Gateway Club celebrates fifty years of helping most disadvantaged in community

THIS month the Newry Gateway Club began its formal celebrations to commemorate having delivered its services to the most vulnerable members of the commnity for over fifty years.

The organisation, which was founded in November 1973 to provide those within the community who have special needs and learning difficulties the opportunity to take part in leisure activities within the context of a friendly and understanding environment, plan to host over the course of the remainder of 2022 and 2023 a series of commemorative events to celebrate the organisations admirable achievement of having delivered their services to the community for over fifty years.

Marking the beginning of these year long commemorative events was a press conference that took place within then Gateway club’s clubhouse located on Kilmorey street last Friday in which a large gallery of photos documenting the clubs history since its inception in 1973 were put on display.

Expressing his delight at the Gateway club having delivered its services to the Newry community for as long as it has, enabling the organisation to celebrate its Golden Jubilee this year, was the former chairperson of the organisation Paddy Duffy who provided a detail in regards what activities will be taking place throughout the cuourse of next year to celebrate the clubs five decade long legacy.

“The Newry Gateway club has launched its Golden Jubilee celebration press launch. So, the club will be celebrating its golden jubilee or 50th anniversary throughout 2023. Throughout 2023 the Newry Gateway club plans to host various events suited to the members of the club, the highlight of which will be the Golden Jubilee banquet in the Canal Court Hotel in November next year, which will fall on the exact 50th anniversary date of the clubs formation.

“We will hopefully also be organising a few special fundraising events throughout the year both to raise money for the club and to celebrate the anniversary itself.”

History of The Newry Gateway Club

Mr Duffy was keen to elaborate on the Newry Gateway Clubs rich five decade long history of providing a social outlet for, what would have been at the time of the clubs formation, some of the most disadvantaged members of the community in Newry, Mourne and Down.

According to Mr Duffy the Newry Gateway club was the result of the collaboration of a number of different people and organisations including but not limited to Willie McGivern, the clubs first chairperson, Michael Cunningham, the clubs first treasurer, and a nun who went by the name of Sister Anna Maria Crawford.

“We are one of few purpose-built gateway clubs in Northern Ireland. There are other Gateway clubs but they operate on a part-time basis in hired facilities.

“The club was founded in the summer of 1973. After forming committees the first official meeting of the Newry Gateway club was in November 1973. The first club night took place in the Abbey Grammar school Assembly Hall in 1973. The club was based here from 1973 until we moved our new premises in Kilmorey street on June 3 1987.

“I myself was a youth leader within the Bosco youth club at the time Willie McGivern founded the Newry Gateway club and then I was invited to become youth leader in the early 1980's before taking over the role of chairman in the year 2000. I was the chairman of the Newry Gateway Club for over ten years. My current position within the club is that I am a trustee within the organisation. So, I have been involved with the club for over forty years.

“Back in the day there would have been nothing for people with learning disabilities. So, the parents association in Newry at the time had successfully lobbied for a special care school that was located in Newry on the Rathfriland road which is now Rathore School. Willie McGivern was a parent of a young boy with learning disabilities and he realised once children with learning disabilities came home from school, they had nothing much to do and there was nowhere for them to go. Back then a lot of children with learning disabilities just sat in the house all the time. So, Willie approached a man called Jack Mackin who was the youth leader in the Bosco Youth club and he gave advice on how to set up a youth club for children with learning disabilities.

“So those involved in the initial establishment of the Newry Gateway club were Willie McGivern, who was the clubs first chairman, Michael Cunningham who was the clubs first treasurer, A nun who went by the name of Sister Anna Maria Crawford who was one of the mercy nuns from Catherines street in Newry, she was a music and drama teacher, with a man called John McSherry being the first youth leader of the Newry Gateway club and finally a Mrs Lily McCaul who was the vice chair of the club. All of these people would have been the main key players in the establishment of the club in 1973. A lot of people have come and gone since then.

“The aims and objectives of this organisation were to form a youth club and try and provide where possible, suitable activities that young people with learning disabilities could take part in and enjoy. As the years went on the expertise of the group grew and we had some fantastic voluntarty leaders. Thanks to this expertise many of our members can take part in competitive sports i.e the special Olympics. They can also take part in drama, they can take part in singing and they can also go on holidays as groups. So all of the Gateway club members are part of the community who just need that extra little bit of help to do things.

“In 1987 after a massive fundraising campaign combined with grants from the local authorities such as education and social services and council, we raised over £250,000 and this provided for us our new facility on Kilmore street. We got this property on a long-term lease from the parish and we converted it into the club that is there now. This was in 1987 over 36 years ago and like I said we have been based here ever since.”

Activities

Mr Duffy continued by providing details on what activites the Gateway club in Newry currently offers for its members.

“The Newry Gateway club facilitates Arts and crafts activities, drama, music, bingo, disco, seasonal shows such as Christmas shows and Easter shows, sporting activities such as Football Billard's and Pool. There would also be television and games nights. With the Gateway club we try to provide activites that you would find in any youth club. This was the whole idea behind the Newry Gateway club to start off with. To have a club where our members could take part in acitivties that would take place in any other youth club.”

Mr Duffy concluded by relating some of the elements that he feels most proud of having been invovled in with the Newry Gateway club for over the four decades he has been with them.

“We are proud of the fact that we have sustained our ability to continuingly exist and provide the activities that the Newry Gateway club has provided to the community for so long. We are proud to have been held in such a high esteem by the community in what we do and we are really proud of the members that we have.

“A lot of our volunteers start with us at sixteen years of age, which is pre-A level and a lot of them develop their future from the activities that they have been involved with in Gateway. A lot of the people who have volunteered with us have gone on to become physiotherapists, care workers, social workers, teachers, they become involved in a lot of careers that are health orientated. They have developed their passion for helping people by working with people with special needs in the Newry Gateway club.”