Member Article

Pole Vault Academy aiming high with grant

Young athletes from across the North East will be getting more of a chance to try out one of the more specialised sports in athletics after the North East Pole Vault Academy was awarded a £1,000 grant from Newcastle Building Society.

Set up in 2002, the Academy is designed to encourage participation in pole vaulting by increasing the opportunity young athletes have to try out the sport, and to support the development of both participants and coaches.

More than 600 young people take part in Academy events every year, and specialist coaching for all ability levels is available for those that show potential at the sport.

Community athletics coach Chris Boundy said: “The North East has a strong athletics heritage, and the Pole Vault Academy is helping to continue this by spotting and encouraging young talent wherever we find it. “Pole vaulting is one of the very few sports within athletics that you can’t do without both specialist equipment and a qualified coach in attendance, so the costs of putting our events on can very quickly mount up.”

The Academy is run by a team of volunteers, and the grant funding it is now receiving from Newcastle Building Society will be used to help meet the costs of taking the taster events and coaching sessions out on the road.

Nicola Green, Corporate Communications Manager at Newcastle Building Society, said: “It is important that all children and young people, whatever their ability, are able to have a go at as many different sports as possible - the Academy’s programme of events provides just such an opportunity, and we’re very pleased to be able to be helping them continue to get out into local communities.”

For more information about Newcastle Building Society’s charitable fund, visit www.newcastle.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .