Local News - Reading - November 2005

Tuesday, 22 November 2005

Pupils at Addington School in Woodley and The Avenue School in Reading are enjoying a new activity in their time table, thanks to a sponsorship deal from GCS and a Sportsmatch grant that has been awarded to Reading Youth Rugby Club. Children from both of these Special Needs Schools are set to learn tag and contact rugby skills from Reading Youth Rugby’s Community Coach over an 18-week period throughout this season. Pupils from ages 6 to 16 will be participating in the group sessions, which will focus on physical activity, ball skills, communication skills, teamwork and, above all, a lot of fun. It is hoped that by the end of April, a number of the pupils from both schools will have gained enough confidence, knowledge and skill, that they will be able to enter a number of teams into special tournaments which take place in the summer months in the south of England Local IT recruitment specialists, GCS who are the sponsors of the programme wanted to put something back into the community and looked around at clubs that would offer something of lasting value to young people and were delighted to support the initiative that Reading Youth Rugby proposed. As Chris Bartlett, MD of GCS says, “It is all too easy to look at sponsorship for what we the company can get out of it, this programme that Reading Youth Rugby has put in place, is about what we can put back in to the community. Speaking as a parent, I know how much my kids love to try new things and it is great to be able to play a small part in making it happen for other children who may not otherwise have been given the chance to play a team sport like rugby.” With the GCS sponsorship and Sportsmatch funding, it has supplemented Reading’s first ever Special Needs Saturday Morning Rugby Club. The first Saturday session took place on October 8th and will take place every second Saturday up to the end of April. The most important thing about the club will be to encourage the young people taking part to enjoy the spirit of a team game and learn new skills. It is very much hoped that with the coaching and encouragement they receive, that they will be able to feel confident enough to join in the main stream training sessions that take place on Sunday mornings with their peer group.

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