Jumping for joy thanks to Spirita

8 December 2007

Young people in Cannock Chase are jumping for joy thanks to funding from Spirita Ltd which has led to the launch of a Trampolining project, available to young people across the district, including those who are disadvantaged or who have disabilities.

Earlier in the year Spirita awarded the District Council funding to the tune of £5,000 as part of its programme to promote sport in the community and, following a survey of young people to determine what would be the most appropriate use of the money, Trampolining emerged as the sport of choice.

From January 2008, Monday nights at Cannock Chase Leisure Centre will see three Trampolining classes, starting at 5pm and lasting for one hour each. The second session, beginning at 6.00pm, will be dedicated to young people with disabilities, although they are welcome to join any of the classes should they wish.

In the longer term, there is also a plan to develop a competition structure so that students will be able to take part in competitions across the country.

Deborah Pearce from Cannock District Council has led the development of the project. She said:"I can't thank Spirita enough. Without their generosity we would never have got this project off the ground, and due to their support I have been able to approach other organisations for support. We now have a very sustainable project that will bring a lot of pleasure to a great many young people."

The project is now the proud owner of four trampolines and has accredited coaches to ensure that people learn to use the equipment in the correct fashion, in safety. The equipment and training will also be offered out to young people's clubs and summer programmes at leisure sites in the district.

Deborah continued: "Some of the local special needs clubs have already trialled the equipment and it's gone down incredibly well. The programme will run as a mainstream project, which means that there will be small charge to pay, but Spirita's support means that Special Needs students and disadvantaged children will have their fees waived.

"We were aware from a similar project in Rugeley that there is a high demand for a facility such as this, so we hope to see lots of young people jumping about on Monday nights from January!"

Andrew Lanning, Chief Executive of Spirita, explained the organisation's involvement."Supporting young people through sport is a good way to enhance local communities, and I'm delighted to see that so many young people will benefit from this project.

"When we first got involved, it was under the name of Walbrook Housing Association but we merged with Rushcliffe Homes and Metropolitan Housing Trust Midlands in April this year, to form Spirita. We provide a great many housing related services in the Cannock Chase district, including adaptations to homes for people with disabilities."

Anyone interested in finding out more about the project and how to enrol for a class should contact Deborah Pearce on 01543 425996 or Cannock Chase Leisure Centre on 01543 504065.