Tamworth Athletic Club
Headquarters & Track - The Sports Stadium, Marlborough Way, Tamworth, B77 2HA
Telephone 01827 260897 Email tamworthac@aol.com
Website tamworthac.co.uk SPORT ENGLAND CLUBMARK ACCREDITED
BUMPER NEWS BULLETIN – June 2007
Please read ALL of this Newsletter which is full of important information that will affect everyone who uses the facility including all club members, non members, friends, family, fellow athletes of all ages etc
Junior athletes should make sure they show the letter to adults at home.
Club Becomes a Smoke Free Zone
The committee have made the decision that from July 1st 2007, in common with most other sporting venues, there will be no smoking anywhere on the club premises either inside or outside the building.
This decision has been made to ensure that our athletes are able to train and compete in a smoke free environment
Could This Be The Last Tamworth Annual Games?
It is with great regret that the highly regarded 12th Annual Tamworth Games, which has gained the reputation of being one of the best organised and most athlete friendly Games in the country, will not be held this year unless a working party can be formed to co-ordinate the organisation of the event.
Three people are urgently needed who will be able to ensure that all aspects of the organisation are completed on time.
There is a template of the work that needs to be done and there are already many volunteers who will undertake most of the tasks but for the Games to be successful it needs to be co-ordinated professionally.Help will be given to people that are unsure.
If this group isn’t formed by 8pm on Thusday 21st June then there will be no alternative but to cancel the Games for 2007 as time will have run out for it to be organised successfully.
Please don’t let this prestigious event, which draws over 700 entries from all over the Midlands each year, cease through lack of support.
A meeting will be held on Thursday 21st June at 7.30pm in the clubhouse.
Please give your names to Andy Day, Chris Graves or John Graves at the club or contact the club on tamworthac@aol.com
Indoor Facility Update
18 months ago the club was well on its way to raising the funds to start our new facility. About this time Tamworth Borough council approached Kevin Wood and myself with a proposal that would require the club moving to a new stadium on the Torc School playing fields with the football club moving to our site. This development would have given the club a new 10 lane track to international standards, a new clubhouse and ancillary facilities, a new indoor centre and much improved parking.
This was too good an opportunity to miss especially as the Chief Executive of the Borough Council assured us that we would not be disadvantaged by these proposals should they fail to come to fruition.
Unfortunately, as all local people are aware, the idea didn’t get off the drawing board.
Some weeks later the club were shocked to receive a planning application from the Fire and Rescue Service that involved the sequestration of our car-park and part of the stadium. We fought this application and were successful in our objections but this application involved more loss of time and incurred legal fees.
This loss of time meant that our funding providers, Onyx and Staffs Environmental, withdrew their offer of support but were willing to accept another application when our position was clarified.
In December 2006 I met with the Director of Tamworth Borough Council’s Leisure Department to discuss the promises that were made some months previously and I was assured that considerable funds ( £70,000) would be made available to the club to go towards the cost of the building. In spite of meetings and emails, we are still awaiting the promised letter of commitment for these funds.
Should we receive this letter we will be in a position to once again approach our original funding providers with our application which I am assured will be met with a favourable response.
The club has approximately £75,000 saved towards the building costs of about £300,000.
With the £75,000 that we were promised by Onyx Environmental, £70,000 from the council and a further application to Staffs Environmental for another £75,000 we would be in a position to proceed as we already have full planning permission.
UK Athletics have said that they will provide funds for equipping the facility, between £30,000 and £50,000, as the building forms part of their facility strategy for 2008 to 2009.
As part of our efforts to acquire the funds we are part of the Norwich Union ‘Join our team’ project, details of which are below.
Help Our Club Win £50,000 With The Norwich Union ‘Join Our Team’ Project
IF you have access to e-mail and the Internet then you will be able to vote for Tamworth AC’s exciting new initiative (see below).
Take a look at the Norwich Union "Join our Team" campaign
On behalf of the committee, John Graves, Tamworth AC’s Chairman, has recently applied for some funding via a Norwich Union "Join our Team" campaign. If successful, the funding will part fund a much needed indoor training centre that will contain facilities for jumping, vaulting, throwing, sprinting, hurdling and conditioning. The club has already raised £75,000 and has applied for further funding from two other sources.
