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Blair scheme backed by business

A North East manufacturer has teamed up with former Prime Minister and North East MP Tony Blair in support of his new pilot community sports initiative.

Aluminium manufacturer Rio Tinto Alcan has joined forces with The Tony Blair Sports Foundation, which aims to get more people in the North East involved in sport by helping adults to become qualified coaches. Volunteers who sign up to qualify as coaches will have half of the costs of their courses paid for by the Foundation.

Any Lynemouth-based employee of Rio Tinto Alcan will have the other half of their coaching costs paid for by their employer.

Tony Blair said: “We need more people in the North East to volunteer to become trained in sporting disciplines in order to help more young people get into sports. There are many organisations set up to encourage participation in sport, but there is a gap.

“Local communities and clubs could make much more use of their sporting facilities if there were more adults to organise activities. I am thoroughly delighted the Foundation has won the support of Rio Tinto Alcan and its employees. It’s great to have a major employer onboard.”

The Foundation provides communities with access to accredited training in a range of disciplines, and also works to match each volunteer to a school or sports club in need of support.

John McCabe, Corporate Affairs Director at Rio Tinto Alcan said: “We are pleased to support The Tony Blair Sports Foundation in the North East and have the opportunity to be the blueprint for the rest of the country. As a company we are keen to encourage our employees and their families to take advantage of the opportunity to learn new skills and help our young people to be fit and stay active.”

For more information on the Tony Blair Sports Foundation visit www.tonyblairsportsfoundation.org.

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