In September 2020 we supported Rhondda Netball with a Micro Fund grant of £4976 to support coaching salaries and training/development. Obviously the pandemic had a devastating impact on sport participation but we are excited to see Rhondda Netball come through that difficult time stronger than ever.
Rhondda Netball is a female sports charity operating in the Rhondda Valleys and is now Wales’ largest female sports participation initiative, possibly the UK’s and has the largest female coaching workforce empowering girls & women each week.
Rhondda Netball gives opportunities for hundreds of girls and women each week to improve their physical wellness and their emotional health and mental well-being. They also provide a platform for social engagement to encourage community cohesion and togetherness. They help improve participants self-esteem, confidence and help raise their aspirations.
“The generous grant from Pen y Cymoedd in September 2020 came at a vital time for our charity as the negative effects from Covid was taking it’s toll and this support gave us some breathing space during the grant period and allowed 8 of our Community Coaches & Role Models to continue and be ready for our return in September 2021. With thanks to the support from PyC and others during the year 2020/21 we were in a position in September 2021 to restart all of our activities. The success of the first few weeks took us completely by surprise where we saw almost a 40% increase on our average participation since pre-Covid, now impacting 939 girls & women on average.
All 8 of the Community Coaches & Role Models that PyC supported through the period are still employed and making even more of an impact in the communities of the upper reaches of both the Rhondda Fach and Rhondda Fawr. One of these coaches is Elicia, an Assistant leader in the Treorchy region for 4 years and the experience and progress that she has made has provided her with the opportunity to now lead the Rascals programme in the Ferndale region as a “Head Coach”. Elicia is now motivating and leading hundreds of girls in Rhondda.
During the pandemic, we were able to equip our community leaders with important Mental Health awareness and Pastoral training to better position these leaders to support young people’s mental health. This training is so important to our community leaders so that they’re able to make a difference to the girls & women in the community who may be struggling with their metal/emotional well-being. Alongside this, we were able to place 12 of our leaders on First Aid training, 3 of our leaders on a UKCC Level 2 Netball Coaching award and 3 leaders on their UKCC Level 1 Netball Coaching award.
Thank you all at PyC for your support.” – Rhondda Netball.