Lottery boost for community sport (From St Helens Star)

Lottery boost for community sport

8:47am Friday 15th August 2008

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A FESTIVAL of tag rugby league for youngsters will take place next summer thanks to an injection towards community sport of more than £20,000 from national lottery funding.

Newton-le-Willows Amateur Rugby League Football Club will spend an £8,964 award on staging the festival as the finale of a nine-month programme of coaching across 11 local schools.

Up to 500 children aged between six and 15 will get the chance to learn rugby skills from the amateur club, known as Newton Storm, before taking part in the festival tournament in June 2009.

The club hopes to drum up local interest in the sport as well as recruiting new players for its youth and adult teams.

Malcolm Hankey, under-11s coach, said: “For kids, learning about rugby means health benefits, understanding team work and gaining leadership skills, as well as social interaction with pupils from other schools and making new friends.

“This scheme also means we can publicise the sport of rugby league in an area that is pretty much dominated by football, and that our club can find new members to join its under 7s, 8s, 9s, 10s or 11s sides.

“We will work with children in local schools from year 1 up to Year 6 and help them learn the basics of playing rugby.

"At the end of nine months the festival will be the culmination of everything that’s been taught with a chance for teams from each year group to compete against one another in tag rugby.”

Michelle McNamee, Big Lottery Fund Head of the North West region, said on behalf of the Awards for All lottery team: “Newton Storm will introduce fitness and fun to an extraordinary number of schoolchildren in the coming months as well as ensuring the growth of the club and a bright future.”

The project is one of four in St Helens to have received grants.

Lyme Community Primary School in Newton-le-Willows receives £9,961 to renovate its playing field, and Ashurst Primary School, in Blackbrook, gets £4,415 to help run a multi-sports programme for children.

Also awarded is Newton-le-Willows Family and Community Association, which receives £9,152 to run courses designed to improve the literacy skills of young people in and around the Wargrave Estate area.

Classes will include song writing, poetry and rap and students will get to showcase what they’ve learned in an end-of course show.

Anne Keen, centre co-ordinator, said: “This funding means the world to us and we will run two courses for 60 people. Many of the youngsters who will get to take part give their time freely to help out here at the centre and we are so proud of them.

“Young people across the country now get such a bad press, but we find our young volunteers are full of community spirit and enthusiasm and they can’t wait to get started.

“The classes will not only involve them in an innovative way of improving their levels of literacy, but will give them the chance to grow in confidence and self-esteem through performing.”

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