A donation of £1,000 is helping Crewe Judo Club to invest in a new mat area.
The club, based at The Georges Community Centre, received the funds through the Persimmon Homes Community Champions scheme, an initiative that each month awards grants of up to £1,000 to two local community groups.
Tess Jones, a medal winning coach at the club, said: “One of our most talented members Scott Bailey, who will represent the club at specialist contests, is visually impaired. Because a lot of our mats are old and made up of different colours, sizes and thickness, Scott’s limited vision is impaired further which in turn hampers his performance.”
The club is looking to replace all of the mats at a cost of more than £6,000.
Tess added: “We are extremely grateful to Persimmon Homes for this very generous donation, which is a great start towards our £6k target to replace the whole area.”
Crewe Judo Club has an all-inclusive ethos, which extends to the low fees it charges.
Tess said: “We only charge fees that just cover the cost of the rent for the premises we use, in order to ensure that our services are available to people on low incomes. None of the coaches takes a salary.
“We have limited funds and considered raising our fees to cover the cost of the new mats, but that would have put our club out of the reach of many of our members. This grant from Persimmon could not have come at a better time for us.”
Established in 1991, Crewe Judo Club regularly hosts its own events and is active on the competition circuit. In addition to practising the sport of judo, all members have the opportunity to qualify in refereeing, officiating and coaching.
Training for seniors is held on Monday at 7pm and Wednesday at 8pm and for juniors on Wednesday at 7pm. The first session is free to anyone interested in trying out the sport.
Dave Hodgson, sales director for Persimmon Homes North West, said: “It’s great to get behind Crewe Judo Club and support them with their fundraising for new mats. The club plays a big part in the local community and we were happy to help.”
If your club, organisation or good cause would like to apply for funding of up to £1,000, visit www.persimmonhomes.com/charity
