Dear fellow supporter

In light of continuing developments and uncertainty at the Oval, the Glentoran Community Trust will be holding an Extraordinary General Meeting at The Oval Grounds on MONDAY 26th SEPTEMBER 2016 – 7.30pm start.

Glentoran Chairman Stephen Henderson, and GCT Board representatives John Moore and Richard McGuinness have kindly agreed to attend.

The meeting will give GCT members an opportunity to address any concerns they may have directly to those on the Glentoran Board, and also give Board members an opportunity to put to bed any unhelpful speculation currently doing the rounds on the terraces and social media.

You MUST be a GCT member to attend.

Those of you who may have lapsed memberships may also attend on payment of the annual renewal fee on the night.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Kind regards – GCT Board

Glentoran Community Trust, in association with the Elk Inn, Dundonald, proudly presents…   RICKY WARWICK – “Playing for the shirt”!

click image to enlarge

Despite having one of his busiest years in the music industry, Black Star Riders and Thin Lizzy frontman Ricky Warwick is back in town to play what has become a must see Christmas show in his local hostelry The Elk Inn Dundonald.

This will be the third year in a row that Ricky (a long standing member of the Glentoran Community Trust) will play a blistering solo gig on behalf of the supporters’ co-operative.

Funds raised by Ricky’s shows in the past in The Elk have continued to allow the Trust to assist in securing the services of Glentoran players such as Jordan Stewart, Kym Nelson, Barry Holland and most recently to cover the costs of flying Glens stalwart Jonny Addis in from university in Liverpool for the forthcoming season’s games.

Only someone of the calibre of Ricky would go out of their way to make sure that this gig for his beloved Glentoran is pencilled into the diary year on year which is an incredible gesture. So get set to rip the roof off again, up close and personal on Tuesday December 6th 2016.

We understand that there is quite a considerable interest from BSR and Thin Lizzy fans on the mainland which is why we have released details at this early stage, giving you time to make travel arrangements etc.

If there are sufficient numbers coming over for the show we will incorporate a tour of Belfast for you, looking at the locations that inspired some of his work from Damascus street to the Mersey, the Solway and the Dee, the Oval stadium home of Glentoran FC, the club he so ardently supports and some of the sights and stories that make this city the most unique of places.

Ticket purchase details will follow in good time before the gig but as always will be priced at £10.

We hope to see you all there…     It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas 🙂

New 2 year deal for Jonny Addis

Jonny, with GCT’s Sam Robinson, John Moore & Jim Welsh

As Chairman of the GCT I guess you get to have more conversations than most with Glentoran Chairman, Stephen Henderson, but when you see his number coming up on your phone towards the end of July you sort of know it’s not an invitation to a barbecue!

It turned out the club were keen to extend a player’s contract, and when Stephen named the player involved everyone on the GCT Board was eager to listen.

Jonny Addis is not only a good footballer, but a genuinely nice guy as well. A sign of the guy’s character is that Jonny was one of only 3 first team players who followed through on a promise to fight in the GCT Charity Boxing Night at La Mon a few years back. Never missed boxing training for 6 weeks, and the event raised over £12,000! £8,000 of that money went to the Glens and the other £4,000 to a number of local charities.

I told Jonny Addis, Stevie Gordon and Jay Magee afterwards, that if any of them ever needed help in the future and the GCT were in a position to provide it, we would. Which brings us to today…   MORE HERE

Question: What do Lisburn, Drogheda, Dundalk and Dublin have in common?

Answer: BELFAST – 1941

In the aftermath of both the Easter and May raids on Belfast in the Spring of 1941 the fire service in Northern Ireland was stretched beyond human belief. In an urgent plea for assistance as Belfast burned, the War Rooms at Stormont asked for urgent help by way of engines and crew from Southern Ireland. On both occasions fire crews sped from Dublin, Drogheda and Dundalk stations to come to the aid of the people of Belfast and their Northern counterparts.

