Wreake Runners Lead Successful Bid

Syston based Wreake Runners have been instrumental in gaining funding which they hope will improve the standards of athletics not only at the club itself but throughout the county. The funding bid, which has taken almost exactly a year to put together and be accepted, has now been approved by the sport’s governing body England Athletics and will bring direct funding to the member clubs of around £75,000 which will be used to revolutionise county athletics. The funding, supplied by McCains and which extends through to the end of 2013, will enable the group of eight clubs, under the heading of Leicestershire Network vision 2020, to employ a full time coach/co-ordinator to progress coaching and raise standards throughout the member clubs, with plans in the later stages to increase the size and extent of the club network. As well as Wreake Runners, other clubs locally who will benefit are Stilton Striders of Melton, Barrow Runners and Charnwood AC who are key to the bid as they are able to help provide access to training facilities and expertise in coaching.
Although there is a firm focus on progressing junior athletics and running, there are also plans to bring additional adult members into those clubs without junior sections by way of another partner initiative called “Run in England” which encourages participation in the sport with a pathway into local clubs. Junior athletics will benefit from a new county wide sports hall competition and the possibility of a network higher competition club which will enable the better athletes from each club to compete at an advanced level.
John Skevington, Senior coach and club development officer for Wreake runners, who led the original committee along with members from Stilton, Ivanhoe and Fleckney and Kibworth running clubs commented “This bid has taken many months to come to fruition and we are pleased that England Athletics have agreed with our plans which we hope will transform the standards of coaching and subsequently the standard of our respective athletes as well as increasing participation at grass roots level. Although the funding and full time employee is paramount to the success of the plan, the most important thing is that clubs will now be able to work together for the common good, sharing ideas and facilities and progressing within a set framework”.
The recruitment process to find a suitable candidate to drive the plan forward is now underway and the group are looking to recruit someone already steeped in athletics with coaching qualifications and a broad knowledge of and good contacts in Leicestershire running and athletics clubs. It is hoped that the full time post will be filled by the summer months ready to hit the ground, literally, running for the autumn season.
For more information about Wreake Runners or the Leicestershire vision 2020 club network contact run@wreakerunners.co.uk