizes that are on offer. The top prize, worth more than €5,000, is a five night stay at Jumeirah Hotel in Dubai, on a bed and breakfast basis with flights included with United Arab Emirates. The other prizes are ‘his and hers’ top of the range mountain bikes, worth €500 in total, and a Sony hi-fi sound system, worth €250.
Club president Paddy Lally is calling on all ex-members to get on board, support the club, and encourage friends and neighbours to snap up the tickets and take part in the event which will be held at the club on April 24. The reasoning behind holding the raffle Mr Lally explained is that the club is in serious risk of running out of money and is faced with mounting costs.
“We are very stuck for money. It costs €200 per week in petrol costs alone in order to coach the kids. During the winter they used to be in the gym, now they’re out rowing five days a week, while the intermediate and the seniors are out seven days. It’s tight in every club, if we break an oar it costs €450 to replace. It’s a dear sport and often hard to keep up with the maintenance.
“We’re trying to do one huge raffle on Easter Sunday with a cost of €20 per ticket. I’m appealing for ex-members especially to get involved. The club is 102 years old. It has a huge history in Galway. There’s an awful lot of ex-members out there and I’m hoping they will support the great work that is done here with the kids. There are 36 juniors, boys and girls, under 16s, and they take a lot of coaching. We looked at implementing cutbacks, but it would be a cutback on these kids’ potential,” said Mr Lally.
If you are looking for a great night out while supporting a good cause then all you have to do is purchase a ticket for €20 which is available for sale at the Galway Rowing Club. Alternatively to purchase a ticket and to find out more information contact club president Paddy Lally on 085 7820535. The event will take place at 10pm on Easter Sunday, April 24, at Galway Rowing Club.
