Fundraising draw raises an amazing £350,000 for Strabane GAA club

OVER £350,000. That’s the jaw-dropping total raised by Strabane Sigersons GAA Club in its  Grand Development Draw, the biggest fundraising effort in the club’s history and one that has set the wheels in motion for a brand-new, state-of-the-art gym facility at Páirc Mhíc Sioghair.

Originally launched in September 2024, the club set out to raise £300,000, a hefty target by any standard. But by the time Friday night’s live draw took place, the final total had soared to £351,168, smashing expectations and leaving organisers beaming with pride.

The main man behind the drive,  Sean Dudgeon expressed his delight with the final total, calling it a “phenomenal” effort from the entire community.

“We believe we have one of the best facilities in Ulster, but we are always eager to improve and develop further,” he said.

“When our development committee sat down in 2024 to discuss what we needed next, it was unanimous that we needed to build a gym.

“We put a plan in place to get it designed and once this was done it was agreed that we needed a Grand Development Draw to raise the funds required. Thankfully we had buy-in from right across the club and we hit the ground running.”

From that very first ticket sold last autumn, Sigersons volunteers went flat out, pounding pavements, knocking doors, selling online, and calling on the support of both locals and the Strabane diaspora worldwide.

Friday’s clubhouse was packed to capacity as the big winners were revealed, with Ardmore man George Brolly scooping the top prize of £20,000. Other winners walked away with cash prizes ranging from £250 to £2,000 – but the biggest winner of the night was, without doubt, the future of Strabane Sigersons.

“Once again the business community of Strabane have proved their class, they have never let us down and have always been there to support us,” Sean continued. “In the coming weeks we will be thanking all the businesses who supported us via our social media and once the gym is built there will be a plaque on the wall forever with the businesses names…

“I would like to thank every single person who sold tickers for the club; we will never be able to repay all those people who gave up so much time. A huge thank you also to every single person who bought a ticket both in Strabane and outside of Strabane, the support was incredible. Congratulations to all the winners of the draw and thanks to Tyrone manager Malachy O’Rourke who was our special guest on Friday night.”

Now, with £351,168 in the bank, the real work begins.

Sean confirmed that after a short rest, construction of the new gym will begin in the coming weeks, with even more development plans being looked at.