Applications from sports clubs are now invited under the fourth Texaco Support for Sport initiative in which a fund of €130,000 will be divided in €5,000 amounts and distributed to successful applicants in each of the twenty-six counties. Over the past three years, a gross figure of €385,000 has been divided amongst 77 sports clubs across Ireland, of which €5,000 each went to three successful Co. Dublin clubs: Cliffhangers Youth Climbing Club, Finglas (2021), Glasnevin’s St. Vincent’s Basketball Club (2022) and Astra Handball Club, Ballinteer (2023).
Open to all sports clubs irrespective of sporting discipline, size, membership, age, cultural appeal or gender (including clubs that may have been unsuccessful in their application previously), the initiative is one that ‘recognises and supports the valuable contribution that sports clubs make to communities and throughout Irish society’. Launching the 2024 initiative, James Twohig, Director of Ireland Operations, Valero Energy (Ireland) Limited – the company that markets fuel in Ireland under the Texaco brand – described the programme as one that “provides a route to vital funding for those clubs and communities that need it most.”
Following lines similar to that which proved successful over the past three years, clubs wishing to apply should first register their interest on www.TexacoSupportforSport.com, followed, before closing date, by a completed application that should include details of their sporting activity, the importance of the club in their local community, the purpose for which the funding is sought, and the use to which the funds will be put. A sole qualifying requirement is that clubs must be properly constituted and supply confirmation of a valid Games & Sports Exemption number (GS number) issued by the Office of the Revenue Commissioners.
Closing date for applications is 31st January 2024 with adjudication taking place thereafter. Leading the process once again is Texaco Support for Sport ambassador, broadcaster and former Irish rugby international, Donncha O’Callaghan. Clubs that received funding to date span the spectrum of Irish sporting activity – archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, bowls, boxing, camogie, climbing, cricket, diving, Gaelic football, golf, gymnastics, handball, hockey, hurling, kayaking, rowing, rugby, soccer and tennis amongst them.
