WCAC Newsletter #313, 19-02-21
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Many happy returns to the following Club members who celebrate their birthdays this week:
Alice McMahon, Amelia McLintock, Christine Symms, Graham Wells, Oliver Wells, Patrick Kantenga, William Mallon, Ella Proudlove, Grace Andrews, Thomas Roberts, Lewis Farrell, Igor Karchut, John Manning, Sion Roberts, Chris Shaw.
And Next Week: George Dewhirst, Luca Biagetti, Niamh Memmory, Graham Patterson, Eleanor Williams, Tom Price, Hayden Howell, Ben Sache, Jessica Owen, Jill Van Schie, Cathryn Whalley, Dave Brierley, Ellis Williams, George Davis.
BEST WISHES EDDIE…
Everybody at West Cheshire AC would like to pass on their best wishes to club coach Eddie Fulton who is in hospital undergoing tests.
Eddie is on a non-Covid-19 ward and is unable to receive any visitors, but he has told Karl Fenney on the phone: “The nurses are lovely,” so not everything is so bad!
Get well soon Eddie!
CLUB QUESTIONNAIRE
All West Cheshire AC athletes are being requested to complete a quick questionnaire about training and their goals. Please take part by following this link.
STAY SAFE AND FOLLOW THE LOCKDOWN GUIDELINES
All West Cheshire AC members should be following National Lockdown Guidelines and only exercising within the restrictions, so please abide by the rules and don’t bring the Club into disrepute.
Following the UK Governmentβs new national COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and the publication of bespoke instructions from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), England Athletics revised the current guidance for athletics and running on January 8th.
PLEASE also remember that Brio Leisure who operate Ellesmere Port Sports Village have closed the facilities until further notice. The EPSV Facility Manager has told the Club not to train at the site, so all scheduled training sessions have been cancelled and the EPSV site remains closed.
We hope you and your family all stay safe and well during this difficult period. Once we know when we can use the athletics track again, we will be back in touch with the new arrangements.
WELL DONE LEANNE!
Many congratulations to Leanne Wheeler who has raised Β£1,065 for Maggie’s Centres from her 50 Miles challenge alongside husband Nick, and daughters Eleanor and Harriet who pounded the pavements with her, mainly in the dark.
Maggieβs offers the best possible support for free to anyone with cancer. Anyone can visit a centre or join the online community. They help people take back control when cancer turns life upside down, by helping to provide professional support for anything from treatment side effects to money worries.
ENGLAND ATHLETICS CLUB SUPPORT FUND
West Cheshire AC has received a Β£500 England Athletics Club Support Grant to help the sport deal with the challenges of COVID-19 and the additional financial burden it has placed on athletics.
2021 FIXTURE CHANGES
Due to a knock-on effect over the English Schools Track & Field Championships the scheduled Cheshire Track & Field League fixture on 4th July will have to be moved to 31st July.
ESAA have decided to hold a three-day championships which includes Sunday, July 11th
The new Cheshire Track & Field League date will be Saturday, July 31st which is the day before a Northern League match.
CLUB WELFARE TEAM VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
UK Athletics recommends that all Clubs have a Welfare Team and West Cheshire AC recognises the importance of Welfare and Safeguarding. Volunteers are needed to form a Club Welfare Team. If you are interested and would like to learn more details then please email our Club Secretary, Julian Tegg, at: [email protected]
ENGLAND ATHLETICS COMPETITION SUPPORT UPDATE
England Athleticsβ Martin Rush, Head of Coaching & Athlete Development, and Nichola Skedgel, Competition Partnerships & Innovation Manager, outline the approach to help support competition providers to return to competition in 2021 in a video link that can be found here.
ITEMS NEEDED FOR CHARITY AUCTION FOR CLUB FUNDS
Club coach, Paul Fairweather, and his wife Karen, are planning to organise a charity auction in the next 3-6 months to help raise money for Club funds.
They can host the auction and provide access to a worldwide market of buyers of vinyl and music memorabilia in addition to Sports, TV and Film memorabilia.
In May 2020 Paul and Karen raised Β£179k for the NHS & Feeding America through a charity auction of items donated by musicians associated with Island Records. There were some amazing lots that were donated and it shows the potential with the right sort of push.
In the North West we obviously have a good pool of musicians, big sporting clubs, and sports/TV stars that people may know who could donate something.
If you can help or would like to get involved please email Dennis at: [email protected]
More information can be found at Paul and Karen’s website.
PLEASE HELP TO STAY IN TOUCH
During this lockdown period when all competitions are suspended, I will do my upmost in keeping the Club Newsletter information and other content going.
I would welcome any contributions from yourselves, any impending marriages, or additions to the family, any running or competing incidents, also anything to help everyone stay entertained. Currently the response has been excellent, but if you have anything that could make it into next weekβs Newsletter β please email me at: [email protected]
WOMEN IN COACHING PROGRAMME
The Women in Coaching Programme is a collaboration between England Athletics and British Athletics. The programme will focus on providing development opportunities to help upskill female coaches, officials, volunteers and other support staff whilst also addressing the issues of gender inequality in specific areas of the sport and providing a network and support system for women in athletics and running. Further details can be found here.
COACHING COURSE UPDATE
England Athletics has started to publicise Virtual Coaching Courses on their website. Follow this link to find a list of virtual courses.
