After the disbelief, Gateway delighted as funding reinstated
“A positive end to a sad story” is how Newry Gateway Club President, Paddy Duffy, described the loss, then reinstatement, of funding to the popular Newry club this week.
Mr Duffy said that he listened to news of the cut in funding from the Southern Trust in a Zoom call “with disbelief”.
But after public support online and help from local MLAs, the £10,000 funding was put back in place within 24 hours.
Explaining what had happened, Mr Duffy said, “I'm 45 years with Gateway and we built the club in Kilmorey Street in 1987.
“I negotiated how we would operate the club - if you build a house you have to be able to keep it.
“We negotiated that the statutory agencies and the Gateway would each meet 25% of the running costs - that’s the council, the Southern Trust, and the Education Authority.
“That has been the case for the last 37 years. Then out of the blue we have this meeting with the Trust and out of the blue, bang - you have no more funding.
“I told the person from the Trust that as soon as the meeting was over I would be going public with it. It’s just not acceptable.”
Mr Duffy said that after the story had appeared on social media there was a massive outpouring of public support for the Gateway.
“People were disgusted,” he said.
“Liz Kimmins and Justin McNulty, in their own way, worked very hard and the Trust saw the social media comments.
"They didn't realise that Gateway is very much part of the fabric of Newry city and has been for many, many years.”
Everyone at Gateway is delighted that the decision is being reversed, according to Mr Duffy.
“We can proceed with care and carry on as if the meeting didn’t happen,” he said.
“For the sake of good order, we are going to negotiate a contract of some sort with the Trust. They have to account for every penny they spend as do we, and it protects both parties.”
During Covid the Gateway club lost access to transport which was used to bring members to the club – something which was never reinstated.
"That’s a big financial loss,” Mr Duffy pointed out. “Anyone who comes to the club now has to make their own way, but a lot of them live alone and don’t have cars and don’t drive.
“We have one member who travels from Armagh and gets a taxi home. That’s how much they want to be a part of Gateway and what it means to people.
“It enables them to be part of the community and gives them confidence to do things they would never have done before.”
Mr Duffy said that when news came through that the funding was being restored the Southern Trust employee who had broken the news of the cut “couldn’t apologise enough”.
He added, “She only realised after the call what she had done.
“I was maybe a wee bit hard on her but it was the thought of it. What we going to do?
“The £10,000 we get from the Trust is very important, but it takes a hell of a lot more beyond that to run the club.”
A Southern Trust spokesperson said: ‘The Southern HSC Trust recognises the valuable contribution of Newry and Down Gateway Club and has engaged further with the organisation to assure of no service impact in year’.