Townley Sports Ambasssadors Campaign to Save School Sports Partnerships

On Tuesday 7th of December, Platinum Sports Ambassadors Olivia Blatch & Beth Holmans and Adistar School Sports ambassadors Lizzie Nash and Casey Porritt met at Bexleyheath train station to catch a train to Westminster with a number of other Young Ambassadors of the Bexley School Sports Partnership
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Funding for the Schools Sports Partnership - made up of 450 joint initiatives between primary, secondary and specialist state schools and designed to increase sporting opportunities for children - has been cancelled as a result of recent government funding cuts.
 save our schools sport
The Partnership has been supporting the development of young people through the Olympic and Paralympic values of Respect, Excellence and Friendship in Physical Activity and School Sport. They’ve provided hours of training and support for primary schools, they’ve funded external sports coaches to come into the school to set up new extra-curricular clubs and have provided a vast amount of sports equipment to a number of primary and secondary schools in the borough including Townley.
 
Over the past week, we have been fighting to save the partnership by collecting a number of signatures to make up a petition which was handed in to Downing Street by selected demonstrators on Tuesday.
Bexley contributed a total of 3,500 signatures towards the petition, so thank-you for your help if you contributed.
 
The four of us took part in a peaceful protest, involving placards and chants outside Westminster to demonstrate how much the partnership means to us as a group of young people and to argue for future generations to be able to have the same opportunities that we have received because of the school sport partnerships.
We also had the opportunity to meet Darren Campbell and Denise Lewis, both elite athletes who were supporting our cause.
Finally, we entered the House of Commons to have a meeting with the MP for Erith and Thamesmead Teresa Pearce, who fully supported our cause and agreed the cuts should not take place.
 
Although it was cold, we thoroughly enjoyed our day and hope the government reconsider their decision to completely axe school sports partnerships as this would be such a disappointment, especially with the up and coming Olympics in London.
By Olivia Blatch & Beth Holmans – Townley Platinum Sports Ambasadors