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X-Isle Sports teach 600 Kids |
Isle of Wight Council has successfully attracted funding to provide over 600 students with the opportunity to take part in water sport activities. Working in partnership with Bembridge based firm X-Isle Sports, more than £38,000 will be used to provide activities such as kayaking, waterskiing and surfing to middle school pupils. The scheme will be run on an initial pilot basis, with a view to extending it to a three year programme which could potentially benefit over 2500 students.
X-Isle Sports is officially sponsoring Isle of Wight Council to help run the scheme. The firm is providing  match funding that could total more than £200,000 over the next three years should the pilot prove successful. X-Isle Sports will provide the activities and equipment completely free. The courses will last between one and three days and will be provided by qualified professionals. The aim will be for all children to learn a basic water sport level of proficiency. They will be supervised at all times and at the end of the course, will receive an official certificate.
All the courses are certified in accordance with the respective organisations such as the Royal Yachting Association and the British Kitesurfing Association. All 16 Isle of Wight middle schools will be involved, each on their own separate days, with the first course starting on 19 May. The funding is provided by the government's Sportsmatch scheme. The organisation supports the development of grass roots sport in England and makes awards to help run projects aimed at increasing participation in sports at community level.The idea of the scheme came after a survey of Island pupils which showed that most students wanted access to more sports not normally available, with water sports often suggested. The main aims are to provide a healthy lifestyle, social inclusion, tackling obesity, prevent crime and develop personal skills. Isle of Wight Council Leader David Pugh said "This is a truly unique scheme on the Isle of Wight. It provides students with the opportunity to access new and exciting activities free of charge. There are plans to make the scheme even bigger should the pilot prove successful. We have wonderful facilities on the Island and I know this project will prove to be both very popular and successful." Robert Pigot from X-Isle Sports said " We are delighted to be working with Isle of Wight Council to provide this scheme to hundreds of pupils, and especially grateful to Sportsmatch for its funding and also to the Isle of Wight Council Sports Unit for its efforts in helping put this scheme together. We are engaging with the youth of today by providing sports not normally available to them at school, such as Kitesurfing and Windsurfing, and listening to what they want us to provide. The whole scheme is something many schools on the Mainland could only dream of doing."
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