This project for the indoor training centre will go a long way to raising the standards of support that we are able to give to the athletes in Tamworth and the surrounding areas whilst at the same time enabling technical event athletes (throwers, jumpers, hurdlers, vaulters etc.) to raise their standards of performance by having an indoor centre for the winter months. The facility will be open for use by members of all clubs in the region and so will ensure that standards are being raised not just in Tamworth but in the region as a whole.
Junior athletes in the area will once again have the opportunity of taking part in Sportshall athletics, an excellent introduction to the exciting world of athletics. The club currently has to make use of a gym at a local school that is closing at the end of this term.
Please pass this onto all club members, friends, families, your Christmas card list and work colleagues and encourage them and their families and friends to vote... it will only take a few minutes and the potential future benefit to our club and to sport in Tamworth and the surrounding areas is enormous.
The application is now on a website along with all of the other proposed projects and members of the public have to vote for which one will win the money! 30 votes will win £1,000 and the most votes in the West Midlands will get £12,500. If that happened then the clubs project would go forward to the final against all of the other Regional winners for £50,000!!
The club is asking for your support to :
· Vote for Tamworth AC’s project
· Forward this to anybody else who you work with etc to also support the project and vote.
· By registering your details and voting you can win prizes such as holidays, tickets to athletics competitions etc so it might be worth your while!
To vote you need to go to www.joinourteam.com. You need to register your details first in order to be able to vote - name, address etc which doesn't take long . Once you are registered go to "Cast your vote" and in the Find Initiative box at the top right hand side select "West Midlands" from the drop down menu. This brings up a list of all of the projects in the Region. Ours is called "Tamworth Athletic Club Indoor Facility". What a massive difference this would make to the club and the community of Tamworth. Please get voting!!!
Our Initiative – taken from the NU ‘Join Our Team’ website
Tamworth Athletic Club has a track record of innovative club development and sound management, developing, financing and operating our own facility. This initiative began in 2004 and is for an indoor athletics training facility to provide athletes with the opportunity to continue year round training whilst increasing participation opportunities for the local community. There is evidence that facility usage increases by approximately 50% if an indoor facility is available during the winter months. The club has 400 members of who 100 are volunteers who ensure the club functions professionally and are responsible for raising funds for the club. The facility will allow the club not only to offer an enhanced program of formal athletics coaching but also to increase participation in physical activity by all sections of the community particularly females, children of primary school age and those with health or weight issues. Local schools have free access to the outside facility as the club is committed to increasing community usage. Discussions have already taken place with the Local Education Authority for local primary schools to use the facility for Sportshall Athletics and with the Local Authority who are keen for the club to use this building to help address the Authority's health agenda. It is anticipated that the building will be used from 9am until 9pm, 6 days a week - a considerable undertaking for a voluntary organisation.
John and Chris Graves
Chairman and Club Secretary, Tamworth Athletic Club, tamworthac@aol.com
Tel: 01827 28717
Norwich Union Star:track Holiday Activity For
8-15 year olds
The Annual Norwich Union Star:track programme of athletic activities will be held at Tamworth Athletic Club from 10 am -3 pm starting on Monday 6 and finishing on Friday 10 August 2007.
The scheme which is suitable for 8 – 15 yr olds covers all aspects of Track and Field and includes competitions, goodie bag and more! All in a FUN environment!
You will need sports kit and trainers ,a packed lunch, clothes for wet or hot weather, a towel if it’s wet and sun cream if it’s hot! No glass bottles.
The cost will be £35 (1 week) or £8 per session (minimum 2 sessions) and this year will include a visit from a well-known athlete.
Registration forms and more information are available from Chris (Star:track Scheme Organiser) at the club or phone 01827 287177/260897 or email tamworthac@aol.com. Club members and non members are welcome. There are only 70 places available and applications are accepted on a strict first come first served basis.
Visit the website at tamworthac.co.uk (photos from the last two years are in the gallery section)
Jog England
Be part of an exciting new venture!!!
Tamworth AC has the opportunity to host a pilot project aimed at increasing the opportunities for people to increase their fitness through running and walking.
Could you get involved and help Tamworth AC be pioneering in the new Jog England scheme?
England Athletics will fund a “Fitness in Running and Walking” course (normally £60) which would qualify interested individuals to lead groups. The course could come to Tamworth if sufficient interest is shown.
For more details contact Jackie Wakeman by e-mail:
jackiewakeman@doctors.org.uk
or mobile 07890 743369
or Meeting @ Tamworth AC – Tuesday 26th June 7.30pm