Please get in touch with Dennis if you do book on the course at: [email protected]
MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS FOR SPORT AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY COURSE
UK Coaching is organising a course to gain the confidence to be able to support people experiencing mental health problems, and help them to thrive inside and outside of your sessions. The link is here.
WEEKLY QUADRATHLON @HOME
Are you missing the buzz of track and field competition while weβre all at home in lockdown? If so, then sign-up for England Athletics new fun weekly track and field Quadrathlon competition β open to anyone aged 9 or over and perfect for setting up at home! Details are here.
PROVISIONAL DATES FOR YOUR DIARY…
Subject to Covid-19 rules, West Cheshire AC’s first scheduled league match is planned for Saturday, April 24, at Preston, which is the first of five rounds in the Under 13/Under 15 Youth Development League Merseyside Division, with other matches taking place on Saturday, May 15 (at Bebington Oval), Saturday, June 5, (at Ellesmere Port Sports Village), Saturday, July 17, (at Bebington Oval), and Saturday, September 4 (at Wavertree, Liverpool).
West Cheshire AC’s Under 17/Under 20 Youth Development League Merseyside Division five-round campaign gets under starters orders at Preston on Sunday, May 2, with other fixtures scheduled to be held on Sunday, May 30 (at Ellesmere Port Sports Village), Sunday, June 27, (at Bebington Oval), Sunday, July 25 (at Ellesmere Port Sports Village), and Sunday, September 5, (at Wavertree, Liverpool).
West Cheshire AC’s North Premier West League squad will open their season on Saturday, May 22, at Blackburn, before heading to Preston on Saturday, June 19, then hosting round three at Ellesmere Port Sports Village on Sunday, July 11, and concluding the campaign at Trafford, on Sunday, August 1.
West Cheshire AC’s Cheshire League season is scheduled to start at Wrexham’s Queensway Stadium, on Sunday, May 23, before heading to Stockport on Sunday, June 20; East Cheshire on Sunday, July 4, and hosting the final round at Ellesmere Port Sports Village on Sunday, August 29.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
From January 1st 2021, there will be a change to the way in which club members are asked to pay for attending training sessions at Ellesmere Port Sports Village. Rather than paying by cash, members will be asked to top up their accounts online, via a link to our club membership system.
As members attend each session, their accounts will be debited by the cost of each session.
You should by now have received an email from West Cheshire AC, containing a link to the top-up system. From there, you will be able to top-up by between Β£10 and Β£100, and set both regular top-up amounts and warnings to prompt you when your account is low.
The cashless payment system will be provided by Nifty Entries, who maintain our current online club membership system. They also provide similar cashless training payments systems to other clubs, on the same basis of only paying for the sessions that you attend, from your own account.
Please let us know if you have any questions, by replying Dennis at: [email protected]
HEATHER McLINTOCK’S PHYSIO OFFER
Heather McLintock has been in touch to say she is still able to offer physiotherapy if anyone is injured over this lockdown…Heather knows how important it is to exercise in this time so if she can keep people exercising that would be great. Heather’s email address is: [email protected]
SUPPORT WITH TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS
Funded training is currently available for employed people who live or work in Cheshire or Warrington.
Fully covered for those who work for a company with under 250 employees (inc. self-employed), 40% funded for larger employers.
This really is a chance for people to access quality training and boost qualifications without the associated cost.
If anyone is interested contact Mark Shepherd on 07494 869 282.
RUN LEADER DEVELOPMENT DAYS
England Athletics Run Leader Development Days is a series of informative and engaging workshops aimed at leaders and coaches from affiliated clubs and RunTogether groups. They are designed to bring leaders and coaches together in an environment where they can network and learn from each other by sharing skills and challenges, plus expand their knowledge of managing and growing groups, and enhance their understanding of technical skills in running.
Run Leader Development Days are going virtual for 2021, featuring five interactive (taking place Mon Feb 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd, and March 1st). Sessions will discuss a mix of topics, tasks, group discussion, Q&As, and the final webinar is based around a virtual practical session. Each webinar will have a lead theme β enabling Run Leaders to develop their knowledge and skills in a wide variety of areas. All five webinars cost Β£30.
ENGLAND ATHLETICS WEBINARS
A revised list of England Athletics webinars can be found here.
PLEASE HELP OUR CLUB WHEN YOU SHOP…
West Cheshire Athletic Club has registered with easyfundraising, which means over 4,000 shops and sites will now donate to the Club for FREE every time you use easyfundraising to shop with them. These donations will help SO MUCH, so please sign up to support us β itβs completely FREE and doesnβt take long – here.
STAYING IN TOUCH WITH DAN GILROY
Our Club President, Dan Gilroy, passes on best wishes to everyone at the club. Dan said he would welcome members to ring him and have a chat. His number is: 07594 464287.
ATHLETICS WEEKLY NEWS UPDATES
All the latest athletics news can be found on the Athletics Weekly website here.
LOOKING BACK…
1970 Commonwealth Games, David Moorcroft at the 1982 Bislett Games, and Sally Gunnell. Enjoy…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaxuTomjkmo
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOvhTQM4TqA
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMoZ8OlBPp0
ITβS GOOD TO TALK
Members and parents are reminded to look at the following links for updates about the club:
WEBSITE: www.westcheshireac.co.uk
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/westcheshireac INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/westcheshireac/
