Monmouthshire Community Chest Scheme

£22,644 invested between April and July in 12 different community sports clubs

& associations

Featured Clubs Y Fenni Triathlon Club * Monnow Swimming Club

Y Fenni Triathlon Club * AWARDED £1,366 Abergavenny

Y-Fenni Tri Club was formed in March 2013 and Cycle Club formed after an initial 6 week trial thanks to Local Authority Partnership Funding. The club * has 24 members ranging from early 20‟s to late South Monmouth 60‟s, they train every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month. The club completes their swimming Dragons training in the pool and running and biking * around the local Abergavenny area. The club recently received a Community Chest grant to Abergavenny increase their number of coaches and Hockey Club AUTUMN NEWSLETTER first aiders by two which has enabled them to increase their sessions.

Abergavenny Cycle Club Awarded £2,205

Abergavenny Road Club is a rapidly expanding club which welcomes riders of all disciplines, abilities and ages. On or off road, competitive or social. The club has seen a significant increase in youth participation at club coaching sessions since the Olympics. The club receives funding through membership and sponsorship, and this is spent on events, equipment and subsidised cycle kit to ensure that the costs of cycling are kept as low as possible - so inclusive to all.

Steve Lane, Club Secretary and Coach said “Our membership has grown considerably since the Olympics and our „Young Rider‟ sessions attract in excess of 60 young riders, of all ages and abilities, We are loathe to turn any young rider away but there are set limitations with coaching ratios. With natural wastage of qualified coaches, the club identified the need for volunteers to be trained as coaches”. “Thanks to the generosity of Sport and the Monmouthshire Community Chest Panel we can train four qualified coaches and provide additional coach education for our existing volunteers”.

Chair of , Professor Laura McAllister said: “Community Chest has been and continues to be a huge success across Wales. It is the hard work and commitment at this grassroots level that really makes a significant contribution to our ambitions of getting every child hooked on sport for life and creating a nation of champions”.

Abergavenny Road Club has been nominated for club of the year and Steve Lane has

been nominated for Coach of the Year in the 2013 USN Welsh Cycling Awards.

Abergavenny Hockey Club Awarded £400

Abergavenny Hockey Club now has 190 members and coaches that are committed to their continued development thanks to a recent Community Chest award. The coaches from the club gave up their free time in the Easter and May bank holidays and braved the cold weather to deliver an exciting day for children to either practise their hockey or learn how to play. Nick Fackrell, Kate Awmack and other volunteers from the club did a fantastic job keeping the children entertained and provided a variety of games to help improve their skills.

Monnow Swimming Club Awarded £1,500

The 2012 Olympic legacy is being realised in Monmouthshire judging by the County Council‟s recent recognition of Monnow Swimming Club through Sport Wales and the Monmouthshire Community Chest scheme. An award has been given to the club which trains five times a week at the Haberdashers‟ Schools‟ pools in Monmouth. The grant, worth £1,500, is made to clubs that help grass roots community sport across Wales. Monnow Swimming Club has grown to more than 80 members aged eight to eighteen and actively encourages youngsters to take part in swim meets in South Wales and the border counties.

The funding has been used to train coaches at the club in Aquatics Teaching skills. “The Level 2 course was very worthwhile and has improved our technical knowledge”, said Kate Jarvis and Cheryl Hockey, two of the coaches at Monnow, ” we can now better develop our swimmers‟ stroke techniques for competitions.” Monnow has a dedicated team of volunteer coaches, all qualified to Amateur Swimming Association Standards. “The children really benefit from qualified coaching “, says Richard Sparkes, chairman of the swimming club. “This funding has been used to invest in training for former swimmers and existing coaches who have dedicated time and energy to the club over the past few years.” South Monmouth Dragons Awarded £859

Having successfully completed their first season South Monmouth Dragons now have up to 52 players attending training sessions at three age groups which are under 7/8, under 9/10 and under 11/12. The under 11/12‟s have played competitively and will continue to do so next season. It is anticipated that under 9/10‟s will also play competitively next season. Mr Tom Wall said “The Community Chest Grant provided us with coaching courses, equipment and kit.”

APPLICATIONS Applications will be accepted until January 2014, for further information contact: Monmouthshire County Council Sport and Community Development Department Tel; 01633 644544

E-Mail – [email protected]

Www.monleisure.co.uk

Would your club like to be part of a National programme? insport is a Disability Sport Wales programme which is intended to support National Governing Bodies of Sport (insport NGB), Local Authorities (insport Development), and clubs (insport Club) to provide inclusive, quality sessions to disabled people within their communities and at a level of their choice or potential.

If would like to know more about becoming an insport club, please contact our Disability Sport Development Officer - Mark Foster email: [email protected] mobile: 07753850550