Young athletes benefit from grant

11:20am Thursday 5th June 2008

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THE Back on Track appeal has been boosted by a £1,000 Xpression grant for Kidderminster and Stourport Athletic Club, with junior athletes the main beneficiaries.

The Xpression leisure grant scheme incorporates the Ray Mercer Sporting Foundation and is run by Wyre Forest District Council.

It supports individuals or groups who are taking part in arts, sports and environmental or heritage activities.

Ron Oliver, 61, specialises in training Wyre Forest juniors aged between nine and 14 at the athletics club and said the grant money was "vital".

It will pay for the replacement of training hurdles for younger children, as well as a mobile gazebo to provide shelter and storage when doing cross country runs.

He said: "We are very upbeat now and training is going well. We have had quite a few new recruits and we are really enjoying it."

He added: "We are all humbled by the way the community has pulled together and brought the money in. Without this grant and all the donations we have received we would have really struggled. "

Lesley Fox, the council's community development manager, said: "We want to promote future excellence and sports development and the club is the premier athletics club in the district."

She explained that the club had endured a great deal, including the arson attack on its clubhouse and recent vandalism of equipment, and said the council was keen to help.

She added: "Athletics is the basis for all sporting activity and if people can have access to athletics, they can go on to specialise in athletic events or take part in other sports."

Conservative councillor, Nathan Desmond, cabinet member for community and leisure services when the grant was approved, said they were "delighted" to support the club.

He added: "We are very keen to help get the club back on its feet and back to where it was before the fire. "