New Opportunities Funding gives more kids a sporting chance

New Opportunities Funding gives more kids a sporting chance - "To excel in sport, children need excellent facilities." That's the view of Headteacher Danny MacAreavy of St John Bosco School in Liverpool. "But in a small Catholic primary school with restricted space, how do you achieve that?

"To excel in sport, children need excellent facilities." That's the view of Headteacher Danny MacAreavy of St John Bosco School in Liverpool. "But in a small Catholic primary school with restricted space, how do you achieve that?

"Thanks to Sefton Council and New Opportunities Funding, we now have exactly what we want. In an area measuring 20m X 30m, we are able to offer football, netball, basketball, tennis, cricket, hockey and athletics – not to mention 'high fives" and tag rugby! Not only are we delivering the government recommended activity level of 2 hours quality physical education per week to some 190 children, we also have 70 of them enthusiastically turning up for after school sports."

Of the 58 schools that will benefit from Sefton Council's initiative to improve fitness among schoolchildren, probably no two have exactly the same requirements. With a strong bias towards consultation with the end-user, Wicksteed Leisure, who won the contract with Sefton Council, have taken these differing needs in their stride. According to Danny, "Wicksteed really did listen and discussed our needs very thoroughly."

The design of the St John Bosco's multi sport area is bespoke, with many ingenious features built in. For example, the tennis nets slide into sockets to make them easy to remove and store when a bigger area is needed for football. Sports walls designed for cricket and basketball act as rebound and retaining barriers that keep the ball where it should be, when other sports are being played.

The concept of this innovative multi-sport area is so successful and so adaptable, especially for schools with smaller sites and limited budgets, that Wicksteed are making this service available to all their customers.