Ayrshire & South of Scotland
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Time to Curl
Participating in team sports is a great way to encourage new friendships while building up physical fitness. Border Curling Development Group, through their Time to Curl project, aim to encourage over 50s in the Borders area to take part in a variety of activities linked to the sport of curling.
Key to the project is the purchase of a minibus so that Time to Curl will be able to offer access to those with mobility problems as well as those living in isolated areas.
Curling is a particularly inclusive sport providing the proverbial level playing field, with people from all age groups and of all abilities – including disabled curlers – able to play on the same team. By providing taster sessions and coaching programmes, Time to Curl will make the sport more accessible to those who are new to it and, over the course of the project, will improve the health, wellbeing and social networks of the over 50s. The Border Curling Development Group also believe that all of the curling clubs in Scotland could benefit from their Primetime bid. They say that any club in the country could use their 'Time to curl' proposal as a blueprint to get more over 50's in their area enjoying the sport of curling.'
The project also plans to train existing curlers as coaches, encouraging the over 50s to contribute to their community and feel a sense of improved self worth. Links to an existing schools programme will promote the sharing of skills and experience between the generations, while daytime league competitions will allow participation for all, helping to integrate communities through the many existing clubs in the Borders.
What the group says:
Why should people vote for you?
Curling is an all inclusive sport and meets many of the objectives of the Primetime initiative The Borders has 5% more over 50s than any other region of Scotland and our project will help older people to improve their mental and physical health and assist people moving into the area, in retirement, to integrate into the community and make new friends. Often a difficult thing to do when one is older. The Borders is an isolated rural area but curling brings people together socially and generates long standing friendships. Voting for Time To Curl will help us to help you (The over 50s).
What will you spend the money on?
The money from this bid will be used to bring people together through 'Come and Try Days', which will lead into a coaching and development programme for able bodied and disabled people. We already have a strong Wheelchair Curling Club. More advanced ice making equipment which will allow us to make better curling ice for everyone. We will develop a social programme to allow people to get involved even if they do not wish to curl. We will also purchase a minibus to overcome transport problems for people living in this rural area. This bus will be available for use by the wider community in the Borders which is a big factor as Kelso at the moment does not have a community bus and therefore people in the locality are hampered by lack of mobility.
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