Changing Lives | Sapphire Welcome Afghan United
Sapphire Gymnastics Club welcomed Afghan children from Glasgow Afghan United (GAU).
The club’s goal was to provide free sessions for minority groups in Maryhill, Glasgow, an area the Scottish Government identifies as deprived. To achieve this, they applied for Scottish Gymnastics Changing Lives funding.
Sapphire’s Catriona Lessani said: “Sapphire works closely with local communities and Glasgow Life Sports Development officer Vicki Holmes who reached out to the Afghan group”.
The team from Sapphire and Vicki then set up free classes that the children could attend on a weekly basis.
GAU was set up in 2004 to support Afghan and other ethnic minority groups in engaging with local people and communities in Scotland. Their vison is to remove barriers based on traits such language, background, religion, and gender.
Understanding this vision, Catriona said:
“The classes were to encourage children to come along to our inclusive fun, safe classes within our dedicated gymnastics facility at Sapphire. The funding opportunity was to allow the children to attend the classes for free, have fun, learn new skills and to make new friends and stay involved with the sport and the club after the sessions had finished.”
Highlighting that a smile needs no translation, one of the club’s lead coaches Michelle Bowman, said:
“It was great to see the smiles on the children’s faces, interact with other children outside their group even though there was a language barrier they all managed to communicate through visual play, have fun and learn some new skills.”
Sapphire’s use of the funding demonstrates the gymnastics vision to deliver an uplifting experience for all.
Scottish Gymnastics, supported by Witherby Publishing Group, have provided funding to help clubs to power the difference they make through gymnastics projects in their communities.
Grants of £250 to £2,500 were made available to passionate clubs who identified a need for their community and designed and delivered a gymnastics project to address that need.
For more information on other Changing Lives Funding projects or Glasgow Afghan United, follow the buttons below.