Patricia Ferguson to visit Eyemouth
Wednesday, July 19 2006
The Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Patricia Ferguson, will visit Eyemouth tomorrow (20 July) to see some of the activities available to youngsters through the Active Schools initiative in the Scottish Borders.
The Minister and her party will then move across to the Squash Club at Eyemouth where Mairhead Henry, Curriculum Support Teacher and Coach at Eyemouth Squash Club, will be taking a squash session. Mairhead has been instrumental in developing a strong link between Active Schools and the club. To support her club, she coaches children during the holiday period and donates her coaching fee to the club to put back into junior squash.
Her Assistant Coach for this session is Alice Mitchell. Alice, a senior pupil at Eyemouth High School, has completed the Sport Leader award and is employed as an assistant coach as part of her personal development to gain more experience in coaching and receive mentoring from an experienced coach.
These squash sessions are designed for a maximum of eight participants, 11 to 14 years old from beginners to more experienced players. The lessons will develop players’ fitness levels and racquet skills in a fun and friendly environment through games and skills sessions.
The minister will then return to the Golf Club to observe the golf coaching in practice, led by Club Professional, Tony McLeman and assisted by Mark Colin. Mark is another senior pupil at Eyemouth High School and Junior Team Captain for Scottish Borders. He completed his Sport Leader award through Active Schools and is embarking on a career in coaching golf. During the summer he is employed as an assistant coach as part of his personal development to gain more experience under the guidance the Golf Professional at Eyemouth Golf Club.
The Golf coaching, for a maximum of 12 participants is over three days and is open to Primary 7 (11 year olds) and Secondary 2 (14 year olds). The children will be introduced to the basics of golf, including etiquette and golf swings such as the full launch, chipping, and putting - all in a fun and safe environment.
After a successful pilot in Kelso, Active Schools has been rolled out to every area of the Borders and has proved extremely successful in establishing close links with local community sports bodies. Eyemouth, in particular, has developed excellent links through the co-ordinators Paddy Dearlove and Colin Richardson, and this integrated approach has seen a 200% increase in participation in the holiday activities programme.
During the summer holidays, the Active Schools and Sports Development Team are running over 90 different events across the Scottish Borders, providing more than 700 sessions, ranging from Hip Hop Street Dance to tennis, football and athletics. In addition, the seven swimming pools run by the Borders Sport and Leisure Trusts are running swimming schools and funs sessions on an almost daily basis throughout the summer. There are also a number of sessions specifically to encourage children with disabilities to try a multi-sport programme at Jedburgh Grammar School.
Full details of the summer sports and physical activity programme are available from the Sports Development Unit in Galashiels (Tel: 01896 756274) or online. The summer sports brochure is also available in all libraries and details can be downloaded from the Council website: www.scotborders.gov.uk
The Scottish Executive’s Active Schools programme aims to give youngsters the tools, motivation and opportunities to be more active throughout their school years and into adulthood.
sportScotland works closely with Scottish Borders Council to develop, support and monitor the Active Schools network and ensure pupils have sufficient opportunities to get active to the extent that it makes a positive contribution to their health. These opportunities are available before, during and after school, as well as throughout the summer and winter holidays.
Susan Hainsworth, Partnership Manager from sportScotland, along with Doug Folan, SBC’s Sport, Health & Physical Education Manager, will be co-ordinating the visit.
Other guests will include Councillor Valerie Robson, Joint Spokeswoman for Education and Lifelong Learning; Eleanor Pearson, SBC’s Active Schools Manager; Paddy Dearlove, Active Schools Coordinator for Eyemouth; Kevin McCall, Local Area Integration Manager for Education; DC Justin Hulford, Community Police Officer; and Sonnie Lough, Captain, Eyemouth Golf Club
For more information on this event, please contact Doug Folan, SBC’s Sport, Health & Physical Education Manager on 01835 824000 ext 5033 or contact sports
Leona Bendall, Communications & Policy Manager, SBC Education and Lifelong Learning on 01835 826592.
Unified Solutions.