IT never ceases to amaze me how kind some business can be in supporting their local community and I was reminded of this first hand on Sunday when I attended Active Schools Edinburgh, Celebration Evening, at Prestonfield House Hotel in Edinburgh.
What a wonderful setting I saw as I made my way up the long drive, to be met by an extremely impressive building, with a history that goes back to the purchasing of property and land in 1677, by Sir James Dick.
The event itself was held just off-site in a beautiful round building, which reminded me of a big top.
Inside, the hall was set up for more than 300 people with tea, coffee and cup-cakes on offer and all courtesy of James Thomson, owner of Prestonfield Hotel and Cupcake Moments. There were obviously some good negotiating skills on show here by Jude Salmon, the Active Schools Manager and Lee Goodfellow, the Active Schools Coordinator.
Active Schools is an off-shot of sportscotland and they have partnerships in all 32 local authorities who each invest in and support the Active Schools Network.
With over 400 managers and coordinators dedicated to developing and supporting the delivery of quality sporting opportunities for children and young people this project is definitely making a difference.
On the night there was representation for sports ranging from basketball, hockey, dance, Tae Kwon Do, swimming, to name just a few and it showed the breadth of the programme, delivering exactly what the young people ask for and encouraging them to get involved at all levels.
I had the pleasure of presenting three awards from the fourteen awards that were available.
The awards ranged from Young Volunteer of the Year to Community Sports Hub of the Year to a Special Contribution to Active Schools award which went to the Netball club at St Peter’s RC Primary School. Starting from scratch as there was no qualified coaches, no netball equipment or netball lines, three parent volunteers, Colleen, Lisa and Maria, decided to change things.
They now have two netball cubs running with over 40 participants.
The event was led on the night by Paddy Dearlove, who is an Active Schools Co-ordinator at Portobello High School himself and he was supported by Yik Yik Beh, Head Girl and Young Ambassador at Broughton High School and Jack Liddall, Head Boy at Trinity Academy.
They were all resplendent in tartan outfits, and yes, you guessed, courtesy of Nicolson Kiltmakers - I am beginning to think someone is in the wrong job!
This year of course is the Year of the Young Person and I expect that there will be many more events focussing on young people, led and delivered by young people and from what I have seen, they do a brilliant job.
I am currently in the planning stages of the 2018 SW/S Conference and this year we will be looking at ‘Breaking down barriers for females and sport’.
We have an interesting line-up of speakers who will stimulate debate with the delegates, and we also pay homage to the Year of the Young people, with a panel debate which the youngsters will lead and facilitate.
I caught up with one of our speakers, Simone Fullagar, this week.
Simone moved from Griffith University, Australia, to take up the inaugural position of Chair in Sport and Social Science at the University of Bath.
Our opening line was, as always is the case in this country, about the weather, as we discussed the recent cold snap that most of the country has experienced.
Believe it or not, Simone had already experienced snow once before in Australia!
In 2015 Simone was a recipient of the Shaw-Mannell Award for Leisure Research, University of Waterloo, Canada. She is the past President of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Leisure Studies and is currently working on a new book ‘Feminism and a vital politics of women’s recovery from depression’.
I feel quite inadequate when I read her CV, but I am so looking forward to hearing her presentation.
n Reservations for the event are now open and if you are interested in attending, follow this link...
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/breaking-down-barriers-for-females-and-sport-tickets-44145586638
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