Darren Campbell behind West Park plea for online votes

KAREN SMITH has urged the people of Worthing to get online and help her New Age Kurling Club scoop Norwich Union's £50,000 top prize.
By The Newsroom
Published 5th Jun 2008, 14:15 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 01:11 BST

The West Park First and Middle School teacher is in charge of a special support centre in the area for pupils with physical disabilities and needs the funding to expand the club. They need to battle it out against sporting initiatives from across the UK for the next five months in an attempt to secure much-needed funding.

The initiative hope to secure a grant from the Norwich Union Community Sports Fund scheme and are appealing to members and non-members alike to help by voting for the project.

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Alongside the top prize there will be silver awards worth 12,500 and bronze awards worth 1,000, and all Worthing residents have to do is vote for the local initiative on the website www.joinourteam.com

Smith, who in October discovered the sport, which is fully accessible for everyone, explained: "In order really to expand the club we would need to achieve the top award level of the Norwich Union Community Sports Fund. This would help us to purchase a wheelchair-accessible minibus to transport the children further to area league competitions.

"We also need to purchase more sets of kurling stones, targets, and ramps for the wheelchair users. The club could then be run after school, which would open it up to many more children."

Meanwhile, Olympic gold medallist Darren Campbell '“ who is supporting the scheme for the second successive year '“ believes no one knows what the local community needs more than those who call it home.

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He said: "It is a great scheme as the communities can get involved and decide on the initiatives they think can improve their local area. It brings the community back together and they choose how to improve sport in the area and where funding should go.

"A lot of people and organisations give out funding but often the local community don't know where it has gone '“ but this is different.

"Money is vital in all sports including athletics. For me, growing up on a council estate, my youth club was one of the places I went to learn discipline, self-respect and how to respect others. These kinds of initiatives will have the same impact on the kids of today."

As the team behind UK Athletics, Norwich Union is committed to supporting athletics from playground to podium, and making it easier for athletes to reach their full potential and for the next generation to become active.

For more information visit www.joinourteam.com

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