Read more HERE

We’ve had quite a few enquiries about the artwork associated with the “Belfast Blitz Remembered” event. A few people have asked where they can get hold of the posters etc. So in response we have produced 50 A3 full colour high quality posters for sale.

Read more HERE

Click on any pic to zoom…

On the evening of the 4^th May 1941 and in the early hours of the following morning, the lives of the people who make up the community which exists around the home of Glentoran Football Club, The Oval, the Harland and Wolff shipyard, and Short and Harland aircraft factory in the east of the city, were about to change forever.

At around 21.45 hours on the 4^th May, 204 German bombers carrying 96,000 incendiary devices and 200 tonnes of high explosives, left their bases in Northern France …  their destination …  Belfast.

The city had already suffered heavily during the Easter raids, and on the next perfect bomber’s moon the Luftwaffe would return in an attempt to obliterate the industrial infrastructure so vitally important to the war effort.

Heinkel and Junkers bombers poured death and destruction onto the city in a frenzied attack that lasted for hours. East Belfast felt the full brunt of the Blitz that evening, with almost every street touched by the deathly spectre of a war many believed could never reach these shores.

On Wednesday 4^th May 2016, exactly 75 years to the very night the Oval and the city was bombed, the Glentoran Community Trust, in association with Spar and Glentoran Football Club, would like to invite you to join us at the Oval in an evening of dignified reflection and commemoration.

Read more HERE

The Trust have been working extremely hard for months now on a major project to be held down at the Oval in early May. We will be announcing the full details later this week, but such is the scale of the event we are struggling to source all the funding needed to give the occasion the recognition it deserves, and put it over properly.

We still have a few irons in the fire, but time is fast approaching, and we are determined not to lessen the impact of the event due to a lack of funds.

One element of the event involves the display of a full size replica Spitfire in the Oval car park! The Spitfire belongs to the Ulster Aviation Society, and we have managed to talk them into very kindly letting us borrow it for the day!

As with all these things though there is a cost involved, including transport to and from the Aircrafts’ Hanger up at the Maze. We wouldn’t want to lose the Spitfire, so given the timescale, we have decided to offer a company or individual a very unique opportunity indeed to get practically involved.

For £500, we will put together a package, including private access and photo opportunities (inside the cockpit!), together with event advertising, and of course the individual/company will have the satisfaction of being associated with such an iconic aircraft and the whole event.

If anyone knows of a company or individual who may be interested, please let us know by return email (info@gctni.com), or by contacting someone on the GCT Board directly. We will then be happy to discuss the full programme of the event in detail, and come up with a package to suit all parties.

Many thanks once again for all your support.

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF GLENTORAN COMMUNITY TRUST will take place on MONDAY 11th APRIL 2016 AT 7.30PM, IN THE OVAL.

In addition we are delighted to announce that Glentoran Manager Alan Kernaghan has agreed to attend for a short question & answer session, together with Glentoran Chairman Stephen Henderson, and of course both GCT representatives to the Glentoran Board, Richard McGuinness and John Moore.

A complete update on the financial position of the Trust will be provided on the evening, together with a detailed breakdown on future projects. There will be an opportunity to renew memberships, join the GCT, or make a donation to the Trust. If you are unable to attend you may also renew your membership online via the Paypal link at the Join/Renew tab above.

The AGM will also afford members an opportunity to raise all issues that you feel may be of consequence to the Trust.

Once again we would encourage all members to please make an effort to attend, this is your Trust, please come along and have your say.

PLEASE NOTE – THIS IS NOT AN OPEN PUBLIC MEETING – YOU MUST BE A MEMBER OF GLENTORAN COMMUNITY TRUST TO ATTEND
(Anyone wishing to join the Trust is welcome to do so on the night by paying the appropriate fee)

Please accept our apologies for the shorter than usual notice, but with a very complete calendar, and a major new GCT event in early May (details in due course), we really were limited in the search for a suitable date.

Thank you all once again for your continued support.
Kind regards – GCT Board