Help others by helping yourself

A new and innovative grants scheme to encourage quality sports coaching in the world's first garden city, Letchworth, is up and running.

It was launched at the Plinston, Broadway, on Thursday night. Named 'Sporting Success', the initiative is being underwritten by Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation.

Director general Stuart Kenny feels that the grants scheme will hopefully "raise the bar in respect of sports coaching, training and development".

For more than 12 years since its inception, the Foundation has been a staunch supporter of a wide variety of sports in the garden city.

This is with its ongoing and extensive grants programme, helping individuals as well as sports clubs, plus its sponsorship of The Comet Sports Awards for four of its five years including as main sponsor for two.

Kenny added: "More people than ever before participate in sport in Letchworth Garden City, as a result of new and improved sports facilities.

"But good facilities are only one, albeit, important aspect of creating successful sporting clubs - another is quality coaching."

The five grant categories are;

* Level two - up to 100 per cent of costs for a level one coach to gain a level two qualification.

* Level two plus - up to 50 per cent of costs to gain qualifications over and above level two.

* Senior team coaching - up to 50 per cent of coaching costs for Letchworth Garden City senior teams.

* Gifted and talented - up to 50 per cent of coaching costs for nominated gifted and talented youth sportsmen and women.

* Equipment - up to £1,000 to purchase equipment to enhance the coaching experience.

For further infor0mation on this initiative in Letchworth, an application pack can be downloaded at www.lgchf.com/sportingsuccess

To request a hard copy, contact Sarah Crombie, grants manager at the Foundation, on 01462 476054 or you can email sarah.crombie@lgchf.com