Plymouth Mayflower Volleyball Club has been awarded a groundbreaking award from Samworth Brothers Sports Opportunity Fund to expand its sports provision in the region.
The funding grant will be used to back a three-year programme to ensure that more than 2,400 new participants from a range of backgrounds will get to experience volleyball and sports activity.
With few opportunities in Plymouth or the wider South West area for young people to play volleyball on a recreational play as you play basis, Andrew Potter of Plymouth Mayflower wanted to break down the prohibitive barriers – and get more people active.
“This grant will enable us to reach our potential to engage more people with sport and activity, through the creative delivery of Go Spike community volleyball, sitting volleyball and new glow in the dark UVolleyball, said Andrew.
We are incredibly grateful to Samworth Brothers for their belief in our dream,”
“With a number of parks and stunning beaches on the doorstep, there are opportunities to engage young people, the deprived, and the hard to reach groups with all disciplines of the sport—indoor, outdoor, sitting and beach. This project will make a real difference to the lives of so many.”
The project will see the creation of extra-curricular volleyball for up to 17 secondary schools and their cluster primary schools. It will also fund teacher training and facilitated learning, culminating in School Games competitions as well as four semi-permanent Go Spike volleyball courts in outdoor spaces, which will offer free volleyball throughout the summer months.
Samworth Brothers Sports Opportunity Chairman Stephen Draisey said; “We are delighted to be able to support volleyball in the South West. The purpose of the Sports Opportunity Fund is to help young people, who may not have had the best start in life, develop better life skills through sport. We are always on the look out for clubs and organisations in the South West that might fit our criteria.”
This three-year programme will specifically target school children, inactive adults and pan-disability groups in areas of high deprivation.
Rohan West, participation director at Volleyball England, said he was delighted to hear the news.
“This is fantastic news for both the volleyballers and the wider community in the South West. Volleyball in one of the most inclusive sports that people can get involved with.
“Andrew is incredibly passionate about getting people active, especially through volleyball, so the grant is in fantastic hands and we have no doubt that he will transform the volleyball provision within the area.”
“Cost should not be a prohibiting factor for anyone wishing to get active,” added Andrew. “We are really excited to get started on this project and look forward to rolling out volleyball across the region.”
For further information on the Samworth Brothers Sports Opportunity Fund please contact sportsopportunityfund@samworthbrothers.co.uk
