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Irish Squash has welcomed a €58,000 increase in core grant funding from Sport Ireland, bringing core grant funding from €242,000 to €300,000. The funding boost comes two years after the launch of the 2022-2027 Connecting the Dots Strategic Plan, with a key aspect of the plan being to modernise and professionalise the organisation and develop the capacity required to further grow the game of squash at all levels.
Irish Squash appointed its first CEO, Scott Graham, in August 2023, and thanks to additional investment secured through a variety of avenues, Irish Squash has appointed a Club & Community Development Officer for Ulster and, most recently, a Club & Community Development Officer with a focus on Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion. This additional staff resource has allowed and will continue to allow Irish Squash to provide more support directly to clubs, helping them grow and cater to more players of all ages and abilities.
The funding increase will offset some of the rising costs caused by inflation and replace a portion of Covid grant funding which was distributed by the Government since the start of the pandemic. However, Irish Squash is also planning new initiatives, including enhancing the governance structures of the organisation, a rebranding project, the launch of a new mobile-optimized website, an expanded performance player grants scheme, and a variety of grassroots development initiatives delivered by our expanding team of Development Officers.
Irish Squash CEO, Scott Graham, said:
“Core grant funding is essential to allow us to develop the organisation and ultimately grow the game. We are making great strides, and I am confident that with the continued support of our funding partners and members, you will see Irish Squash go from strength to strength. Over the past few months, our newly appointed Development Officers have had a very positive impact, connecting with clubs, delivering a wide variety of participation programmes, working with our head of coach education to train up more Squash Leaders and Level 1 coaches, and making the case for the development of squash courts in a number of locations. I look forward to continuing the delivery of our Strategic Plan, which has been endorsed by a wide range of stakeholders, and I remain thankful to Sport Ireland for their support.”
Irish Squash President, Rosie Barry, added:
“Irish Squash warmly welcomes the continued support from Sport Ireland in enabling our organisation to become more professional in our day to day operations. We are especially pleased with evidence of increasing numbers of participants in our squash community who benefit from the growth of our organisation. An expanded staff team, led by CEO, Scott Graham are delivering a broad range of services to our members and we look forward to building further on progress made to date.”
Sport Ireland core funding announcement here
