EXAMPLES OF HOW THE MONEY HAS BEEN SPENT IN SWANSEA

AIDS TRUST CYMRU:

A Swansea charity is giving the gym at its local drop-in centre a brand new lease of life to benefit AIDS sufferers.

Without a qualified gym instructor, Swansea staff at AIDS Trust Cymru recognised the fully equipped multi-gym had fallen into disuse. Now with a £580 Community Chest grant from the Sports Council for Wales, the charity is paying for an OCR Level 2 Gym Instructors Course that will qualify a new community gym instructor.

The new recruit is set to conduct initial gym inductions, create exercise programmes, set and monitor gaols for each individual and supervise people using the gym.

The service was requested by members of the charity who could not previously access gyms in the community for financial reasons, fear of social stigma or a lack of specific understanding of the effects of HIV by sports and exercise professionals.

AIDS Trust Cymru Centre Organiser in Swansea, Gemma James, highlighted the importance of exercise for those suffering from or affected by HIV/AIDS:

"It is important and beneficial for people who have contracted the HIV virus to have regular, supervised exercise. People who are HIV positive suffer many side effects from medication which may lead to raised blood pressure. Raising the heart rate for at least 30 minutes, three times a week, though exercise lowers blood pressure and so reduces the risk of heart disease and boosts their immune system."

Aids Trust Cymru provides social care and maintenance to people infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. They aim to empower people living with and affected by HIV to counter the factors which can make living with HIV/AIDS a daily struggle.

The new multi-gym is supporting up to twenty new HIV/AIDS sufferers to step into regular exercise and transform their positive diagnosis into a positive outlook on life.

TALYCOPA AFC:

Llansamlet’s Talycopa football club has become one of the first projects to benefit from the new Community Chest fund. The club received £1,000 to fund FAW leadership courses including emergency aid, child welfare and goalkeeper awards as well as Astroturf hire, footballs, kits, bibs, cones, pumps and first aid kits.

The club was set up from scratch in 2006 having benefited from a previous community chest grant and have since obtained a FAW bronze accreditation – the first in Swansea. This year, they plan to expand their number of teams.

They aim to hold two additional sessions per week, involving 35 new children, six new volunteers and field two new under-7 and under-8 teams in the hopes of securing a silver or even a gold FAW Accreditation in the future.

The club also aims to recruit female coaches and managers as it endeavours to recruit more female players to the club.

To remove the obstacles and to get your project going, call your Sports Council for Wales regional office:

South East Wales: 0845 045 0902

South West Wales: 0845 045 0906

North Wales: 0845 045 0908