The Re-Building of ProKick Gym

March 4th 2020 - Met the Architects this afternoon on site (Laburnum St) Tuesday 4th March. ProKick’s Billy Murray & Shamus Fyfe knocked heads (in a good way) with MHA architects Michael Herron and Ryan Begley along with Ester Waugh the project manager from the Belfast City Council. Really constructive meeting, we’ll have a second draft of plans very soon.

February 21st 2020 - We received the first draft from the architect on 21st February Placed Banners on building to inform community ProKickGym will relocate

ProKick new premisses in Laburnum St - got measured for a second time.

January 9th 2020 - The next phase: We have met with our delivery partners, the Belfast City council Met with the architects & design team on site at Laburnum St - 9th January 2020 Timescale for the design, tendering, renovations, to finish 16-18 months. A more definitive start-to-finish time will be posted when we meet with the architects & design team again.

December 2019 - The wait is over, as ProKick revealed on December 2019 that we were the proud owners of our new building! A massive thanks to all who helped with the money raised from the Go Fund Me campaign and especially the important and relentless support of the Urban Villages Initiative.

30 Years in the making - The journey towards a new gym has been years in the making, initial plans were to stay on the Wilgar Street site and refurbish alongside Dundela Football club, however, unfortunately this fell through after years of planning. In March 2016, ProKick discovered the vision of the Urban Villages Initiative for East Belfast to “do more with what we’ve got in order to foster positive community identities, to build community capacity and to improve the physical environment.” This resonated with Billy Murray and the ProKick team, thus meetings were scheduled, case studies were written and business plans drawn up alongside the UV team. Now with the premises bought, the new gym at Laburnum Street will allow the work of ProKick to develop significantly and impact more and more people in the community.

“We have waited a long time for this, for our members and for the community. After a lot of hard work, I am delighted that the dream can now become a reality. While we will all miss the infamous tin hut, it is time to move on and create something new and exciting for the future. There are so many people to thank, whom have helped us to this point, we honestly are truly grateful to you all.” Added Billy Murray.