Ryan McBride Foundation future in doubt after funding cut

The Ryan McBride Foundation primary school community project sees about 2,000 children get football coaching every week

A foundation set up in memory of Derry City footballer Ryan McBride may be forced to close over funding cuts, the charity has warned.

The Ryan McBride Foundation has announced funding for one if its flagship projects has been axed.

The primary school community project has been supported through the Executive Office.

The project serves 30 north-west schools and sees about 2,000 children get football coaching every week.

Ryan McBride, who played 177 games for the Candy Stripes, died suddenly in March 2017 aged 27.

Eight staff are now at risk of losing their jobs over the funding uncertainty, the foundation's board member Gareth McCay has said.

The Executive Office said "difficult decisions had to be made" due to the challenging budget for the department.

The foundation was established after the death of the Derry City captain and aims to help children and young people realise their potential through football.

The late Derry City captain Ryan McBride - a foundation was set up after his death which aims to help children and young people realise their potential through football

The primary school football project, which has been running for five years, sees two football coaches go into schools across the north-west and provide free football training for two hours a week.

Mr McCay told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today that they received £40,000 in NIO funding to support the project last year but have been told no funding will be provided this year.

'Whole foundation at risk'

Mr McCay said the news was completely unexpected and has now "put the whole foundation at risk".

"We received an email about five or six weeks ago to explain the Executive Office had budget cuts and that it didn't have the money to fund all the projects of previous years," he said.

"We were sort of expecting that we would receive a percentage reduction, but we found out last week that we are going to receive zero, nothing and it did come as a shock.

"There was already a fundraising event to plug the gap in the reduction we knew was coming, but we never expected the funding was going to be cut to zero."

• Leader, brother, partner - Remembering Ryan McBride

• Funding for primary school sports coaching to end

Mr McCay said they have eight staff who work across the project, both full time and part time, and said they have developed great relationships with the primary schools that they serve.

"With primary school pupils it's not really about football - it's about getting them moving, getting them active," Mr McCay said.

"The project over the last two years has evolved. Our coaches spend time with the children talking about healthy eating; they talk about gender equality, discrimination and bullying.

"There's all sorts of social aspects that has been incorporated into the project."

'Challenging budget'

Mr McCay said the team behind the project is made of "stern stuff" and will explore every possible way to keep the programme running for as long as possible, but described it as a real blow.

"It's very close to our hearts," he said.

"Our remit always was to support and inspire every child to reach their full potential.

"That's an ethos that came from what Ryan did. We were always keen that Ryan would be remembered - he was a normal person who achieved what for many around Derry was greatness in captaining his hometown club."

A spokesperson for the Executive Office told BBC News NI: "Given the challenging budget position across government departments, we are in a position where difficult decisions need to be made.

"Savings have been made as far as possible within the Executive Office but unfortunately further savings are required."

They added that the the Central Good Relations Fund (CGRF) is a "merit-based programme, with no guarantee of funding year on year" and that it is extremely competitive, meaning "in any year... it is not possible to support all worthwhile projects".

"This issue is particularly acute in 2023/24."